State Police To Increase Patrols On I-95 Through Saturday To Catch Bad Drivers

VIRGINIA — Virginia State Police will be out in force on the Interstate 95 corridor starting Friday as part of the annual “I-95 Drive to Save Lives” enforcement initiative.

Drivers can expect to see an increased presence of state troopers on I-95 from the border of Maryland to the border of North Carolina on Friday and Saturday, the state police said.

Virginia is among 15 states from Maine to Florida participating in the two-day traffic safety initiative on I-95, which is taking place in Distracted Driving Awareness Month.

“With April being Distracted Driving Awareness Month and traffic crashes in Virginia on the rise, this enhanced, multi-agency enforcement initiative along the East Coast couldn’t come at a better time,” Colonel Gary Settle, superintendent of the Virginia State Police, said in a statement Thursday.

In 2021, there were 5,350 traffic crashes along I-95 in Virginia, ranging from fender-benders to fatal crashes, according to the state police.

Distracted driving is one of the leading causes of crashes. In 2021, it became illegal to hold a handheld personal communications device while driving a moving motor vehicle on Virginia highways.

Even though using a hand-held device is illegal while driving in Virginia, a study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that some drivers do so anyway and are not aware of the “hangover effect,” which comes from interacting with technology while on the road.

Researchers found drivers can experience a hangover effect where the mind stays distracted for up to 27 seconds after using smartphones or voice-to-text vehicle infotainment systems to send text messages, make phone calls, or update social media.

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