Virginia State Police wrap US Route 15 Border-to-Border Enforcement Op

Virginia State Police were among the eight state police and highway patrol agencies that spent Friday, June 9, 2017, through Sunday, June 11, 2017, 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 3,017 total summonses and arrests among the seven states. There were zero fatal traffic crashes along either highway corridor during the enforcement effort.

State troopers from Florida, Georgia, New York, North Carolina, Maryland, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia worked in conjunction with one another by 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 eight states, especially during the summer travel season.

The three-day, eight-state project netted the following combined summonses and arrests:

• 1,269 speeders & 53 reckless drivers
• 25 DUI arrests
• 441 seat belt violations and 32 child restraint violations
• 10 narcotics/drug arrests
• 130 commercial vehicle equipment violations

Virginia State Police accounted for 835 of those total summonses and arrests along U.S. Route 15 in the counties of Loudoun, Prince William, Warren, Culpeper, Madison, Orange, Louisa, Fluvanna, Buckingham, Prince Edward, Charlotte and Halifax.

“Once again, the Virginia State Police was proud to partner with fellow state police and highway patrol agencies with the common goal of saving lives along the Route 15 and Route 17 corridors,” said 1^st Sgt. A.D. Blankenship, Area Commander of the Virginia State Police in Loudoun County. “Taking 25 drunken drivers off the highway, slowing down almost 1,300 speeders and buckling up more than 470 children and adults translates into countless lives saved. And, that’s what this initiative is all about – getting the public to recognize the importance of driving to save lives through such proactive actions as buckling up, driving free of distractions, complying with posted speed limits and never driving impaired by alcohol or drugs.”

Operation Border to Border targeted 317 miles of U.S. Route 17 in Florida; 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.

Funds generated from summonses issued by Virginia State Police go directly to court fees and the state’s Literary Fund, which benefits public school construction, technology funding and teacher retirement.