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Aggressive driving blitz along Route 50

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Police are cranking up aggressive driving patrols in hopes motorists will take more care around construction crews working along Route 50.

“This week is National Work Zone Awareness week, where aggressive driving really comes into play. That includes reckless merging, improper passing, stopping and turn signal use,” said Lt. Douglas Bartoe of the state police.

Bartoe joined officers from South Fayette, Cecil and Collier township police departments Monday to announce their collaborative $2.3 million aggressive driving monitoring program with the state Department of Transportation, lasting through May 3. The campaign, which uses federal money from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, uses speed displays, radar detection from state police and coordinated local patrols.

“We will run nine separate details for this aggressive driving campaign,” said South Fayette police Chief John Phoennik. “Route 50 will be under construction through the summer, so this is an important area to monitor, especially because we’ll have people working along the roadway.”

PennDOT officials said Route 50 reconstruction will have single-lane closures and some side street closures in effect through October between Cecil and the Millers Run Road intersection in Bridgeville.

“Our goal with this campaign is not to issue citations, but to reduce the number of aggressive driving-induced crashes,” said PennDOT spokeswoman Juliann Sheldon.

Washington and Greene counties recorded a combined 37 traffic-related deaths in 2013, according to PennDOT, with three of the fatalities linked to aggressive driving. There were 65 deaths in Allegheny county that same year, with five linked to aggressive driving.

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