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Published on Thursday, February 26, 2004
in the Lakeland Ledger
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.
The Florida Highway Patrol rolled out hundreds of extra cars and motorcycles and a handful of airplanes Thursday in a two-day push aimed at aggressive drivers and growing concerns over road rage.
The effort, which ends Friday, will put more patrol cars on the road than any other time in the history of the Florida Highway Patrol, said Lt. Pat Santangelo.
The program will continue, to a lesser extent, throughout the year.
The agency started the program, dubbed "Operation Safe Ride," after receiving regular complaints about aggressive and angry drivers weaving in and out of lanes, tailgating and speeding, particularly in urban areas.
In the initial push, FHP was using 1,500 marked cars, 300 unmarked cars, video cameras, radar and airplanes to track irresponsible drivers on all Florida interstates, Florida's Turnpike and other major state roads.
Law enforcement officials hope the two-day effort alerts drivers before the roads become crowded next month with families and college students on spring break and motorcyclists in town for Daytona's Bike Week. March typically has more deaths and auto accidents than any other month in Florida.
"In response to all the complaints, we just wanted to focus on those individuals who drive carelessly and who make our roads more dangerous," said Lt. Bill Leeper.
Last year, aggressive drivers received 6,643 citations, up slightly from the year before. Leeper said judges often will issue higher fines or require an aggressive-driving course for offenders.
Rep. Irv Slosberg, D-Boca Raton, said the two-day effort only begins to solve the growing problem of aggressive drivers.
"It's all over I-95. It's all over the Turnpike. It's prevalent everywhere," said Slosberg, the vice chairman for the House highway safety committee. "This is just two days and after that, everyone's going to forget it."
Slosberg said low salaries for Florida Highway Patrol troopers keep too many jobs unfilled and lead to too much turnover. He said 22 percent of graduates from the FHP academy have left the agency in the last two years, possibly to South Florida sheriff's offices that pay 20 percent to 40 percent more.
"Once you hire the right amount of troopers and you pay them the right amount, everything is going to change," he said. "The only way to hit the aggressive drivers is to make sure that we have the right amount of Florida Highway Patrol troopers are on the road."