Here’s some good news about our local highways. Both DUI and speed-related collisions were down in the first half of 2010 as compared to 2009.
Troopers investigated 27 DUI crashes between January and June in 2010; last year, there was 38 during the same time period.
There were 92 speed-related crashes on state highways in the first half of 2010; that’s down from 112 in 2009.
Troopers also pointed out in a press release that while Kitsap County’s residents wear their seat belts 98 percent of the time, they still wrote up 1,414 tickets for that offense in the first half of 2010.
There have been 898 drivers stopped for aggressive driving on highways, troopers said. It is worth noting that the state patrol has three unmarked patrol cars that troopers drive looking exclusively to build criminal cases against aggressive drivers. The team of three is known as the Aggressive Driving and Apprehension Team.
Three people have been killed on state highways in the first half of this year; two were killed in the same period, troopers said.
And as for the second half of the year, the state patrol is hopeful that Marsha Masters, who filled the Kitsap County Target Zero manager position, will help coordination of emphasis patrols between the county’s law enforcement agencies. There are ones planned for the upcoming Kitsap County Fair.
And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention cell phone tickets. Troopers wrote in June 155 tickets to drivers for cell phone violations; 10 were written for driving while texting.
I know I shouldn’t laugh but that was funny. Let the wars begin, I’m running for president in 2012 HA