PennDOT, Police Cracking Down On Aggressive Drivers

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Speeding, tailgating, brake-checking, weaving in and out of traffic... we've all encountered aggressive drivers at some point on the road.

Perhaps you're one of them. If so, police are now out there looking for you. And if you're not one of them, police are hoping to make the roads safer for you by stopping aggressive drivers in their tracks.

From now through the end of August, PennDOT is partnering with state and local police agencies to crack down on aggressive driving.

"Our aim is simple, we want to reduce the number of aggressive driving crashes, injuries and deaths on roadways," said Jay Ofsanik of PennDOT.

Wednesday, they were in Westmoreland County on Route 51 in Rostraver Township, where police stopped several drivers.

"Of particular interest to us is the continued trend of people texting while driving and the associated dangers involved," Lt. John Christner of the Rostraver Police said. "The distraction of texting while driving could and has had grave consequences."

During the past five years in PennDOT's region six, which covers all of southwestern Pennsylvania, deaths from aggressive driving have gone up and down, from a high of 33 in 2012 to a low of 18 last year.

During the same time, deaths from speeding also fluctuated, hitting a high of 60 in 2012 and a low of 29 in 2013.

"Speeding might seem harmless, but when drivers go too fast, they put everybody on the roadway at risk," Ofsanik said.

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To try to bring those numbers down, over the next two months, 235 municipal police agencies and state police will be actively looking for aggressive drivers -- that includes distracted driving, work zone safety violations and speeding. And they're gonna be everywhere, on 450 roads throughout the state.

"We're asking that you be courteous, take turns merging, use your turn signals, let people know what you're gonna do," Tpr. Melinda Bondarenka with the Pennsylvania State Police said. "Don't tailgate, leave sufficient space between you and the vehicle in front of you so that you have that space to react if you need to."

Police also remind you to wear your seat belt at all time and that the left lane is for passing, so once you've passed a car, move back into the right lane.

They say this might all seem like common sense, but many drivers still fail to do it.