LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Officers handed out more than 600 tickets during a month-long clamp down on aggressive driving in Lexington. More than 400 citations were for speeding.
Lt. Jeremiah Davis says they participated in a nationwide campaign and used federal funding to pay for overtime to put more officers on the roads from July 1 to July 23.
"We're just doing our part as a local agency to try to promote safer driving, trying to reduce the number of collisions and make the roads safer for everybody that's out there," said Davis.
An officer for 18 years, Davis says he's seen a gamut of aggressive driving behaviors on the road from drivers.
"Folks who are speeding, folks who are making abrupt lane changes without signaling, folks who are combining some of those actions," said Davis.
Officers cited drivers during the campaign for a total of 610 citations. It's an increase of 37% from June.
However, it is less than was cited in July 2022 when there was no campaign.
"There's no definitive answer as to, you know, how successful this campaign was. But when I look at that, you know, when I look at the fact that, yes, the education part probably did play a role in the fact that we wrote less citations," said Davis.
Here's the month-to-month breakdown:
July 2023
DISREGARDING TRAFFIC CONTROL:
37
DUI:
40
SEATBELTS:
83
SPEED RELATED:
450
June 2023
DISREGARDING TRAFFIC CONTROL:
50
DUI:
78
SEATBELTS:
113
SPEED RELATED:
148
They're hoping to study what they learned and that the campaign does its job — sending the message that selfish actions can wreck lives.
"If everyone who gets behind the wheel of a car shows respect, patience and courtesy to all of those around them. And when everybody does that, you will see aggressive driving go away," said Davis.
