Fairfax Co. to target aggressive drivers all summer

Hank Silverberg, wtop.com

FAIRFAX, Va. – The HEAT is on for aggressive drivers.

Starting on Friday, June 15, Fairfax County Police will step up traffic enforcement in a new program called HEAT, short for “Help Eliminate Aggressive Traffic.”

“Everyone knows how congested traffic is, and every crash just compounds that problem,” says Fairfax County Traffic Division Commander Capt. Susan Culin.

“It just gets more and more frustrating for all drivers.”

Culin says unlike crackdowns in the past that lasted maybe a week or a long weekend, this one will last through Labor Day.

Officers will be targeting red light runners, speeders, tailgaters and reckless drivers.

In 2011, traffic safety violations were up by 1,621 in Fairfax County to 142,263, but Culin says crashes were down.

Reckless driving violations went from 2,788 up to 2,863. So far, in 2012 officers have issued 11,906 speeding violations.

Culin says she hopes the enforcement will remind the public to slow down and be more careful on the road.

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(Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)

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