112 mph on a township street: 'He outweighed the safety of his own life and the lives of others'

SALISBURY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Among the tangle of streets that make up the township, which includes more than 300 roads and is divided by Interstate 78, trouble spots have emerged that often see an enhanced police presence.

But among those roadways, many of which are fast and flat and conducive to speeding, South Pike Avenue keeps officers plenty busy when it comes to traffic infractions.

Things rarely catch them by surprise: blown stop signs and red lights, roadways treated like a drag strip, speed contributing to many serious wrecks.

But on Monday morning, when officers fanned out on a part of South Pike Avenue for another round of traffic safety enforcement, one driver on a motorcycle “outweighed the safety of his own life and the lives of others,” police said.

He was clocked at 112 mph in a 40 mph zone, or 72 mph over the posted speed limit.

“This reckless and blatantly mind-numbing act (in front of a bus stop, nonetheless) won him approximately $1,000.00 in various fines," a Salisbury Police Department Facebook post said of the driver.

"We nicknamed him "Au revoir" (goodbye) because that's what he will be saying to his driver's license once PennDOT is notified.”

‘You could sit out there seven days a week’

Salisbury Police Senior Patrol Officer Bryan Losagio, the voice behind the department’s Facebook page, said the infraction is the worst he’s seen in terms of speeding vehicles that police have actually managed to stop.

“Usually if it’s a motorcycle they’re prone to take off,” Losagio said in a phone call Tuesday.

“You can’t even try and chase them. They’re just reckless. But in this instance, traffic was going uphill and backing up, so drivers were slowing down. One of our officers ran up and grabbed the bike and turned the key.”

The traffic detail — which took place from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. — was no secret. Police not only warned drivers it was coming, bright signs lined the roadway and department vehicles sat with their lights on.

What’s more, Losagio said the trajectory of the enforcement area gave drivers some chance to slow down. They hit a timing device at the bottom of a hill in the 2700 block of South Pike Avenue, and officers stopped them at the top.

Losagio said officers also are lenient with those 10 mph over the speed limit or less, so not all speeders actually get stopped.

“We’re not out to try and write tickets to write tickets," he said. "Doing 10 mph over [the speed limit] is not risking someone’s life. We do 15 to 20 mph over, and because we’ve done so much enforcement we’ve seen improvement.”

Improvement everywhere but Pike Avenue.

“Believe it or not, you could sit out there seven days a week,” Losagio said.

“Roadways like East Susquehanna Street, Cedar Crest Boulevard, Emmaus Avenue — about five years ago you could sit on those roadways and write 10 to 12 tickets an hour.

"But because we’ve done so much enforcement, we’ve seen improvement.

“I don’t know what it is about South Pike Avenue. I guess because it’s a straightaway mile stretch, drivers feel like they can pick up speed.”

‘A lifelong consequence’

With 47 citations issued during Monday’s detail, Losagio said what made the reckless driving even more egregious was that it took place right in front of a bus stop — on the first day of school.

It also came a little more than a month after the department announced 397 school bus camera violations were approved and issued to motorists who illegally passed school buses during the 2023-24 school year.

“We have the cameras on the buses, and so we have hundreds of potential violations a month,” Losagio said.

“We have some instances where it’s so blatant and the lights are on and the stop sign is out for 20 to 30 seconds. But we see the video and before we hit that ‘approve’ button, we have to watch and say, ‘100 percent, no way that driver could have stopped,' because it’s a big fine.

“We might even have the lowest approval rating for citations in the state, but the ones I put through I can go to bed at night knowing 100 percent this person did it and drove past that bus.”

‘It's not going to change’

Asked about the seriousness of the offenses overall, and at a time when state officials are urging motorists and pedestrians to slow down, the mild-mannered Losagio didn’t mince words.

“Drivers have to understand it could be a lifelong consequence," he said. "That [motorcycle] driver could’ve died and he could've killed other people.

"Even if you cause a crash at that speed and there’s not a fatality, you’re still probably going to jail.

“You have to think about, ‘This could affect me or someone else for the rest of your life.’ Driving at that speed, there’s a very good chance you’re going to kill yourself or someone else.”

Losagio also renewed calls for officers to have RADAR or LiDAR equipment to better detect the speed of vehicles and keep officers out of harm’s way during traffic enforcement.

“We’re the only state in the country without that equipment,” Losagio said.

“If the state legislature will give the local police LiDAR or RADAR, it’s not that you have a department that’s going to be using it to generate revenue. In fact, we can lose money.

“But when citizens know that local police could be on a residential road with a RADAR gun, it’s going to get people's attention.

"But until we get the equipment to do our job, it’s not going to change.”