Full Notification

Tomorrow, July 17th, the Indiana State Police will begin participation in a six state joint enforcement that will concentrate on reducing crashes by curtailing aggressive and reckless driving. The joint effort will involve state police and highway patrol posts from Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Kentucky.

The project is scheduled to run from July 17th through July 23rd. Indiana State Police Captain Bob Burke said “What is substantial about this effort is our ability to work with our neighboring state law enforcement agencies to make our highways safer.” The enforcement effort will include troopers as well as Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division (CVED) personnel from both states.

In the state of Indiana, aggressive driving is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and fines reaching $5,000. You may be charged with this offense if you commit any 3 of the following infractions in a single episode of continuous driving:

•Unsafe operation,
•Passing on the right,
•Unsafe stopping or slowing,
•Unnecessary sounding of the horn,
•Failure to yield,
•Failure to obey traffic signals,
•Following too closely
•Driving at unsafe speeds, and
•Repeatedly flashing headlights.

Not quite as serious as aggressive driving, but still a criminal offense, reckless driving is a Class B misdemeanor that can be committed in a few different ways. Class B misdemeanors are punishable by up to 180 days in jail and fines reaching $1,000. You may be charged with this offense if you were caught:

•Driving at an unreasonably high rate of speed or unreasonable low rate of speed that endangers the safety or people or property or blocks the flow of traffic,
•Passing another car from the rear on a slope or curve where vision is obstructed,
•Swerving in and out of traffic,
•Speeding up or refusing to allow someone to lawfully pass, or
•Passing a stopped school bus.

Indiana Troopers will be utilizing fully marked and unmarked Chargers, unmarked Mustangs and Harley Davidson Motorcycles looking for crash causing violations like those listed above. Commercial Vehicle Enforcement personnel in Indiana will be checking trucks for safety violations, fatigued drivers as well as unsafe food shipments. Scale houses in both states will be utilized to enforce the overweight truck laws.

Motorists can expect to see more patrols along interstates throughout the six state region. The Indiana State Police remains committed to reducing the number of impaired driving crashes as well as all crashes. Motorists are encouraged to report suspected impaired drivers by calling 911. Give a vehicle description, location, and direction of travel. Never follow an impaired driver.