Area cops launching aggressive-driving enforcement initiative

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All Around | Municipal Announcements

July 8th, 2019 | By Randy Garbin

If you’ve ever found yourself at the losing end of an aggressive driver’s vehicular antics, wondering when, if ever, the police will do something about it, the cops have heard your desperate pleas.

If you have any inclination at all that you yourself might drive aggressively, this initiative might finally give you the excuse you need to reform your ways. Slow the [expletive] down and be nice!

More than 60 police departments from across southeast Pennsylvania will band together in what they have called the Aggressive Driving Enforcement and Education Project.

Departments from Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties will join Pennsylvania State Police in conducting aggressive-driving enforcement activities to help reduce the number of crashes, injuries, and deaths on roadways as part of a statewide mobilization that runs through August 25, 2019.  

As part of the Aggressive Driving Enforcement and Education Project, the third wave will focus on running red lights, the Steer Clear law, tailgating, and heavy trucks. Motorists exhibiting other unsafe behaviors such as distracted driving, speeding, and failing to stop at stop signs will also be cited.

According to 2017 PennDOT data, there were 1,482 aggressive-driving related crashes and 17 fatalities in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties.

Municipal police agencies that participated in last year’s campaign wrote 50,707 aggressive-driving related citations statewide, including 30,197 for speeding. Failing to stop for red lights and stop signs resulted in 3,657 citations. 

Additionally, the enforcement accounted for 68 felony arrests, 142 fugitives apprehended, 200 impaired driving arrests, and 1,259 occupant protection citations.

The aggressive-driving enforcement is a part of the Pennsylvania Aggressive Driving Enforcement and Education Project and is funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).  

To learn more about aggressive driving and other PennDOT safety initiatives visit www.PennDOT.gov/Safety.