3 days ago
MCPD's Summer Traffic Task Force targets impaired drivers
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now) — On Saturday, May 31, there was a fatal collision at the intersection of Sam Eig Highway and Fields Road. Officials with the Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) say it was caused by a suspected drunk driver.
Ten days before the deadly accident, police launched a Summer Traffic Task Force initiative to try to prevent tragedies like this from happening this summer.
'We're in graduation season,' Captain Warren Jensen, leader of MCPD's Traffic Operations Division, said, 'Memorial Day, Fourth of July, summer parties, post-prom, things like that; so we decided it was a good idea to go ahead and step up our enforcement.'
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Jensen said last year's alarming impaired driving fatal collision numbers led them to implement this traffic enforcement initiative.
'Fifty-five percent of all of our fatal collisions involved some sort of substance, and obviously, that's a completely unacceptable number,' he said.
Jensen says this is the department's first time doing a traffic enforcement initiative in the summer.
'We've ended up with about 15 officers on average,' he said. 'Sometimes it's 20, depending on staffing.'
That number includes officers from other agencies — including the Gaithersburg Police Department, Park Police, Maryland Transportation Authority, Rockville Police and Maryland State Police, Jensen said.
MCPD says the two-car collision on May 31 at the intersection of Sam Eig Highway and Fields Road left an 88-year-old woman seriously injured. She later died.
Police say the 18-year-old who ran into her is believed to have been impaired at the time.
'The case is still in its infancy,' Jensen said, 'so they're not ready to speak about exactly all the details yet. It's obviously a tragic situation, and alcohol is absolutely suspected.'
Losing a loved one in a fatal collision is a pain Richard Leotta knows all too well. His son, Noah, was an MCPD officer who worked in the traffic division until 2015 when he was struck and killed by an impaired driver.
'Hopefully with the enhanced enforcement,' Leotta said, 'people will recognize to think twice and plan ahead, so they can get a safe and sober ride home.'
Jensen says the Summer Traffic Task Force Enforcement initiative will go until the end of July. So far, they've made 33 DUI arrests and issued nearly 300 citations.
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