CHP Cracking Down On Speeders On I-15 Near Victorville
VICTORVILLE (CBSLA.com) — The CHP has federal money to crack down on drivers with lead feet.
Officials say they will concentrate on a 27-mile stretch of the I-15 where nearly 400 crashes occurred last year.
KCAL9's Adrianna Weingold went on a ride-along with the CHP and watched them gear up for the crack down.
She rode with Officer Mario Lopez. "This black car right here is about 80, about 82 now."
That black car was in the fast lane -- literally -- and going too fast.
After pulling the driver over, Officer Lopez has one question.
"Is there a reason you were going so fast?," said the officer.
Speeding and aggressive driving are two things the CHP is monitoring.
"It's very dangerous, not only for the individual who is actually committing the violation but the other drivers who are out here on the freeways," said Lopez.
In the Inland Empire the CHP is putting extra officers on duty to patrol three major freeways, namely the 10, 15 and 210.
Last year, officials told Weingold that there were 3200 accidents on those freeways alone, blamed on excessive speeding. In those crashes, 11 people died.
The endeavor is part of a year long grant from the California Department of Traffic Safety. Their mission? They want to lower the number of high speed and aggressive driving related crashes-- and the CHP is now targeting drivers from the ground and even from the air.
"[The officer in the air] gets a better perspective from the sky flying at 500 feet, 1000 feet where he can identify the vehicles that are tailgating, the vehicles that are in and out of the traffic lanes who are doing 80, 90, 100 miles per hour," says Lopez.
CHP aircraft spot the speeders and distracted drivers from up above and send a cruiser to pull them over.
Ani de LosAngeles isn't too surprised she was pulled over but says she just lost track of her speed.
"I saw a black car with a white top and I was like 'Oh no! Slow down' -- and I switched lanes and I was like, No! He got me!,'" said de Angeles.
This time, de Angeles was lucky enough to leave with just a warning. Officer Lopez says the CHP is out for safety not citations.
