Seven state police and highway patrol agencies spent Friday, June 13, 2014, through Sunday, June 15, 2014, enforcing Operation Border to Border along approximately 791 miles of U.S. Route 15 and 124 miles of U.S. Route 17 in an effort to prevent traffic crashes along the heavily-traveled corridor.
This coordinated traffic safety enforcement initiative resulted in 2,399 total summonses and arrests among the seven states. No traffic fatalities occurred during the three-day project. This is the Georgia State Patrol’s first time to participate in the operation.
State troopers from Maryland, Georgia, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia worked together conducting saturation patrols, sobriety checkpoints, commercial vehicle inspections and other enforcement initiatives to reduce traffic crashes and combat criminal behavior along the non-interstate highways. The north-south East Coast corridors of U.S. Route 15 and U.S. Route 17 are popular for passenger and commercial vehicles attempting to avoid congested interstates serving all seven states, especially during the summer travel season.
Along the entire six-state stretch of Route 15 and Route 17 in Georgia, troopers stopped a combined 1,122 speeders and 35 reckless drivers. A total of 20 drunk drivers were taken off the road. Troopers cited 281 seat belt violations and 26 child restraint violations. The initiative also netted 28 felony and misdemeanor arrests, to include four drug arrests. Troopers also assisted 43 motorists along the routes.
Commercial vehicle enforcement was a key component of the enforcement initiative. In Virginia, troopers conducted 43 motor carrier inspections along the U.S. Route 15 corridor. The inspections yielded 87 motor carrier violations with 12 commercial vehicles and drivers being placed out of service. A dozen commercial vehicles were cited for over-weight violations.
The following summonses/arrests were made by state troopers along Virginia’s 230 miles of U.S.
- Route 15: Loudoun County = 253
- prince william county = 112
- Fauquier County = 176
- Culpeper/Madison/Orange Counties = 123
- Fluvanna/Buckingham Counties = 117
- Prince Edward County = 29
- Charlotte County = 40
- Louisa County = 16
- Mecklenburg County = 21
“Troopers in all seven states had an impressive and proactive impact on the overall safety of U.S. Routes 15 and 17 during this targeted traffic safety operation,” said 1st Sgt. K.D. Blankenship, Area Commander of the Virginia State Police in Loudoun County. “Our goal was to send a clear message to motorists that complying with speed limits, buckling up, avoiding distractions and not driving impaired is just as critical on highways like U.S Routes as on the interstates. We want the public to recognize the importance of driving to save lives in order to prevent traffic crashes and fatalities.”
This is the third year for the coordinated, multi-state enforcement effort targeting U.S. Route 15 and the first time to include U.S. Route 17 in Georgia. The weekend’s operation ties in with the nationwide traffic-safety campaign, Drive to Save Lives (#drivetosavelives). The Drive to Save Lives program challenges each state in the U.S. to reduce traffic deaths by 15 percent by the end of this year. In 2013, more than 33,000 individuals lost their lives in traffic crashes on the nation’s highways.
Operation Border to Border targeted 124.2 miles of U.S. Route 17 in Georgia; and 37.85 miles of U.S. Route 15 in Maryland; 12.71 miles of U.S. Route 15 in New York; 158 miles of U.S. Route 15 in North Carolina; 195 miles of U.S. Route 15 in Pennsylvania; 159 miles of U.S. Route 15 in South Carolina; and 230 miles of U.S. Route 15 in Virginia.
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Chris Graham
