The busy
winter tourist season is underway in Collier County.
And that
means more people on the roads and more traffic accidents.
With that in
mind, the Collier County Sheriff’s Office launched an effort this week aimed at
reducing the number of vehicle accidents along routes identified as high-crash
areas and identifying violators.
Using a data
driven approach, Collier County Sheriff Kevin Rambosk has identified multiple
intersections and roadways in the North Naples area that over the past 12
months have carried more than 40 percent of all of traffic crashes in Collier
County.
“Of these
crashes, approximately 80 percent are the result of careless or inattentive driving,”
said Lt. Mike Dolan of the sheriff’s Safety Traffic Enforcement Bureau (STEB).
Sheriff
Rambosk has directed STEB to work with Patrol units to conduct daytime wolf pack
operations for the purpose of:
* Responding
to traffic crashes in an expedited manner, thus clearing up traffic congestion
and reducing patrol response times to crimes in progress and calls for
assistance.
* Conducting
aggressive driving wolf pack operations where traffic violators are pulled over
and educated. This education may be in the form of a verbal warning, a written
warning, a traffic citation, or a driver re-evaluation.
The program
is designed to address high-volume traffic ways during January, February, March
and April, traditionally peak traffic season in Collier County.
Look for
STEB and Patrol units to be working the main corridors in the North Naples
areas with an emphasis on areas including Airport-Pulling Road, Pine Ridge
Road, Immokalee Road, Livingston Road and Vanderbilt Beach Road.
“We will be
using a number of different and creative strategies to identify aggressive
drivers,” said Lt. Rich Hampton, who supervises the sheriff’s North Naples
substation.
Some marked
patrol cars will be used, unmarked vehicles, as well as a cadre of marked
police motorcycles. All of the deputies working this detail are certified in
the use of radar and laser speed measuring devices, as well are certified in
traffic crash investigations.
