2 days ago
Street racers in Loveland using social media to avoid police patrols
DENVER (KDVR) — As the weather starts to heat up, police say so have the speeds on roadways in Loveland, but they also say some well-intentioned social media posts are having some negative impacts on their ability to enforce traffic safety.
'With the summertime months coming in, we're starting to see a heavy increase with the street racing,' said Loveland Police PIO Chris Padgett.
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He said speeds are increasing, too.
'We had a motorcycle that we caught on one of our cameras going 135 miles an hour down Eisenhower Boulevard,' said Padgett.
High speeds that make the roads more dangerous for everyone. Padgett said an incident in recent weeks ended in a crash after a street racer tried to outrun officers.
'We're fortunate there were no pedestrians or innocent bystanders who were injured, and we're fortunate that the driver received very minimal injuries, but it could've turned out more catastrophic than what it did,' he said.
The uptick isn't just on busy streets, either.
'Believe it or not, we get a lot of complaints from our residential areas, which is very problematic,' he said.
So, how are they cracking down on it? Patrol details are a big part of the plan, but have become less effective thanks in part to community members alerting others of their locations on social media.
'They have the freedom to do so, but it becomes counterproductive,' said Padgett.
The posts with good intentions often get into the wrong hands.
'We've spoken to these people after we encounter them, and we've been told that, yeah, we follow these pages and when we see you guys are out, we go to another area,' said Padgett.
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Loveland police ask for everyone's help in keeping the roads safer.
'There has to be enforcement otherwise it gets to a level where it can't be enforced anymore,' said Padgett.
They're thankful for any support that the community can give them, which of course includes reporting street racing if you see it in your area.
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