Headed to class on a Yamaha motorcycle, a Scottsdale Community College student was recently clocked going 137 mph on Loop 101.
If the rider weren’t already late for class, he certainly was after Arizona Department of Public Safety officers put him in handcuffs and took him to jail.
DPS Sgt. Paul Forch said Operation Maximum Impact 2005, the agency’s threemonth crackdown on the deadliest stretch of Loop 101, caught many motorists going faster than 100 mph — though none faster than 137 mph.
The operation ends today.
DPS still must analyze the data collected during the operation to determine how successful it was at changing motorists’ behavior, Forch said. Operation Maximum Impact focused on the section of Loop 101 that runs through the East Valley from Chandler Boulevard to Scottsdale Road, where collisions jumped 34 percent from 2003 to 2004, increasing patrols by motorcycle officers and unmarked cars.
Scottsdale Justice of the Peace Michael Reagan saw his caseload expand with the crackdown. And speeds came down, he said.
"At the beginning we had some really high flyers. As the program progressed, I noticed the speeds at the top end started to come down," Reagan said.
Every Wednesday for the past three months, Reagan’s docket would fill up, he said. There would regularly be a few clocked at speeds faster than 100 mph.
- Tribune writer Irene Hsiao contributed to this report.
