Statewide Initiative to Crack Down on Aggressive Driving in PA

In 2016, there were 129,395 reportable traffic crashes in Pennsylvania, taking the lives of 1,188 people and causing major injury to 4,397 people. The Pennsylvania Aggressive Driving Enforcement and Education Project (PAADEEP) is a statewide initiative that utilizes crash data to identify aggressive driving locations. High visibility target enforcement, coordinated media, public awareness and training are conducted at these locations to reduce the number of needless aggressive driving injuries and deaths.

As part of its 2017-2018 program, the PAADEEP will be cracking down on aggressive and distracted driving from October 23rd through November 19th. Over 240 municipal police agencies and the Pennsylvania State Police are scheduled to participate to reduce the number of aggressive driving related crashes, injuries and deaths on roadways throughout the state.

The focus areas for this 4-week enforcement wave will be speeding, following too closely (tailgating), and "driving right, passing left." Law enforcement agencies will also monitor roadways for motorists exhibiting unsafe driving behaviors like driving too fast for conditions, careless driving, red light running and any other aggressive driving actions.

Municipal police agencies that participated in last year’s campaign wrote 43,154 citations, including 28,235 for speeding, 1,655 for occupant protection violations, 2,807 for red light violations and 132 impaired driving arrests.

How to Report an Aggressive Driver

If you see an aggressive driver whose driving behavior has become dangerous for others, you should do the following:

• Keep a safe distance from the driver and do not follow him/her
• Do not make eye contact with the driver or communicate your disapproval to him/her. This can provoke the driver and result in highly dangerous conflict

Call 911 and report the driver to your local police or PA State Police. Remember to pull over to a safe location to use your cell phone to contact local or state police.

Provide the 911 dispatcher with the following:

• Description of the aggressive driver’s vehicle
• Description of the driver’s appearance
• License plate number
• Current location and direction he/she is travelling
• Description of what aggressive behavior the driver is demonstrating

Source: Pennsylvania Traffic Safety Enforcement Resource Center