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April 21, 2008

State troopers write over 3,000 tickets during blitz

By Patrick McCreless

PATRICKM@CULLMANTIMES.COM



Fifty extra Alabama State Troopers were on patrol in Cullman County over the last four days and they have the tickets to prove it.

During the Alabama Department of Public Safety campaign, entitled Take Back Our Highways: 50/4, the extra troopers wrote 3,534 tickets — a significant increase over the amount of tickets normally written in Cullman during a typical four-day time span.

“We would not normally write that many in Cullman, we normally have six or seven guys working that county,” said Alabama State Trooper Spokesman Curtis Summerville.

Among the tickets written, 1,254 were for speeding, which Alabama Department of Public Safety (DPS) statistics indicate is the leading cause of fatal crashes in the state. Troopers also wrote 18 tickets for motorists driving under the influence, 847 for motorists not using seat belts and or child restraints, 53 for drivers following too close and 21 for improper lane changes. Another 681 tickets were written for drivers without insurance while 237 were for drivers without licenses.

Sixty-three non-traffic arrests were made as well.

“Those could be for warrants,” Summerville said.

Along with ticket writing, the extra troopers worked 17 wrecks, none of which resulted in a fatality. Summerville said the low number of arrests and absence of fatalities made the safety campaign a success.

“It’s definitely a success ... the bottom line is we had zero fatalities,” he said.

Cullman is the third county to take part in the safety blitz campaign this year. The county was chosen due to its high level of vehicle fatalities in last year.

According to DPS statistics, Cullman was the county with the second highest number of fatal crashes in 2007. Last year, Cullman had 39 fatal crashes, which was an all time record for the county.

Take Back Our Highways: 50/4 is the latest in a string of safety campaigns from the DPS. Troopers and other law enforcement personnel have conducted blitzes of the state’s interstates, state highways and county roads in an effort to stop reckless, drivers, drunk drivers and other traffic violators.

Statistics indicate that so far this year, there have been 123 vehicle fatalities on rural roads across the state, the lowest number of deaths year-to-date since 1999. Crashes are at their lowest level in 12 years.

“What we’re doing is working, it’s saving lives,” said Gov. Bob Riley in a recent press release. “Nothing is more important.”



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