Six state police and highway patrol agencies this weekend will once again engage in Operation Border to Border, a coordinated traffic safety enforcement initiative targeting approximately 791 miles of U.S. Route 15, which originates in Waterboro, S.C., and ends in Corning, N.Y. The corridor is a heavily-traveled thoroughfare for summer vacationers and for those attempting to avoid congested interstates serving all six states.
Just as the summer vacation begins for thousands of students and families up and down the East Coast, state troopers from Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia will carry out Operation Border to Border to prevent traffic crashes, injuries and fatalities along the entire length of U.S. Route 15. For three days, troopers from each of the six agencies will work together, conducting saturation patrols, sobriety check points and other enforcement initiatives to reduce traffic crashes and combat criminal behavior along this major, non-interstate highway. The initiative begins at 12:01 a.m. Friday, June 13, 2014, and runs through midnight, Sunday, June 15, 2014.
This is the third year for the coordinated, multi-state enforcement effort targeting U.S. Route 15 and ties in with the nationwide traffic-safety campaign, Drive to Save Lives (#drivetosavelives). With additional troopers on patrol along this north-south corridor, motorists are reminded to comply with each state’s Move Over law (#MoveOver).
Last year, troopers from the six states stopped and cited a total of 684 speeders, 14 reckless drivers, and 28 impaired drivers. Troopers cited 260 seat belt violations and 11 child restraint violations. A total of 25 felony and misdemeanor arrests, to include four drug arrests, also resulted from the initiative. No traffic fatalities occurred during the 2013 three-day project. In addition, 142 motor carrier inspections were conducted in Maryland, New York and Virginia. The inspections yielded 147 motor carrier violations with 28 commercial vehicles and drivers being placed out of service.
In 2013, a total 1,032 traffic crashes occurred on Virginia’s 230-mile stretch of U.S. Route 15. The highway winds its way from Clarksville at the North Carolina border through Virginia to the Maryland border at Loudoun County. The highway alternates between two-lane, rural stretches of road to urban four-lane highways, linking the towns of Clarksville, Farmville, Culpeper, Warrenton and Leesburg. The 2013 Border to Border traffic safety campaign netted 431 total summonses and arrests, to include 192 for speeding. Speed, fatigue, alcohol, and illegal drugs have been the most common causes of the crashes investigated along the Route 15 corridor within recent years.
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Chris Graham
