CLEARFIELD – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and the North Central Highway Safety Network (NCHSN) met Wednesday in Clearfield to honor municipal police officers from McKean, Clearfield, Clinton, Jefferson and Centre counties.
Officers were honored for their outstanding participation in PennDOT’s Aggressive Driving Enforcement and Education Project in 2015. PennDOT District Executive Karen Michael spoke at the event.
Award Recipients included: Officer Bradley Harshbarger, City of St. Marys Police Department, Patrolman Richard Obermeyer, Bradford City Police Department, Officer Anthony Roefero, Spring Township Police Department and Officer Michael McDannel, State College Police Department.
The aggressive driving campaign focused on distracted driving, work zone safety violations and speeding. Motorists exhibiting other unsafe behaviors such as driving too fast for conditions, following too closely, or other aggressive actions were also cited.
Municipal police agencies that participated in last year’s campaign wrote 58,032 aggressive-driving related citations, including 35,126 for speeding, and traffic control signal signs remained the second most-common offense, resulting in 4,879 citations. The enforcement accounted for 376 felony arrests, 121 DUI arrests, and 82 drug-related arrests. There were 2,138 citations issued for occupant protection violations.
The Pennsylvania Aggressive Driving Enforcement and Education Project is funded by part of PennDOT’s $2.5 million investment of federal funds from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The next statewide enforcement wave will start July 6. More than 225 municipal police agencies and the Pennsylvania State Police will take part in this targeted enforcement initiative.
For more information on aggressive driving, visit www.justdrivePA.org. Follow PennDOT on Twitter atwww.twitter.com/511PAStateCOLL.