When I was a kid, going for a Sunday drive with my parents and my sister, Diana, was a relaxing adventure and something we all looked forward to.
Driving today is still an adventure, but it has taken on a whole new meaning. And good luck finding a route to take that relaxing Sunday drive.
Nowadays, many drivers appear to be in a rush to go nowhere. Usually, after I pull out of my driveway and hit the highway, it isn’t long before another driver is riding my bumper, impatiently waiting for the next stretch of dotted lines to rocket past me.
I’m no granny behind the wheel, but I usually try not to exceed the speed limit by more than 10 miles an hour, knowing full well that anything faster is a recipe for a ticket.
In the Northwest Corner there’s not a lot of long stretches where you can pass, especially heading north on Route 7, where the road hugs the Housatonic River. But there have been any number of times when impatient drivers couldn’t wait, and I’ve had to slow down as the idiot goes around me and cuts back in just before hitting an oncoming vehicle.
What’s even more puzzling is when a motorist zooms past only to turn into their driveway a few minutes later down the road. Just a need for speed, I suppose.
I’ll admit I’ve had moments when it was tough to take my foot off the pedal. It still is, especially trying to stay within 35 miles an hour heading north on Route 7 along the long open stretch past the Kent Land Trust fields. And it’s even harder to downshift to 25 miles per hour through town. But introducing those speed limits was the right thing to do, especially in a downtown area with a multitude of crosswalks and groups of students who consistently walk to the town’s center.
I prefer this control system rather than the alternative, speed cameras. And a growing number of Connecticut municipalities are going that route. Town officials are tired of irresponsible motorists thumbing their nose at speed limit signs and recklessly driving through town centers and back roads.
The cameras have made a positive impact in the towns that use them, but it takes time for motorists to adjust. Washington was one of the first towns to install speed cameras two years ago along Old Litchfield Road and Baldwin Hill Road. For the most part, residents and out-of-towners have learned a valuable—and sometimes costly—lesson on how to drive safely through town.
The number of violations is simply astounding. In Washington, from May to December in 2025, the town issued 13,400 citations, courtesy of its three cameras. And, as of December, the town had collected nearly 75 percent of the $662,000 in fines for those citations—$50 for the first offense and $75 thereafter.
The same scenario is being played out in other locations. In just six months, from July to December 2025, Middletown collected $1.84 million in fines out of a total of $2.8 million issued. Citations do not affect a driver’s car insurance and are not reported to the state Department of Motor Vehicles.
There’s also a growing number of towns that are cracking down on a far more egregious motor vehicle violation: people who pass stopped school buses. It’s beyond me why someone would do that, but I’ve seen it happening more often. Drivers put the pedal to the metal to get past a school bus with flashing yellow lights before the red lights come on to signal a full stop. Because of increased numbers of such incidents statewide, more and more towns are installing stop-arm camera systems to photograph those who engage in this illegal behavior. These violations, after being reviewed first by a law enforcement officer, come with a heftier price tag of $250, and can adversely affect one’s car insurance.
Danbury launched its bus camera system in August 2025, and more than 3,000 tickets were issued in the first two months. Newtown recently approved such a system and will installing cameras in all 56 of its buses. The program will be fully operational by August. A host of other towns are also instituting various speed measures by the end of this year.
Call me a dreamer, but with these new enforcement measures increasing statewide, perhaps there is still hope of someday being able to take that relaxing Sunday drive.
Dave Dunleavy was a longtime reporter and columnist for The News-Times in Danbury. He lives in Kent. His column “View from the Front Porch” runs monthly.
