Crime & Safety

Plymouth Police Receive Grant to Curb Aggressive Drivers

PennDOT awarded a grant to the Plymouth Township Police Department that allows them to put officers on special aggressive driving details in an effort to reduce the number of vehicle crashes.

Written by Community Editor Nicole Foulke

Aggressive drivers should take note when they whiz through the area patrolled by the Plymouth Township Police Department: the department has received a special state grant giving them a better ability to nab such drivers when they tailgate the driver in front of them, go 60 mph in a 35 mph zone, and violate more vehicular laws that are meant to keep people safe.

According to Officer Mike Capperella of the Plymouth Township Police Department’s Community Policing Unit, the department was awarded special funding from the state to put their officers on special assignments to curb aggressive driving.  The grant was from PennDOT’s Aggressive Driving Enforcement and Education Project. It was used from June 1 to July 15 and will again be used Aug. 15 to Sept 30.  

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“Only a select few got the aggressive driving grant,”  said Capperella. “It was kind of a big honor.”

The officers work in approximately four-hour details, about three times a week and sometimes on weekends. The funding goes towards paying for overtime for the officers who do the extra patrolling. 

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In providing the grants, the state is trying to target the areas where the aggressive driving crashes are happening and slow people down, said Capperella.  PennDOT data indicate that 6,661 aggressive driving crashes occurred in PA 2012, an increase from 6,330 in 2011.  There were 191 fatal driving crashes involving aggressive driving in 2012, an increase from 161 in 2011. 

Most crashes occur around rush hour, explained Capperella.  Speeding is the biggest cause, and tailgating is the next biggest cause.

The Plymouth Township officers who patrol for the aggressive driving detail have written a number of tickets.  For example, 20 citations in a two-hour period on Aug. 19.  The officers on detail are catching people who are speeding and driving uninsured vehicles, amongst other violations.

Lt. Jeff Obrien was stationed in a vehicle in a residential area that Aug. morning, checking for speeding drivers using a calibrated stopwatch.  “People think it’s a speed trap, but there’s nothing about it that’s a trap,” he said. “There’s plenty of notice.  The speed drops when it’s residential.”

According to Capperella, their aggressive driving detail also serves to remind motorists of the state law passed in April 2, 2012 requiring motorists to leave a 4-foot cushion of safety when passing someone on a bicycle.  It also requires people on bicycles to make all reasonable efforts to avoid blocking the traffic flow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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