LEWISTON, N.Y. — Cracking down on aggressive driving, police across Niagara County say they're stepping up patrols to get drivers to slow down.
They also say with some traffic courts still not open due to COVID restrictions, that this is affecting enforcement.
"There were some 80s, 90s, we had one young man doing 100 in a 55 in the rural areas. That's the problem you got," Chief John Swick of Middleport Police said.
Police across Western New York agree: They're finding drivers out there behaving the same they did at the height of the pandemic, with the feeling that you can speed and get away with it, because the cops aren't watching and there are fewer cars on the road.
"Here we are in 2021, and what we're finding is people aren't slowing down. They're going well over the speed limit, and that's why we have an uptick in fatalities," according to Trooper James O'Callaghan of New York State Police.
State Police say last year in Western New York they responded to 13 fatalities on our roadways. So far this year, they've responded to 15. Police say they're seeing more road rage out there, speeding, and that DWIs are up.
"We just had speed week, and we're just finishing that up, and that's where we put extra patrols on speed details. We put extra manpower, troop cars out on the road, looking specifically for people speeding, driving distracted," O'Callaghan said.
State Police say they're focused on hotspots and major highways such as the 33, 190 and 290.
The Niagara County Sheriff's Office says police will increase patrols there as well, but that a key part of enforcement still is not there yet.
"There's no person-to-person, face-to-face with the judge for traffic court, so our local courts here, we have had some face-to-face with not guilty pleas, but generally the person gets a traffic ticket, they get a letter from the town prosecutor, an offer is made for reduction, and it's all handled through the mail," O'Callaghan said.
Police hope drivers pay more attention to the road and change their aggressive driving mindset.
"It's going to take us a while to overcome that because there was just the mentality out there that wasn't being paid attention to," Swick said.
If you get 11 points in an 18-month period, your driver license will be suspended. If you receive six or more points on your New York State driving record in 18 months, you must pay a Driver Responsibility Assessment fee.