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Dover Police Announce Traffic Enforcement Campaigns 4-7-17

Dover Police Department

DRIVE TO SAVE LIVES CAMPAIGN
The Dover Police Department in partnership with the Delaware Office of Highway Safety will participate in a multi-agency traffic campaign to reduce serious and fatal crashes during National Distracted Driving Awareness Month.

These initiatives will be a contributing effort to support the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) initiative, “The Drive to Save Lives Campaign.” The IACP leaders’ goal is to change the high-risk behaviors of motorists in order to decrease the number of collisions through a greater awareness, education, strong partnerships, and high-visibility traffic enforcement.

According to NHTSA, 2015 marked the largest increase in traffic fatalities since 1966. Also, the first half of 2016 revealed a similar pattern of increase.  Distracted Driving fatalities increased 8.8% in 2015 and distracted driving is believed to be responsible for 10% of all fatal crashes. With the first six months of 2016 showing an increase in fatal crashes compared to the first six months of 2015, National Distracted Driving Awareness Month proved to be an appropriate time for this initiative.

On Saturday, April 8th through Sunday, April 9th, 2017, the Dover Police Department will conduct proactive traffic enforcement on targeted roadways to keep motorists safe and reduce fatalities. The enforcement initiatives will focus on speeding, aggressive driving, distracted driving, impaired driving, seatbelt use, pedestrian safety, as well as motorcycle and commercial vehicle safety and enforcement.

 

DISTRACTED DRIVING ENFORCEMENT 
The Dover Police Department will also take part in a two-week long Distracted Driving Enforcement campaign during National Distracted Driving Awareness Month.   Beginning April 13th, the Dover Police Department will place a heavy emphasis on enforcing distracted driving violations in the city of Dover.  The goal of this campaign is to educate the public about the dangers associated with distracted driving through proactive enforcement and to gain compliance of Delaware’s distracted driving laws in order to keep motorists safe on Dover’s roadways.  In 2016, the Dover Police Department investigated 1,946 vehicle crashes, the highest number since 2014 when the department handled 1,938 crashes.  In addition to the vehicle crashes, the department issued a total of 1,221 citations for inattentive driving or cell phone violations in 2016, compared to 1,029 in 2015.