State Patrol to ticket aggressive drivers in King County

It can be a real headache for motorists in King County when a road is blocked because of a commercial motor vehicle collision. Collision data reveals that the majority of these crashes are caused by the automobile, not the truck.

Starting on September 24, 2012, WSP will conduct a week-long Ticketing Aggressive Cars and Trucks (TACT) emphasis in King County to change driver behavior around big trucks and try and reduce the number of injuries and fatalities caused by these collisions.

The upcoming emphasis is part of a TACT Project that has WSP troopers and local and county law enforcement conducting four week-long emphases during the next nine months in King County.

“Motorists who drive recklessly, or are unsafe around these big rigs, are asking for trouble,” said Chief John R. Batiste, Washington State Patrol.  “These trucks are unforgiving in the amount damage they do to a car in a collision.”

The goal of this TACT Project is to change driver behavior when operating around commercial motor vehicles, to reduce the number of crashes, injuries and fatalities, and to increase public awareness about unsafe driving behaviors around commercial vehicles (i.e. cutting off trucks, tailgating, failure to yield right of way, speeding, and aggressive driving).

Batiste made clear that TACT stands for Ticketing Aggressive Cars AND Trucks.

“Troopers and other police officers assigned to TACT are not just after the car drivers,” he said. “Officers will also look for truck drivers who don’t share the road”.

Law Enforcement will also be partnering with the Washington Trucking Association (WTA) during the last three week-long TACT emphases.  WTA will provide a truck and driver during the emphases with an officer riding in the vehicle spotting violations that happen around the vehicle.  Along with the truck, the WSP aircraft will take to the sky looking for unsafe drivers around trucks.

Most of the collisions involving commercial motor vehicles that occur in King County happen on the interstate and state routes.  Officers will patrol I-5 from Seattle to Federal Way, I-90 from Seattle to North Bend, I-405 from Bellevue to Tukwila, SR-167 from SR-18 to I-405, and SR-18 from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the times most collisions occur.  The enforcement dates are September 24 – 28, 2012, December 10 – 14, 2012, March 11-13, 2013, and May 20 – 24, 2013.

This TACT Project is a grant from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.  The grant is part of a program directed by Congress in 2004 to educate passenger car drivers on how to share the roadway safely with commercial vehicles.