Motorist fought school zone speeding ticket after school closed. Here's why the judge convicted him.
The school zone where Bruce Dolan was ticketed Sept. 2 in the 3300 block of S.W. Burlingame Road should be discontinued, Dolan said Thursday as he was tried for allegedly speeding there.
Children almost never walk to school there, he said.
But Topeka Municipal Court Judge Pro Tem Doug Wells said the law called for him to decide not whether there should a school speed zone but if there was — and if Dolan violated its posted limit.
Wells concluded Dolan did indeed violate that limit and convicted him.
The judge added that a Topeka police officer gave the 71-year-old Dolan "a break" by ticketing him in connection with speeding 25 mph after clocking him going 33 mph in the 20-mph zone at 8:58 a.m. Sept. 2 near S.W. 33rd and Burlingame Road.
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City gets complaints about speeding in area
The officer testified his supervisor had told him the city had received numerous complaints about speeding in the area, which is why officers were there.
The city has long maintained the school speed zone where Dolan was ticketed on S.W. Burlingame just west of Avondale Academy, 3229 S.W. Westview Ave., a school that was shut down last May by Topeka Unified School District 501. The school had operated until May 2017 as Avondale West Elementary School.
Dolan questioned in October why the city continued to maintain the speed zone, considering Avondale Academy had closed.
A city official responded that S.W. Burlingame is located along a safe route for students who need to cross that street while walking to Jardine Elementary & Middle School, 2600 S.W. 33rd, about one-half mile west of S.W. Burlingame.
Dolan testified Thursday that he'd personally watched that school zone every weekday morning since September and only saw one child crossing there.
He also raised questions about timing, saying the children who might potentially cross Burlingame at that location would have started school well in advance of the time he was pulled over, which was 8:58 a.m.
Wells suggested Dolan share his thoughts with the Topeka city employees who are responsible for making arrangements regarding school speed zones, and Dolan said he planned to do that.
After convicting Dolan, Wells sentenced him under city rules that call for motorists convicted in Topeka Municipal Court of speeding one to 10 mph are over the legal limit to be fined $45, with the amount being $135 if the violation occurs in a school speed zone.
Dolan was consequently fined $135 plus $76 in court costs, meaning he had to pay $211.
If Dolan had been convicted of speeding 33 mph, he would have paid a total of $265, including a $189 fine and $76 in court costs.
More: A Topeka man is taking a stand against ticket issued near closed school.
Bruce Dolan won't appeal conviction
Dolan said he did not plan to exercise his option of appealing the conviction to Shawnee County District Court.
He said the outcome was "kind of what I expected," though he still considered it "not right" that the city continues to operate a school speed zone in an area where few children walk to school.
Dolan said he planned to share his concerns about the school speed zone with his representative on the Topeka City Council and to send a letter to the editor at The Capital-Journal.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Judge convicts Topeka man who fought school zone speeding charge
