Local Police Departments to Start Extra Aggressive Driving Patrols

Just because the weather is finally warming up doesn’t mean you should be speeding up when you’re driving around. 

Local police departments – including the State College department – are working with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to get aggressive about aggressive driving. Each spring PennDOT awards grants to hundreds of police departments across Pennsylvania to fund extra patrols on roads with a history of aggressive driving related crashes.

Mark Alonge, a program coordinator for PennDOT, says aggressive driving is a multifaceted problem. It can include everything from speeding to tailgating to texting behind the wheel, and it can have very serious results.

“Sixty percent of all crash fatalities in Pennsylvania are related to speeding,” Alonge says. “Add in the other kinds of aggressive driving, and that number jumps to well over 60 percent.”

Spring Township police chief Mike Danneker says many drivers are forced to slow down and drive more cautiously over the winter because of snow and ice. Once winter starts to give way to spring, he says many drivers begin to drive faster and speed more often.

Alonge says the crash statistics reflect that change. Each spring, PennDOT sees a “significant jump” in aggressive driving related crashes. He says that similar spikes occur in June and during the end-of-year holiday season, when PennDOT undertakes similar public awareness campaigns.

“You can’t just enforce laws without trying to educate people,” says PennDOT program coordinator Dave Toohey. “Ultimately, this is just about trying to save lives.”

The public awareness push coincides with National Work Zone Safety Week, which runs through March 27. Fittingly, Route 322 – one of the major roads in and out of State College – is littered with construction zones as crews work to make the state route faster and safer.

Danneker says it’s especially important to be cautious when driving through construction zones. Many workers will be focused on the task at hand, and face a serious threat from distracted or aggressive drivers. State law requires drivers to slow down and turn on their headlights when passing though a work zone.

Thankfully, keeping safe is as easy as following the law. Danneker advises all drivers to buckle their seat belts, drive the speed limit, maintain a safe following distance from other cars, signal their turns and give the road their undivided attention. 

If they do, they just might save a life.