The Post Falls Police Department recently teamed up with the National Highway Traffic Administration and Law Enforcement Agencies around the state in an Aggressive Driving Mobilization. This mobilization took place July 15-26, 2010.

In 2008, Aggressive driving was a contributing factor in 54% of all crashes and 100 fatalities in Idaho. The economic cost of crashes involving aggressive driving is $1.3 billion dollars. This represents 49% of the total cost of all crashes in Idaho. Aggressive driving is the highest single contributing factor in both injury and fatal crashes.

The goal of this mobilization was to reduce motor vehicle crashes, injuries and deaths caused by aggressive driving behaviors, through increasing law enforcement presence, increasing citations and arrests, and through local media outreach.

The signs of the behaviors that define aggressive driving are:

Failure to yield right of way, stop sign violations, exceeding the posted speed limit, basic rule/too fast for conditions, reckless operation, tailgating, and disregarding traffic signs or signals. These are many of the violations the officers issued citations for during this mobilization.

We had the opportunity to have KREM 2 news come out and ride along with an officer and see firsthand what the campaign was all about. We are happy to report that this was a very successful campaign. We also would like to thank the motoring public for doing their part in promoting safety and following the rules of the road.