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Posted by: kwflatbed

Officials Kickoff Operation Care

Related To Story


Video: Holiday Highway Crackdown

BOSTON -- As the Fourth of July holiday approaches, Massachusetts state police urged motorists to stay safe Friday.

NewsCenter 5's Steve Lacy reported that state police joined with their counterparts in New England and New York to kickoff Operation Care.

"Operation Care was formed to deter the three key causes of highway fatalities -- speeding, impaired operation and the failure to use occupant restraints," Massachusetts State Police Col. Mark Delaney said.
A key component of the effort to keep impaired drivers off the road is the state police breath alcohol testing mobile. It's essentially a traveling police station, where a person can be booked and held for transport.

"We've been averaging between 12 and 15 arrests per sobriety checkpoint," State Police Lt. Dana Pagley said. "It's not only for the enforcement end, but also for an educational tool."

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news...30/detail.html

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Posted by: DeputyFife

Published: 06/29/2007
Troopers crack down on road rage
By Dan Atkinson
Staff Writer



Angry at that clown who just cut you off? Thinking of speeding up and riding his bumper to show him who's boss?
Think again, especially if you're on Interstate 95 or Route 1 in the Newbury/Newburyport area. State troopers are working overtime to crack down on aggressive drivers.
"It's not just in Newbury, but we've targeted Newbury a little heavier," Sgt. Richard Eubanks said. "There's two roads dumping into New Hampshire, lots of holiday or visitor traffic ... it's quite a busy area of work."
Eubanks did not have statistics for the full crackdown, but 11 drivers were issued summonses on charges of negligent driving last weekend. Most were from out of the area, including three from Quebec and one from California.
This weekend marks the beginning of the July 4 holiday week - typically a time when vacation and beach traffic clogs I-95 and Interstate 495.
The crackdown is in conjunction with State Courts Against Road Rage, a driver education program that Eubanks teaches. Funding from the state pays for the troopers' overtime and for the use of the Air Wing helicopter, which can track aggressive drivers and relay their position to cruisers. The helicopter can also tape motorists' dangerous behavior for use in court, though most drivers are eager to admit their misdeeds and keep those images suppressed, Eubanks said.
"People don't want others to see what they were doing," he said.
The state police performed a similar crackdown two years ago, netting dozens of negligent drivers. Like this year, beach and tourist traffic accounted for many of the summonses. While speeding alone can be considered negligent driving - as in the cases of a man driving his brother's Porsche at 150 mph last week or a motorcyclist traveling at 130 mph a few days ago, both on I-95 - troopers are mainly looking for drivers sliding across lanes without signaling, cutting in and out of traffic, or following too close, Eubanks said.
Speeding will usually result in a citation, but negligent driving requires the offender to go to court. And part of the sentence is participating in SCARR, which should break drivers of their bad habits, Eubanks said. The program uses videos and guest speakers to show the dangers of negligent driving and gives tips to help drivers control their anger.
Eubanks checks participants' criminal records a year after they've completed the program and said that on average, 10 percent have committed another driving-related offense.

"One in 10, I think, is pretty good," Eubanks said.
The extra patrols continue through this weekend, and Eubanks said that depending on the state police budget, they might resume later in the summer.
"The more eyes we have out there, the more we can do," he said.

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