BENTONVILLE, Ark. (KFSM) — All the growth in Northwest Arkansas means more cars on the roads and more accidents.
Bentonville police have now added another officer to its traffic enforcement department.
“With the growth in Northwest Arkansas, every police department is trying to get out in front of this traffic problem. It’s one of the main things we get calls on, the traffic congestion and the accidents,” Sgt. Gene Page said.
Page says that’s why they made Officer Josh Holland the third officer in the traffic enforcement department.
Holland will be investigating traffic accidents and will be trying to reduce the number of accidents by doing directed patrols.
“As far as hot spots in the city that we have the most accidents, I will be patrolling those areas as well as speed enforcement, such as school zones and other busy areas of the city,” Holland said.
Bentonville police respond to around 240 car accidents a month. Police say Rainbow Curve is one of the places they respond to daily for wrecks. Many of them are minor, but they can still back up traffic.
“There are a number of factors, following too closely," Holland said. "A rear-end collision is usually the biggest thing. Usually, with those they aren’t paying attention, or they aren’t giving enough space, and something happens suddenly, and they don’t have time to react.”
Holland says drivers should expect to see more officers patrolling and pulling people over for people following too closely and speeding. He says by reducing the number of car accidents officers have to work, those officers will be able to stay in neighborhoods and side streets to keep the crime rate down.