Speed monitor on Texas 60 this week
By BARRY HALVORSON news@leader-news.com

Motorists driving into East Bernard on Texas 60 will get a chance to really see how much lead is in their gas pedal foot this week.

The Precinct 2 Constable Office has set up its battery powered speed monitoring display sign along the highway this week. The sign has an electronic display showing actual speed along with a sign showing the posted speed limit, in this case 45 mph.

"The battery will usually last four to five days at this location," Precinct 2 Constable J.A. Szymanski said. "Because it's triggered by an approaching vehicle, the traffic volume is the determining factor and there isn't a lot of vehicles on the road, particularly late at night. If you set it up on U.S. Highway 59, it would probably only run for three days before needing to be charged again."

Because the speed limit sign can be changed out, Szymanski said he likes to move the sign around. He said it will probably be set up in the Hungerford area next week and then later set up in the Glen Flora area.

"We like to set up on FM 960 during the week of the Wharton County Youth Show and Fair," Szymanski said. "We get a lot of people from out of town that week not used to driving in rural areas. They tend to go a little faster because of that and we want to reminded them of the speed limit for safety reasons. We don't want any one getting hurt in a collision because they were going to fast."

No tax dollars went into the purchase of the sign, Szymanski said.

"It was paid for by proceeds from drug seizures," he said. "I think its appropriate that since those drugs were being transported on highways running through the county that it be used to help make the county safer."