From the Harford County Sheriff’s Office and Maryland State Police:
Throughout the holiday season, it is easy to feel rushed. Too often, we let day-to-day activities interfere with our focus when we are driving, but when you add the hustle and bustle of the busy holiday season, driving without distraction can be even more challenging. Therefore, during this holiday season and into the New Year, the Harford County Sheriff’s Office and Maryland State Police want to remind the citizens of Harford County, that now more than ever, it is important to slow down and pay attention when you are behind the wheel of a vehicle. Your safety and the safety of your fellow drivers are our #1 concern.
Traditionally, the period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s is one of the most deadly and dangerous times on our roadways. “Distracted and impaired driving can have dangerous and life altering consequences,” stated Harford County Sheriff L. Jesse Bane. “Our goal is to help our citizens avoid accidents if possible by reminding them to stay focused while behind the wheel.”
High Crash Areas Targeted
Several years worth of State Highway Administration, accident statistics and data have helped local law enforcement officials identify “high crash” areas in Harford County that will be targeted for enforcement over the next several months. Some of the key areas identified to date are:
– Route 24 between I-95 and Bel Air
– Route 22 between Aberdeen and Bel Air
– Route 1 between Fallson and Hickory
– Route 40 between Joppa Road and Edgewood Road
– Tollgate Road in Bel Air
– Box Hill Parkway in Abingdon?
Harford County Ranked 5th in State for Traffic Fatalities
Harford County, MD ranks fifth (5th) highest in the State (including Baltimore City) for vehicular accidents with fatalities. As of December 2011, there were 22 fatal accidents reported on Harford County roadways.
The County’s State ranking in traffic fatalities have raised serious concerns for Harford County’s local law enforcement officials. “These are not statistics to be proud of,” stated Lieutenant Chuck Moore of the Maryland State Police – Bel Air Barracks. Therefore, Harford County’s Law Enforcement Agencies have formed the Harford County Traffic Task Force designed to educate citizens on the perils associated with traffic related offenses, while implementing a cohesive plan for aggressive traffic enforcement throughout the year.
Focused Enforcement Efforts
Traffic enforcement efforts will focus on correcting such negative driving behaviors as following too closely, speeding, reckless driving, cell phone violations, failing to wear seatbelts, and operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol and/ or drugs.
The Harford County Sheriff’s Office and the Maryland State Police – Bel Air Barracks hope to achieve the following in Harford County MD through this joint traffic safety initiative:
– Reduction in the overall number of crashes, specifically in identified “high crash” areas
– Education for drivers that may be committing traffic violation that lead to crashes
Through the combination of resources and community awareness, the Harford County Sheriff’s Office and Maryland State Police are striving to reduce the costs associated with accidents, while saving lives.
Route 24 between I95 and Bel Air? Correct the timing on the lights, Singer Road is now a worse back-up than 924 was before the overpass.
Also the stoplight for I95N traffic going to 24N that crosses 24S is a disaster, as at the same light 24S goes from 3 lanes to 2, forcing a very awkward merge in a short distance. The 24S 3->2 merge needs to be moved before the stop light, then build a proper merge lane for the I95 off-ramp traffic.
I looked at the plans for the project a year and a half ago and I immediately sent an email to the MDTA telling them that unless they planned to do something else, they were only going to succeed in moving the traffic from one intersection up to the next one (Singer). While I don’t normally use Singer at commute times, I have seen the extra amount of traffic since the change. You can go to the MDTA website for the project and send them email. I have sent 2 since it was completed.
As far as the problem at Singer now, however, I think you will find they will give you a non-answer because there is not a solution. I don’t think the timing of the lights is going to accomplish anything.
But the 24/Tollgate/Emmorton intersection is quite a bit better overall. It won’t last long.
What happened to all the BRAC Federal money that was going to flow into the state for infratructure improvements? Still waiting. Can you hear us Steny and Dutch? Another campaign promise down the drain.
There’s never enough money to do things right the first time but there’s plenty of money to be had by forcing the driving public into dangerous situations caused by over burdened undersized roads and correcting the problems in years out. I will say it again for the benefit of the people that believe wider roads invite more traffic. Cars do not spawn spontaneously when you lay asphalt. Your roads were undersized and deficient when I moved here ten years ago – and you had 7000 jobs relocate here in the last two years, with their families, and nothing was done to improve the goat cart paths already here. MD 22, MD 543 and MD 152 all need to be widened to accommodate the traffic they were carrying before BRAC – now the problem is even more apparent. MD 24 is overcrowded because it is the only four lane road that connects Bel Air and points north to I 95. US 1 should be widened between Fallston and the Pennsylvania Line. I lived in a rural county before I moved here and we had wider roads running through my city of 15,000 people. The town of Bel Air probably can boast a population of 100,000. The roads are suitable in and out of Bel Air for less than half of that. And they may live here, but they commute to somewhere else.
Well I don’t think the argument is that “roads spontaneously spawn more cars”, rather, I think it’s that any time you build or improve a road (especially to make it larger or accomodate more traffic), that changes the entire system and network of traffic flow in the area.
See the MD24/Singer issue as a perfect example. Sure Singer was overcrowded to begin with, but you make one road bigger nearby and you get a new traffic pattern that puts even more cars on a road that can’t handle it. You end up with an ever increasing need for more roads, where whatever road you make bigger causes the need for another road to get bigger.
If you make all the roads larger that you are talking about you are then going to end up making all the other roads connecting to it larger.
People drive like water flows, they tend take the path of least resistance. Keeping some roads moderately congested at various times actually discourages some traffic and over-growth.
Let’s not lose sight of the real reason they step up enforcement at the end of the year – revenue!