DAUPHIN COUNTY, Pa. — The first wave of the "Aggressive Driving Enforcement" initiative began Oct. 25, and will continue through Nov. 14.
The program will have three waves and is funded by PennDOT along with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Grants will be provided to agencies in accordance with the number of crashes reported in the previous year.
In 2020 alone, PennDOT reported 5,615 aggressive driving-related crashes. The department also reported 2020 showed an average of 286 deadly traffic crashes each day and 168 people being injured in reportable crashes.
The incentive will be held in three waves and will focus on reducing multiple areas of aggressive driving such as speeding, tailgating, factors prohibiting the move over law, and much more.
With eased restrictions this year, Sgt. Stephen Cover of the Lower Paxton Township Police Department says this adds more drivers on the roads with greater risks.
"We've got more teenage drivers back out there, we've got our busses back out there, so we have a lot more traffic than we were seeing a year ago at this time," he said. "Statistically speaking, the more vehicles you have out there, the more drivers you have out there, the more crashes you're going to have."
To learn more about aggressive driving, head to PennDOT's safety portion of their website.