The Aurora Traffic Safety Project is going to be running a large-scale safe driving enforcement patrol along Aurora Ave N on Thursday, April 14.
From the Seattle Department of Transportation:
On April 14th beginning at 6:30 am and running all day and evening, the Seattle Police Department, Washington State Patrol and Washington Liquor Control Board will be conducting a major traffic enforcement patrol to deter aggressive and distracted driving on Aurora. Specifically the patrol will focus on the behaviors we know are contributing to collisions, injuries and deaths along Aurora such as speeding, following too close, unsafe turns, DUI, cell phone usage and other in car distractions.
Tomorrow’s patrol is part of the Aurora Traffic Safety Project, a two year effort to “improve safety through engineering improvements, increased enforcement, and educational outreach” along Aurora Ave N. Some 1,581 collisions occurred on Aurora between the Battery Street Tunnel and N 145th Street between April 2005 and March 2008. These figures add up to nearly 46 collisions per month. Since the project began in 2009, collisions on Aurora have been reduced by more than 20 percent, according to SDOT.
Aurora is a busy thoroughfare and thriving community. Making it safer means getting the safe driving message out to all drivers on Aurora. Our goal is to change driver behavior to make Aurora safer; not write citations. A big part of achieving this goal is getting the safe driving reminder out to drivers well before the emphasis patrol.
More than 50 Seattle Police Department personnel will be participating in the patrol, which will include squad car and motorcycle units, the aggressive drivers response team, and the DUI squad. Six patrol units from the Washington State Patrol and three teams from the Washington Liquor Control Board will also be participating in the program, which will be operating out of a unified command center will be established at 125th and Aurora.
The Aurora Traffic Safety Project is trying to increase awareness about the patrol, so tell your friends and neighbors. For more information about the project, visit the Aurora Traffic Safety Project website.