Drivers Take Note: Cops From 6 Towns Collaborating To Make Roads Safer

EAST HAVEN, CT — To keep people safe is the priority, and it turns out, the biggest quality-of-life complaints cops hear from residents has to do with traffic, and specifically, the enforcement of traffic laws, or lack thereof. Speeders, reckless drivers, aggressive drivers, impaired drivers, distracted drivers.

All drivers can relate.

So, a new multi-town traffic enforcement initiative that began Wednesday in East Haven, and includes the towns of North Haven, North Branford, Branford, Guilford and Madison, takes aim at making "roadways safer through enforcement and education," East Haven police Capt. Joseph M. Murgo said.

In fact, on the first day of traffic enforcement in East Haven, police stopped more than 50 cars. Enforcement action included verbal warnings, infractions, misdemeanor arrests and criminal arrests, Murgo said.

"Traffic complaints are consistently at the top of quality-of-life complaints and our goal to address the most common public safety issues affecting our communities," Murgo said.

North Branford Deputy Chief James Lovelace agreed.

“Over the past several years due to several issues, including but not limited to COVID-19, traffic enforcement has decreased considerably throughout Connecticut. Unfortunately, as a result, we have also experienced an increase in serious and fatal motor vehicle crashes," Lovelace said.

Lovelace said that crash investigations have "revealed that most of the accidents are attributed to speed, aggressive and distracted driving."

He said his department will be partnering with the other police departments that are part of the South Central Connecticut Traffic Unit to "increase enforcement."

"Our goal is to educate the community and change the driving behaviors that lead to crashes and make our roadways safer for our families," Lovelace said. "Our intent is to solely focus on traffic crash data and is not associated with crime statistics or any crime prevention strategies.”

The initiative will focus on one town at a time and plans on targeting specific roadways, chosen in part because of the number of complaints received and through the information learned from traffic crash data, Murgo explained.

In addition to speeders, officers will be on the lookout for aggressive driving, impaired driving, unregistered and / or uninsured vehicles, seatbelt violations and other common motor vehicle violations. The team will be utilizing a combination of LPR 900 License Plate Readers and LASER / Radar enforcement for speed detection, Murgo said.

East Haven police Deputy Chief Patrick Tracy said that working together with other town police departments can make the initiative successful.

"We value the partnerships that we have established with our neighboring agencies," Tracy said. "It is important for us to work collaboratively to educate the motoring community to create safer roadways throughout all our towns."

Meanwhile, after the pandemic led to the shut-down of motor vehicle agencies, some drivers may have questions about the status of their licenses, car registration, insurance coverage and the like.

"We understand how difficult the last few years have been for everyone," Murgo noted. "Therefore, our intent is to educate our motorists during as many interactions as possible."

Murgo said drivers that are unsure of the status of their license or vehicle’s registration should check these sites:

Driver’s license Status: https://www.dmvselfservice.ct.gov/LicenseStatusService.aspx

Registration Status: https://dmvcivls-wselfservice.ct.gov/Registration/VerifyRegistration?language=en_US

Minimum Insurance Requirements: https://portal.ct.gov/DMV/Insu...