Eastern Regional Pike cops join smooth operator program

Cracking down on aggressive driving MATAMORAS — Eastern Pike Regional police officers gather with highway safety officials to review plans for PennDOT’s Smooth Operator program, which has proven to be an effective tool in reducing the number of aggressive driving crashes. The Eastern Pike Regional Police Department covers Westfall Township and Matamoras Borough in Pike County. The next Smooth Operator enforcement wave will be held from April 6 through 20. During this time, state and local police departments will give tickets and fines to aggressive drivers and enforcement will be done both on the ground and by air. In Northeastern Pennsylvania, 21 police departments participate in Smooth Operator in all District 4’s counties, including Lackawanna, Luzerne, Pike, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming. PennDOT crash data is used to determine which police departments are eligible to participate in Smooth Operator based on higher incidents of aggressive driving and targets roadways with a history of aggressive driving crashes. Smooth Operator began in Washington D.C. in 1997; Pennsylvania joined the program in 2006. This year, PennDOT will invest nearly $4 million into aggressive driving enforcement. For more information about Smooth Operator go to www.smoothoperatorprogram.org More safety information may be obtained by checking out www.neparoads.com PennDOT’s Northeastern Pennsylvania transportation website. For more safety tips, click on “Safety.”