The Maryland State Police, along with allied law enforcement partners, conducted on Tuesday the final of six traffic enforcement initiatives aimed at targeting excessive speeding, aggressive and impaired driving, with a goal of reducing vehicle-related fatalities in Prince George’s and Montgomery counties.
The traffic enforcement detail concentrated on I-495 (Capital Beltway) and included law enforcement personnel representing troopers from the Maryland State Police Washington Metro Troop (College Park, Forestville and Rockville barracks). Other agencies that have assisted in this effort over the past six months includes the Montgomery County Police Department, the Prince George’s County Police Department and Virginia State Police.
As part of Tuesday’s initiative, law enforcement personnel issued 149 citations, 155 warnings and 34 safety equipment repair orders. This effort also led to one criminal arrest, three warrant arrests and 12 people being cited for Move Over law violations. The six-month initiative included work by 137 troopers and yielded the following results:
- 875 citations
- 803 warnings
- 6 Move Over citations
- 41 Move Over warnings
- 43 safety equipment repair orders
- 8 warrant arrests
- 11 CDS arrests
The Maryland Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Administration’s Highway Safety Office provided grant funding for the operation. According to Automated Crash Reporting System data provided by the MDOT MVA’s Highway Safety Office, more than 17, 100 crashes were reported in Prince George’s County and more than 9,700 crashes were reported in Montgomery County in 2020.
Between 2018 and 2020, the Forestville Barrack responded to 7,645 crashes while the College Park and Rockville barracks responded to 5,365 and 4,791 crashes, respectively. Over that time, the Washington Metro Troop has conducted dozens of initiatives, with the goal of reducing traffic crashes in the area. This is especially true around the Capital Beltway, which has represented about 50 percent of those reported crashes. These targeted and direct enforcement efforts have yielded significant results in reducing the number of reported crashes.
This includes the following breakdown of crashes within the Washington Metro Troop:
- Forestville Barrack – 2,764 (2018), 2,585 (2019), 2,293 (2020)
- College Park Barrack – 1,916 (2018), 1,827 (2019), 1,622 (2020)
- Rockville Barrack – 1,921 (2018), 1,749 (2019), 1,121 (2020)
With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, traffic volume decreased significantly in 2020. However, the speed of the vehicles increased dramatically, leading to concerns of “super speeders” in the region. Troopers have conducted multiple initiatives over the past year to address the issue.
Maryland State Police in the Washington Metro Troop will continue to conduct traffic safety initiatives throughout the coming months. These initiatives are data-driven and will be focused in areas where crash data indicates they are most needed.
