Free Republic

TACOMA, Wash. — State troopers are responding to an increased number of traffic collisions near an Interstate 5 construction zone in Tacoma. “We’re looking at a little more than two collisions that happen on this stretch per day,” Trooper Robert Royer with the Washington State Patrol said. The data provided by the agency, which covers the distance between milepost 132 (near state Route 16 exit) to milepost 136 (near the Port of Tacoma Road exit), shows traffic collisions are up 33% since 2019. With more than 400 collisions already reported this year (so far), troopers are responding to at least...

A 77-year-old man was pushing a bicycle on Interstate 14 in Killeen Friday morning when he was hit and killed by several vehicles, according to police. Some cars that hit him didn’t even stop, police said. “Several vehicles that struck the male did not stop and the Traffic Unit would like to speak with the operators of those vehicles, or any other witnesses, about the accident,” the Killeen Police Department said in a news release. Police have not named the man, pending notification of next of kin. He was pushing the purple, BMX-style bicycle shortly before 7 a.m. when he...

A bill allowing municipal police across Pennsylvania to use radar guns for speed enforcement details passed the state Senate Tuesday on a 49-1 vote. Pennsylvania is currently the only state in the nation that limits the use of radar exclusively to its state police. That’s a sore spot for many municipal officials and police chiefs, who feel they are handicapped in monitoring speeding in residential zones and local roads where speeders can really raise the risk of an accident. But it’s also been a treasured, 60-year-old safeguard for some motorists. Critics have worried that those same municipal officers would take...

PRINCE GEORGE COUNTY, Va. -- A mother is warning motorists against distracted driving after her son's father was killed along a construction site on I-95. Dustin Warden, 25, was hit and killed by a car in a worksite on Interstate 95 in Prince George County on February 3, 2018. The VDOT contractor was working to provide for his young family when he was killed by a distracted driver. Virginia State Police said a driver looked down, took her eyes off the road and fatally struck Warden. Each year, Warden's girlfriend Jaimie Ray wears orange in honor of him. "Pay attention...

The LA County Sheriff’s Office is expected to announce Wednesday — that he will not face any charges or citations, according to a report.

Woods’ SUV was traveling between 84 and 87 mph — nearly twice the posted speed limit — when it struck a raised median, Villanueva said. The vehicle was still traveling at about 75 mph as it then careened into a nearby tree in the area of Hawthorne Boulevard and Blackhorse Road. Sheriff’s Capt. James Powers said there was no evidence that the golfer braked throughout the wreck and that it’s believed Woods inadvertently hit the accelerator instead of the brake pedal.

KEESEVILLE — State troopers disguised as construction workers issued 26 tickets Tuesday in the “Operation Hard Hat” initiative on the Adirondack Northway (Interstate 87) near the Clinton-Essex County line. The New York State Police Troop B and state Department of Transportation announced the news Thursday. Operation Hard Hat is a joint initiative of the two agencies to crack down on work zone violations and highlight the importance of safe driving through active construction and maintenance zones. They say this initiative, like past ones, was successful, and they plan to do more later this summer.

The highway headache in west Tulsa has only just begun. As part of a project to widen Interstate 44 from west of the Arkansas River to Union Avenue, and to improve the I-44/U.S. 75 interchange, significant delays can be expected, especially during peak travel times. “It’s definitely the hard part of the project right now,” Oklahoma Department of Transportation spokeswoman Kenna Mitchell said Tuesday. “They’re going to be placing some additional signage further back in the corridor to alert drivers.” Northbound U.S. 75 is narrowed to one lane at the interchange, causing northbound traffic to back up at least two...

It's no longer news that texting while driving is incredibly dangerous—it's common sense. What's more, filming a high-speed run with one hand on the wheel and the other on your iPhone is on another level of stupidity. That didn't stop this Audi RS6 driver from mashing the accelerator and videoing their drive to 200 miles per hour on a public British roadway, though. And if that wasn't brazen enough, the clip was then uploaded to Twitter for everyone to see. Police are now looking for the daredevil who drove 202 miles per hour on the M23 south of Crawley, as...

TORONTO -- Three motorcyclists received jail sentences for dangerous driving and two-year driving bans after using a head-mounted camera to record themselves performing high-speed stunts. Sussex Police in the U.K. said they’d been looking into reports of dangerous driving and a collision since April. They eventually tracked down motorcyclist Thomas Ettridge and his head-mounted GoPro camera. Police seized his footage, which contained a number of potentially “shocking” disastrous motorcycle stunts, Sussex police said in a written statement. These included one of the motorcyclists popping a wheelie at nearly 130 km/h in a 60 km/h zone.

Two people were arrested Sunday morning by the Racine County Sheriff’s deputies for driving well in excess of the speed limit through the Interstate 94 construction zone. At 8:55 a.m., a deputy clocked a vehicle traveling 110 mph in a posted 60 mph construction zone in the northbound lane on I-94 in the Village of Raymond. The deputy spoke with the driver — 41-year-old Jose L. Mendoza of Racine — about his speed, and allegedly smelled the odor of intoxicants coming from Mendoza. Mendoza reportedly refused to perform field sobriety tests and was arrested and cited for speeding. Suggested charges...

In a case of wanting justice, a man wiped out his son's inheritance for his quest to win a legal battle. For a $100 speeding ticket, Richard Keedwell spent $30,000. Yes, that amount for a speeding ticket case that could've been solved by paying it. His battle for justice started at what he claims is a speed camera's disfunction, causing it to clock him traveling 35mph in a 30mph zone in Worcester. This took place three years ago and that is how long the court case went on. Instead of paying the speeding ticket, he instead challenged the fine and...

An eight-year-old boy is in trouble with police after they say he took his mother’s Volkswagen Golf for a high-speed joyride on one of Germany's famous autobahns. While that would be a big enough story on its own, the little speed demon had already been caught doing the same thing just a few days earlier, when police let him off without any citations. Remember this kid? He wasn't so lucky this go around as he'll face some genuine consequences for his adrenaline-fueled escapades. Police say he was busted the first time for a jaunt down the autobahn traveling at speeds...

When a school district deems its region’s main thoroughfare unsafe for school buses, that highway’s problems need fixed. Lots of Wabash Valley residents fear driving on the local stretch of Interstate 70. And with good reason. Fatal accidents — several involving semi tractor-trailers crashing into stopped or slowed traffic — have become frequent on I-70 between the Illinois-Indiana border and Indianapolis. Accidents along that 68-mile path outnumbered those on the 66-mile portion east of Indy to the Ohio border in 2016 and 2017, according to the Indiana University Public Policy Institute’s statistics. Distracted driving has been cited as a factor...

A Colorado truck driver has been charged with five counts of vehicular homicide nearly two years after a fiery crash that killed five people on the Kansas Turnpike near Bonner Springs. Kenny B. Ford, 58, of Greeley, Colorado, appeared without an attorney Friday morning in Leavenworth County District Court. The misdemeanor charge carries a maximum penalty of one year in jail on each count. The charges were filed Feb. 26, but remained sealed until Friday’s court appearance. The July 11, 2017, wreck occurred on westbound Interstate 70 near 174th Street. Traffic was backed up due to road construction when, around...

With a flashy name and speed-tracking equipment, state police cracked down on leadfoots in PennDOT construction zones last week in western Pennsylvania. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported that state police with Troop A issued 171 citations and 70 written warnings to alleged speedsters in Indiana County as part of Operation Yellow Jacket. Under the crackdown, a trooper gauged vehicle’s speeds in a construction zone. The officer then radioed ahead to other officers, who pulled over the offending drivers. Generally speaking, speed limits are 10 mph lower in a construction zone as a safety precaution for road crews. The officers were enforcing...

||While driving through Arkansas I had a run-in with law enforcement . . . which showcased professionalism and the benefits of mutual respect.|| I've been driving cross-country across the southern U.S. and it's been a lovely trip. For the past many years, barring one summer trip to Civil War battlefields, my trips have been to Europe and Southeast Asia. They've been great trips and I've seen wonderful things. I don't regret those travels at all. Nevertheless, I really enjoy traveling in my own country. I like how vast America is. I like how friendly Americans are. I like American architecture,...

Most newer concrete beams that hold up Utah highway bridges are around 145 feet long. But the Utah Department of Transportation is about to place six that are 40 percent longer — 203 feet — to help widen Interstate 15 in Lehi. They are longer than the iconic Cinderella’s castle in Walt Disney World (189 feet) is high, or the leaning tower of Pisa (185 feet). They also will be the third-longest single-component beams in the United States, slightly shorter than two in Orlando, Fla., and Seattle, said Lee Wegner, with Forterra Structural Precast, the West Valley City company that...

To the 18 year old kid I stopped on SR 10, You’re welcome. I’d like to believe that you were minutes away from creating an unspeakable Christmas tragedy when I stopped you. If not only killing yourself, you were well on your way to killing some innocent person who was minding their own business doing nothing else wrong but being in front of you. You said you didn’t realize how fast you were going. That’s a lie. You may not realize when you’re doing 45 in a 35 but you are fully aware of every mile per hour at 100....

Expansion of the Turner Turnpike between Sapulpa and Bristow is anticipated to be done by early next summer — months ahead of the initially announced estimated completion date.“This is a long-term project, and we ask the public for their patience because the end results are going to be tremendous,” said Oklahoma Turnpike Authority spokesman Jack Damrill.“We should have whatever is currently under construction substantially complete by summer,” he said. “Unless we have a terrible winter, we should have all six lanes open summer of 2019.”He said the project has been progressing “very nicely.” The 22-mile, $300 million project involves expanding...