The Bermuda Triangle of urban legend swallows ships and planes in the Caribbean Sea.
There's now a new triangle in Fort Dodge in which an electromagnetic anomaly makes it appear that large vehicles are moving faster than what they really are on a speed camera and radar setup.
Police Chief Tim Carmody called the spot in the 1200 block of Sixth Avenue North the ''Bermuda Triangle." It's a spot where drivers of school buses, big panel trucks and similar vehicles have been clocked speeding by the city's mobile speed camera and radar unit even though they were obeying the 25 mph speed limit.
The problem was brought to the attention of the City Council on Dec. 19 by drivers who had wrongly received tickets in that area.
Carmody said Monday police officers did extensive testing after those complaints were received. He said they found that for a fraction of a second the speed of a large vehicle was doubled on the radar system in that block.
He said engineers from the speed camera's manufacturer, Red Speed of Lombard, Ill., came to the city on Jan. 4 to do their own tests. Those engineers used a handheld electromagnetic field strength detector and found an usual ''hot spot'' in that block.
''Once again, Fort Dodge is a trend setter,'' he said. ''They've never found this anywhere else in the country.''
He said all the tickets issued to drivers of big vehicles there will be dismissed and a driver who already paid a ticket will get a refund.
Contact Bill Shea at (515) 573-2141 or bshea@messengernews.net