Print Version
E-mail This StoryRowlett Police say they are cracking down on traffic violations including speeding and drunk driving.
Beginning today, the Rowlett Police Department is join other police agencies throughout the country in support of an intensive crackdown on impaired driving through Sept. 1.
The crackdown known as “Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest.” is led by NHTSA (National Highway Safety Administration) and combines high visibility enforcement with heightened public awareness through advertising and publicity.
According to the latest data, 32 percent of motor vehicle driving fatalities involved a driver or motorcycle rider with a blood alcohol level of .08 or higher. Alcohol related accidents average of one fatality every 39 minutes, according to statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
In 2006 alone, nearly 13,500 people died in crashes in which the driver or motorcycle rider was legally impaired, according statistics. Among them were 306 children under age 15.
Rowlett officers trained as drug recognition experts, as well as officers trained to administer standardized field sobriety tests will be working various hours to relieve patrol officers from any impaired driving arrests.
Motorists suspected of impaired driving will be arrested and asked to voluntarily give a blood sample to analyze for the presence of alcohol and narcotics in their body. If they refuse, the officer will request a magistrate to authorize a search warrant for the blood specimen. If the warrant is granted, the specimen will be withdrawn without consent.
Lt Steve Ferrie of the Rowlett Police Department’s Traffic Division said, “The number of fatality collisions involving alcohol is alarming. We want the citizens to know that driving while intoxicated is a serious crime, and we plan on doing whatever is necessary to detect, arrest, and successfully prosecute suspects arrested for this offense. Many times DWI suspects believe they can simply refuse giving a specimen of their breath or blood, but that will not be the case during this holiday period because refusing is not an option. We urge everyone to plan ahead and select a designated driver if they plan on going out and drinking alcohol. Don’t drink and drive.”
In addition to step up DWI enforcement, the Rowlett police also today is beginning an intensive traffic enforcement program targeted at increasing traffic safety by focusing on hazardous violations such as speeding, safety belt violations and aggressive driving in all areas of the city.
The stepped up enforcement will be funded by the Labor Day Wave grant sponsored by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT).
Failing to use seat belts and speeding contribute to numerous unnecessary fatality accidents each year, Rowlett police say. Seat belt use is the single most effective action anyone in a car can take to reduce death in a vehicle crash. It can reduce the risk of death to front seat occupants by 45 percent in a car, and 60 percent in a light truck.
Speeding is one of the most prevalent factors contributing to traffic crashes and costs the American public approximately $40.4 billion annually. Speeding reduces a driver’s ability to safely navigate around curves or objects in the roadway, extends the distance necessary to stop a vehicle, increases the distance a vehicle travels while the driver reacts to a dangerous situation, and contributes to approximately 30 percent of all fatal crashes.
Motorcycle officers assigned to the Traffic Division, as well as officers working overtime
will be target school zones, residential streets and major thoroughfares.
The Labor Day enforcement effort is a follow-up to the Independence Day enforcement period which resulted in six arrests, 28 safety belt citations, and 469 speeding citations, according to Rowlett police records.
A post enforcement survey for the Independence Day grant indicated that safety belt compliance increased from 96 percent to 97.5 percent and speed compliance increased from 14 percent to 15 percent compliance.
Ferrie said the objective of this initiative is to make Rowlett a safer community by decreasing hazardous violations and increasing traffic safety, through voluntary compliance and maintaining a highly visible presence on the roadways.
“We want everyone to be aware that we will have officers out looking for aggressive drivers and hazardous violations,” he said.
