The Washington State Patrol’s (WSP) Commercial Vehicle Division says that they issued well over two hundred citations during a recent targeted patrol on a ten mile stretch of busy interstate.
The enforcement blitz began on February 25 in the Tacoma, Washington, area, according to a news release from WSP. Troopers patrolled both directions of I-5 between Highway 512 and Highway 18 to try to catch truckers and motorists driving dangerously. Ongoing construction on this stretch of interstate has narrowed lanes, state police say, making it more important than ever for drivers to follow traffic laws.
In addition to ground patrols, troopers used aircraft to monitor drivers.
Even the bear in the sky has his eyes out for aggressive drivers this week!
Today marks day 2 of our emphasis targeting aggressive cars and trucks in the area of SR512 to 54th in Fife. #YouCantHide #EyeInTheSky #TroopersCanFly #RogerThat pic.twitter.com/g9X0Skte8l
— Trooper Johnna Batiste (@wspd1pio) February 26, 2019
On March 6, Trooper Johnna Batiste released the results from the WSP’s enforcement effort. Here are the highlights:
- A total of 458 vehicle drivers were contacted
- Of those vehicles, 242 were commercial vehicles
- 254 citations were issued
The top violations that resulted in citations were speeding, seatbelt violations, following too closely, cellphone violations, failure to change lanes safely, and failure to secure loads properly.
The WSP considers the enforcement effort to be a success because “after one week of increased safety emphasis patrols, the WSP is happy to report there were zero commercial vehicle involved fatality, injury, or high profile blocking collisions.”
Troopers say that they will continue with heightened patrols on I-5 “for the foreseeable future.”