LEWISTON, Idaho – Seeking to educate the community on the severity of aggressive driving, the Lewiston Police Department (LPD) has announced that enhanced patrol watches for dangerous drivers throughout Idaho began on Tuesday and will continue through Saturday, March 30.
According to a release from the LPD, 103 people were killed in aggressive driving-related car crashes in 2023, which totaled to nearly 14,000. Additionally, the LPD reported that 39 percent of all fatal car crashes involved aggressive driving behavior in some form.
Urging drivers to stay calm and be patient on the road to ensure community safety, the LPD has requested that drivers make sure to use seatbelts and provide approved child safety seats for their children.
The LPD has also asked that parents educate their teenage children about the dangers of aggressive driving because they are more likely to be involved in these kinds of crashes.
In 2022, the Idaho Office of Highway Safety reported that drivers aged 19 or younger were four times as likely to be involved in aggressive driving crashes than all other drivers. They also found that drivers aged 25 or younger represented more than 35 percent of the drivers involved in aggressive driving crashes that year, according to the release.
To help fund the LPD’s efforts in aggressive driving enforcement, which includes officers working overtime, a grant was provided by the Idaho Office of Highway Safety and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
“The choices you make while behind the wheel can make the difference in whether you get home safely or not,” the LPD said in the release.
Examples of aggressive driving provided by the LPD include speeding, tailgating, driving too fast for conditions, cutting in front of another driver and then slowing down, failing to stop for red lights and stop signs, failing to yield, weaving in and out of traffic, changing lanes without signaling, blocking cars that are attempting to change lanes, passing a vehicle on the wrong side of the road, screaming, honking or flashing lights and making hand gestures or facial expressions at other drivers.
