| A
Slow Drive Through Town |
| I first came to Herndon after my parents bought their home
in town in 1989. I lived in Vienna at the time, and when I
told my friends my parents had bought a home in Herndon, everybody
had a similar response: Watch out for the police. They will
ticket you for speeding. |
| So, from the very first day of my coming into Herndon, I
watched the speed limit carefully inside town borders. And,
as if in support of the apparent reputation given to the town
police, I did see police officers staked out looking for speeders
on a regular basis. |
| I would often drive through town after midnight as I came
and went to other parts of Fairfax County, and I traveled
a lot along Monroe, Van Buren and Spring streets, as I suppose
any resident of the town likely does. |
| There are some sections of roadway, particularly the newer
portion of Spring Street heading into Reston, that do seem
like they should have a higher speed limit than 25 mph. There
is a median and two wide lanes in each direction. Driving
25 or near to it can seem like standing still sometimes. |
| But knowing that the town police aggresively enforced speed
limits never deterred me from coming to Herndon. I just made
sure I drove the speed limit. Hey, it seems like the law worked
in this case. |
| Last week a visitor from Ohio complained that the town's
speed limits were too low and said the police were only interested
in raking in cash for the government's coffers. |
| Actually, it sounds like the only people complaining about
the speed limits are people who don't live in town. Everybody
else has long since learned to drive a safe and responsible
speed. |
