Speeding 15 miles per hour over the limit, even hitting 85 mph and letting your vehicle run idle for hours.
You might not do that, but people with state vehicles have been - and you paid for it.
New GPS tracking technology has recorded that info.
NBC CT Investigates filed a records request to get some of the new data, from the fourth quarter of 2023 (October to December).
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Let’s start with some good news about the driving habits of state employees in state vehicles.
The use of seat belts, one of the most tried and true ways to stay safe, was done 96% of the time in state vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to the GPS technology now in fleet vehicles owned by the CT Department of Administrative Services, or DAS.
“That sounds OK. It could be 100 [percent],” Sincera Mickens, of Hartford, said.
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State Senator Tony Hwang (R-Fairfield) added, “If we're talking about reducing speeding and distracted driving, then we as a state agency, need to ensure that the employees that we want to promulgate these policies follow it to a much more, finer detail than the general public. Because if state government was telling us to do it, aren't doing it, then what right, do we have to tell the general public?”
The GPS has tracked a lot of metrics - we asked for just a small slice for starters.
One was people driving a state vehicle over 85 miles per hour. In the last quarter of 2023, the state said this happened almost 56,000 times.
Connecticut State Police have not been included in this data. The agency runs its own vehicle fleet.
The state wouldn’t give us anyone on camera to explain all of this. Via email, though, it said a lot of times, the employees going over 85 worked in the Department of Correction, EnCon Police, Department of Motor Vehicles and other state law enforcement that in many cases are rushing to a scene of an emergency.
For every time they go over 85 mph, and in the same instance go under 85 and then back over 85 again, that was counted as two separate events.
“I understand if they’re driving to an emergency but it’s still creating unsafe situations for other people on the roads,” Jennifer Godere, of South Windsor, said.
We also checked out plain, garden variety speeding – 15 mph or more over the limit.
State vehicles were tracked doing this almost 934,000 times between October and the end of December last year, or about 3.4% of the time they were on the roads.
Ashley Alexis, of Bristol, voiced her displeasure with even just a few state workers doing this.
“If you’re talking doing 40 in a 25, what if there’s kids playing in that area?” Alexis said.
Another stat that got our attention was time vehicles spent idling - burning fuel but not going anywhere.
The GPS data obtained by NBC CT Investigates indicates state vehicles were idling 30% of the time state fleet vehicles were operating, in the fourth quarter of 2023.
The state pointed out for this particular field of the data, this involves people who in many cases are on patrol, or work in the field, 24/7/365. They’re filling out reports in their vehicles and sometimes, they’re just trying to stay warm or stay cool.
“There’s a lot of paperwork involved, and I would totally understand a police officer during a storm like a rainy day or something, leaving their car idling,” Gentry Stewart, of Simsbury, said.
As for the stats of state vehicles going over 85mph, that comes out to less than half a percent of all the miles driven with state vehicles monitored.
