Posted on 11/02/2009 11:36:55 AM PST by BGHater
HOUSTON -- The Houston Police Department launched a new creative campaign to crack down on dangerous and aggressive drivers, KPRC Local 2 reported Wednesday.
The plan calls for putting plainclothes officers in different locations around the city to spot drivers who are speeding, not wearing seat belts, or changing lanes erratically.
In one tactic, senior Houston Police Officer William Dodson will dress in street clothes and stand at a street corner with a sign in his hand.
Some people could mistake him for a vagrant, but on closer inspection, they will see that the sign is reminding people to wear their seat belts.
Dodson will radio ahead to an officer in a marked HPD unit who will make the stop and issue a citation.
"You can see the drivers start to pull on their seat belts," said Dodson.
"This is about safety on our freeways," said HPD Capt. Carl Driskell with the Traffic Enforcement Division.
So far this year, HPD has recorded 179 traffic fatalities.
Most of those automobile crashes were alcohol related, and about one-quarter of the people killed were not wearing seat belts.
HPD said it plans to begin its new initiative this week.
This police department has too much money. A budget cut would clarify priorities nicely.
Be seeing you.
Lots of dangerous drivers in front of this shopping center...
Nice that seat belt violations are the biggest crime in Houston.
Yup, more spying brought to you by the nanny state.
I still remember them saying “Oh we will never use this as a primary offense, its only a secondary ticket for seat-belts”
Now its the main focal point of these kind of “stings”
How silly. Its NOT the govts biz if I wear my seat-belt.
The mayoral candidates say how they will put more officers out on the streets.
How about scaling back the number of multi-officer ticketing operations and put them on PATROL instead?
What’s more, the officers say that Houston streets are too dangerous (too much violent crime) and that they want all patrol cars to have 2 officers. If the officers don’t feel safe in this town, how are the citizens supposed to feel about driving around alone at night?
The City of Austin began doing this a few months ago using police in city buses. The buses would drive along freeways with a cop watching for violators. He’d radio a unit on the feeder and it would come out and pull the violator over.
They’ve added a BACKSEAT seltbelt requirement for all passengers as well (September 1st).
I don’t live in Houston, but around here, my observation is that most traffic issues are caused by three things.
1) Equipment failure/malfunction/disuse (no brake, stop, turn signals, or the inability to use them)
2) Improper lane usage - failure to stay right, failure to yield the right of way.
3) Poor maintenance. Bald tires, atrocious alignment (or lack of it), worn brakes.
But I never see the police going after these types of drivers, even though anyone driving sees them everywhere.
Make that four things
4) Driver distractions. Kids, cell phone, putting on makeup, reading the newspaper, texting, whatever.
A woman almost rear-ended me this morning. She was on a cell phone and reading a book(!) while driving. I can’t help but admire her a bit - she must have some skillful legs with which to drive as her hands weren’t available.
I just get in the lane I’m going need and stay in it, unless I encounter someone going waaaaay too slow.
Of course, from my experiences on GA 400, I’m the one most people think is going too slow.
I’d be happier if they’d solve the 18 unsolved arsons we’ve had in the Heights instead of playing seat belt nanny.
Absurd and complete bs. HPD goes after soft targets. OK seat belt violations are one thing, but illegals riding around with no tags, no inspection sticker or registration, and ignoring the traffic laws don’t get stopped. Plus, with the ecomonic activity down, the city of Houston is really hurting in the tax money downturn. For the last 18 months, there has been LOTS of traffic enforcement on the roads, close to triple than before. This is just about tax revenue.
Maybe they figure the arsonist is a non seatbelt wearing monster.
Yup, we have no other crime issues in this town.
The main reason for this “crackdown” is it is a revenue producer.
Exactly. I agree with you. A department that has undercover officers to spare, and can devote resources to going after normal citizens is a department that has too many officers.
As you say, a budget cut would clarify their priorities.
They always say it's about safety, but in the end, real safety takes a back seat to revenue. Just look at the red light cameras. If they really wanted safety, they'd lengthen the yellow lights by a second or two (or add a second of dead time, where all lights are red) so that traffic could clear the intersection, but that would mean a loss of $.
“”This is about safety on our freeways,” said HPD Capt. Carl Driskell with the Traffic Enforcement Division.”
LOL, no one w/ a brain believes that whopper. It’s rarely about safety and all about $$$.
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