Cars are speeding through neighborhoods and folks have had enough. The InterNeighborhood Council (INC), Bicycle and Pedestrian Commission (BPAC) and some individual citizens are pressing hard for a crackdown on dangerous and distracted driving in Durham neighborhoods. A recent report explains how they are attempting to send a message that Durham will not tolerate distracted driving, irresponsible driving, and breaking traffic rules.
The Effects of Dangerous Driving
It’s hard to open the newspaper without reading of a car accident involving serious injuries, or even death. What the articles rarely illuminate is the feelings of those who live in fear of dangerous drivers. Those voices are now being heard. Groups and concerned citizens are calling for law enforcement and the city manager’s staff to create a traffic enforcement plan and track department resources spent on traffic enforcement, along with the results.
The NCDOT reported there was an average of 77.6 vehicle-pedestrian crashes in Durham from 2008 through 2012, with a total of 11 fatalities. In the same period there was an annual average of 23 bicycle-vehicle crashes, none fatal.
In an effort to better understand contributing factors to Durham higher than average vehicle-pedestrian accidents, Durham police conducted a observed if motorists yielded to pedestrians at marked crosswalks on West Club Boulevard and Fayetteville Street. According to a report by Officer David E. Kulb, the yield rates were 25 percent and 15 percent, respectively. The report also showed that Durham’s accident rate increased while most North Carolina cities experienced decreases.
Dangerous Driving Defense
With such a public outcry, law enforcement may very well step up enforcement in Durham neighborhoods. As good as that may sound, zealous enforcement like this can affect unsuspecting drivers. Those traveling the streets of Durham which have fallen under such scrutiny, may find far more harsh treatment then they would have otherwise.
Speeding tickets are not only fines payable to the court. Your insurance company will access insurance points, which will raise your premiums for years to come. You are entitled to defend any traffic citation, including speeding tickets. The Law Firm of John C. Fitzpatrick has been defending speeding tickets and other criminal charges for more than ten years.