FERRIDAY, La. &045; After seven months of increased daily speeding tickets, the drivers in Ferriday are still going too fast, Ferriday Police say.

FPD Chief Investigator Richard Madison said he’s frustrated but not giving up.

&uot;Strict enforcement does play a part in saving lives,&uot; Madison said. &uot;Without a zero tolerance on speeding, we could have major traffic accidents.&uot;

When Mayor Gene Allen’s administration took office in July, FPD nearly tripled the number of speeding tickets given on a daily basis. The tickets were, and still are, a concerted effort to slow traffic and save lives, Madison said.

The narrow, two-lane thoroughfare of U.S. 84 and 65 that runs through downtown Ferriday is too small and too close to businesses and homes to allow speeding, Madison said. The highway has no turning lanes.

&uot;Because of the way the streets are configured, if they are not slowed down they can run into businesses or residents,&uot; he said. &uot;Both have requested enforcement.&uot;

Madison said the majority of drivers ticketed are not residents of Ferriday and come through town driving at four-lane highway speeds.

&uot;Seventy percent of the residents of Ferriday are under 18. We have five schools in the town of Ferriday. There are buses. We have to protect lives, all lives.&uot;

Madison said the department would like to post digital speed screens at both entrances into town that would flash the driver’s speed, but the town does not have the resources to buy the equipment.

He encouraged the community to offer any resources they might no of to acquire the equipment.

From Jan. 31 to Feb. 6, FPD wrote 97 tickets for moving violations, compared to 46 for non-moving violations.

&uot;If people would slow we wouldn’t ticket them,&uot; he said. &uot;Everyone is treated the same. If cited you have your day in court or you pay the ticket.&uot;

Some Ferriday drivers think the increased number of tickets is simply a revenue-generating tactic.

&uot;I think it’s about the money,&uot; Morris Johnson said. &uot;They go overboard with some of this stuff.&uot;

But other residents agree that drivers go too fast through town.

&uot;Speeding here is unbelievable,&uot; said Tim Nunnery, who drives from Vidalia for work. &uot;The roads are not big enough to handle the traffic. I think the policemen are doing their job and I’m behind them 100 percent.&uot;

Roy S. Rushing, owner of Rushing Boots, can watch speeders through the window of his store, and agreed that there is a problem.

&uot;I don’t like the idea of everybody getting a ticket, but I agree with the safety issue,&uot; he said. &uot;On the south end there is a lot of pedestrian traffic and there’s only a matter of five or six feet between the sidewalk and the street.&uot;

His son Roy B. Rushing agreed about the safety issue and said he supported the police in their efforts, but was worried about the affect of the tickets.

&uot;It’s bad from a business standpoint if we have visitors come in and get ticketed,&uot; he said.

Madison said drivers could expect the tickets to continue.

&uot;The bottom line is about saving lives.&uot;