10/28/1959
32 Offenders Are Students Attending TWC
Crackdown Result Of Complaints By Residents
Police nabbed 45 persons in less than three hours early today on winding Rim road just west of Scenic drive along Mt. Franklin.
Traffic officers said 32 speeders were students at Texas Western College hurrying to make early morning classes. Six others were high school students.
The high school motorists were rushing to attend career conference on the Texas Western campus.
One officer observed their "careers" could be short lived by a serious accident if the kids don't slow down.
Clocked at 51 Miles
The radar-enforced crackdown today came after numerous complaints by residents of excessive speeding on Rim road, especially early in the morning. The Scenic drive-Rim road route is heavily used by college students and persons working in northwest El Paso who live on the east side of the mountain.
Police set up radar operations at the west end of the 1300 block of Rim road, only a few feet from where a sports car crashed through a retaining wall earlier this month seriously injuring three.
Only westbound traffic was clocked. The radar car was set up in clear view of motorists making a right curve before a short straightway in the 1300 block. The speed limit there is 30—a figure considered high by many for such a treacherous stretch of road.
Leave Earlier
Police said most of the speeders were driving in the low forties. One youth, Daniel P. Manson, 17, of 2006 Detroit avenue, was clocked at 51 miles per hour. He is a student at El Paso High.
Several serious accidents, including some fatalities, have occurred on Rim road within the last year.
Lieut Peter E. Woleslagle, in charge of the traffic division while Capt. Ted Vogel is at Lubbock, said officers will continue to patrol Rim road and surrounding area until speeds are reduced to the limit.
Aiming at the large contingent of Texas Western students nabbed, he advised these persons to leave home five minutes earlier each morning to get to classes on time.
"By speeding, especially at the fantastic rates we found this morning, they're not only going to kill themselves, but innocent parties will be involved and results will be tragic," he said.
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