The next Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau sTEP (Special Traffic Enforcement Program) initiative begins today (Friday) and runs through Sept. 3, to cover the Labor Day holiday weekend and back-to-school. This method of tracking and reporting traffic issues during different times of year is not only a means to educate and inform drivers and passengers and a way to help keep the roadways safer during heavier travel periods, it is also a program that gives back to local law enforcement. Carroll Police Chief, Brad Burke, says they have already benefitted from grant monies disbursed through the program.
The cost saved by tax payers is about $5,000 per camera. The grant money can be used for traffic enforcement and traffic safety expenses as well as overtime costs the department incurs during the sTEP period. Carroll County Sheriff, Ken Pingrey, says his office is also provided grant money to use in offsetting traffic-related expenses.
The focus is similar to the last sTEP wave over the Fourth of July, on seat belt usage and impaired driving. And when people hear the term operating while intoxicated, Pingrey, wants them to understand that isn’t limited to just alcohol.
Burke says that even though reports are showing an increase in opioid-related impaired driving across the country, that is something that hasn’t yet reached our area. However, prescription opioids are the number one opioid issue in the Carroll area right now. During the enforcement period, the officers write citations, but they also issue a lot of warnings as a way to educate drivers and passengers, particularly about seat belt use, according to Burke.
Surveys conducted before and after the sTEP periods have shown an increase in seat belt usage. Burke and Pingrey both report an average of about 95 percent compliance within the city and the county. The one thing they want everyone to be thinking about when they get behind the wheel, especially with area schools starting next week, is to follow driving laws, put away cell phones and eliminate other distractions. Both Burke and Pingrey report an increase in accidents due to distracted driving, and they say the main duty of every driver is to do everything they can to get to where they are going safely.
