Fayetteville Police Beef Up Enforcement
Fayetteville Police announced Monday they are beefing up traffic enforcement for two days in an effort to reduce vehicle accidents on North College Avenue.
“White Honda going northbound, number two lane, manipulating phone while she is driving,” said a Fayetteville Police officer sitting an unmarked car on College Avenue.
Whether you`re texting, on Facebook or just not paying attention to the road, you could get pulled over.
“A Pontiac Vibe, going northbound in the number 2 lane.”
Fayetteville police set up at different locations on one of the busiest stretches in town spotting distracted drivers.
“She was texting as she rolled up, let’s see if she continues,” said Sgt. Craig Stout.
Police will patrol the blocks between North and Millsap. The goal is to bring awareness to drivers about traffic collisions, distracted driving and reduce the number of accidents.
Police said they will be in marked and unmarked cars looking for:
- distracted drivers
- following too close
- improper use of center lane
- failure to yield
- failure to signal turn or lane changes
- improper right turn
- disobeying traffic signals
Fayetteville Police say the above violations have been the most common factors in traffic factors in the city.
Stout said it`s not just those who are texting and driving.
”We had one lady who had both hands dedicated to putting on her makeup as she was driving down the road with her knee, it`s just not electronic devices, we are seeing all types of violations.”
Police say the reason for the enforcement is to cut down on accidents…
“Anytime you look away from the road, and what’s happening in front of you, it only takes a split second to have an accident,” added Stout.
And some say there`s no excuse to have both hands off the wheel, with new technology
“If you really need to talk with somebody you can easily sync your phone to your blue tooth headset and talk like that,” said Fayetteville driver, Jeremey.
“Most wrecks are going to happen because of texting and driving, people just not paying attention and running into other cars or pedestrians, so I think it`s a good thing they`re trying to enforce this,” added Stormey Jones.
Within four hours, police observed more than 60 violations.
