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Every year, Pennsylvania law enforcement officials and transportation experts meet to go over crash data in order determine ways of cutting down on "aggressive driving" collisions.
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Every year, Pennsylvania law enforcement officials and transportation experts meet to go over crash data in order to determine ways of cutting down on "aggressive driving" collisions.
They increase police presence on roadways, try to educate drivers people and make changes to intersections and roadways. But no matter what the state and police can do, stopping "aggressive driving" all comes down to the drivers.
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"It boils down to impatience," said Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Rob Hicks. "That's why it's so important we make the right decisions when it comes to safe driving."
"Aggressive driving" makes up nearly two-thirds of the crashes that occur in Adams, Dauphin, Cumberland, Lancaster, York, Lebanon and Perry counties a year. From 2009 to 2014, "aggressive driving" was listed as the cause of 64,000 crashes.
What is 'aggressive driving?'
"Aggressive driving" is most commonly found to have caused a crash if it involved one of three factors - speeding, tailgating or cutting people off.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation goes through countless crash reports every year to determine the cause of collisions. The statistics PennDOT develops are then used to make roadway and intersection improvements, target police enforcement and receive grants.
While the state police and a local police department may define "aggressive driving" differently in reports, PennDOT has the final say, for statistical purposes, in how collisions causes are identified.
PennDOT Spokeswoman Fritzi Schreffler and the state determines that the cause of a collision is "aggressive driving" if two of 20 factors are present during a crash. Those factors include the three used by state police plus reckless driving, careless driving, racing on highways, eluding, disregarding traffic signals and more.
Hicks said aggressive driving is typically someone wanting to get somewhere faster than another driver.
"We live in a fast-paced society. We all have places we need to go. We all have appointments and deadlines," Hicks said. "[But] we all have a right to be on those roadways and use those roadways to get to where we need to go to but we also have a responsibility to drive safely."
What's the solution?
Every fall, Schreffler said law enforcement and transportation officials meet to go over the previous year's aggressive driving data. Officials will analyze data and determine where improvements need to be made to cut down on aggressive driving.
Schreffler said it all comes down to police enforcement. Nothing cuts down on people driving aggressively more than police on the roads.
"A lot of people will get pulled over by an officer and say, 'I was being an aggressive driver, really,' " Schreffler said. "We try to do as much education as we can, but it seems to come down to enforcement."
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The crash data they've collected, she said, helps identify specific areas that cops should be patrolling. Schreffler said the data is also used to get grand money to pay for aggressive driving enforcement.
As effective as enforcement is, Hicks said it's up to each driver to make a conscious effort to take their time and drive safely
"It really rests on the shoulders of each individuals to make the smart decisions to drive safely," Hicks said.