"Maryland Law Enforcement Crack Down on Aggressive Driving

Maryland Law Enforcement Crack Down on Aggressive Driving; Campaign Continues to Highlight Dangers of Driving Aggressively in the Summer Months

SYKESVILLE, Md., July 21 -- With temperatures rising and summer now in full force, law enforcement officials with the Smooth Operator program continue their commitment to combating aggressive driving during the summer months. In conjunction with the Maryland Public Safety Driver Training Facility, local media were invited this morning to witness aggressive driving behaviors and experience what it feels like to be in a car traveling at high speeds, weaving between lanes and running red lights.

The Maryland Public Safety Training Center's Driver Training Facility in Sykesville, Maryland, trains officers to look out for the aggressive driving behaviors that make the roads dangerous. The facility offers both a highway and urban driving course, designed to reduce the incidence of police involved in motor vehicle collisions, the resulting operational costs, and most significantly deaths and personal injuries of police officers and citizens. This facility trains 20 percent of Maryland law enforcement officers each year. The Training Center also volunteered their facility for a Smooth Operator-sponsored police video on aggressive driving behaviors. The Smooth Operator - A Law Enforcement Response to Aggressive Driving video will to continue to put vitality into the program by reeducating officers who are out in the field to put an end to these dangerous driving behaviors.

Summer means more children playing outdoors, away from the protection of a school classroom, an influx of tourists crowding the sidewalks and construction activities ramping up and slowing down traffic. The hot days of summer often leads to hot-headed driving with a dramatic increase in aggressive driving, speeding injuries and fatalities during the summer months - especially July. Coupled with the fact that Baltimore is among the top 20 most congested regions in the country, the summer months can be a very dangerous time on the roads.

Summer is also the season of highway construction entailing lane shifts, shoulder closures, temporary detours and unexpected slowdowns. In Maryland, traffic-affecting work continues on the Baltimore beltway and the Route 29 expansion. Additionally, this summer's construction impacts on both the Maryland and Virginia side of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge are expected to be the most severe of the 11-year construction project. Law enforcement will be heavy through work zones so drivers need to keep their cool.

The Smooth Operator campaign includes a public education and awareness campaign that runs simultaneously with four separate law enforcement waves, with the 3rd wave beginning Sunday, July 24th and running till July 30th. The fourth wave will run August 28- September 10, 2005. The first wave from May 22-28, 2005 proved to be very successful with 55,189 citations and warnings written for various driving violations, including speeding, running red lights, and non-compliance with safety belt laws. The second wave was also successful 71,717 citations and warnings. During the waves, more than 80 participating law enforcement agencies in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Northern Virginia look out for aggressive driving behaviors, including speeding, tailgating, running red light and stop signs, improper passing and other dangerous driving maneuvers. Last year alone, citations during four enforcement waves totaled more than 260,000 - a fourfold increase from the 62,000 issued in the initial year.

About Smooth Operator

Eighteen Washington area law enforcement agencies launched Smooth Operator in 1997, targeting motorists who drove aggressively. By 1999, the coalition had grown to include elected officials and representatives from government agencies, private sector organizations, and law enforcement agencies from Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. To enhance the annual law enforcement efforts, education and public awareness campaigns and research began in 2000 and formed a cooperative interstate effort that is unique among the law enforcement groups and organizations involved.