Ala. Troopers Issued 26,126 Tickets During Five-Day Crackdown

August 20, 2007

Alabama state troopers issued 26,126 tickets in a five-day statewide crackdown last week aimed at reducing speeds and preventing highway deaths.

The troopers wrote 11,931 tickets for speeding and 4,995 for seat belt or child restraint violations. Some 17,991 arrests described as hazardous were made.

For a comparable period last August, troopers, with fewer officers on the highways, issued a total 5,932 tickets. The number of speeding tickets was not included in the summary released Aug. 18, but troopers made 4,506 hazardous arrests.

The Department of Public Safety launched its five-day "Take Back Our Highways'' crackdown on Aug. 13 and put an extra 200 troopers on the roads through Aug. 17, joining about 331 officers on regular duty.

Troopers used radar, LIDAR (light detection and ranging technology), unmarked and marked patrol vehicles and variant patrol vehicles.

The crackdown was in response to traffic deaths nationwide declining 2 percent in 2006, while Alabama's death rate went up 5 percent to the highest level since 1973.

Troopers targeted primary violations and driving behavior that cause crashes and contribute to crash severity, Public Safety Director Col. J. Christopher Murphy said in a statement last week. These include speeding, failure to yield the right of way, following too closely, driver inattention, and DUI. Troopers made 140 arrests for drunken driving.

During the crackdown, troopers also recorded fewer injuries and deaths than during the same period a year ago. There were four traffic fatalities during the crackdown, but 13 occurred during the comparable period last year.

Though speeding is the No. 1 cause of traffic fatalities in the state, the main reason people die in high-speed traffic accidents is because they aren't wearing their seatbelts, said Trooper Capt. Mike Manlief at his post in Tuscaloosa.

"So far this year in our post area, people not wearing seatbelts contributed to 95 percent of traffic fatalities,'' Manlief said. "A lot of people need to realize that just buckling up and slowing down can save your life or the life of someone else.''