NOTTINGHAM, MD—Maryland State Police troopers from all 23 barracks and from divisions not normally assigned to road patrol will be involved in targeted traffic safety initiatives through the Memorial Day weekend as part of their continuing effort to reduce speeding and address aggressive and impaired driving on Maryland roads.

Authorities say the priority of every uniformed state trooper on patrol this weekend will be traffic safety. Regular patrol troopers from each barrack will be supplemented by troopers from the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division and some normally assigned to the Criminal Enforcement Division. The additional troopers will all assist with specific traffic safety initiatives across the state.

“Our priority is to do all we can to ensure the safety of each person traveling on Maryland roads throughout this holiday weekend,” Maryland State Police Superintendent Colonel Woodrow Jones III said. “Commanders will be deploying troopers to those areas where speeding complaints are most frequent and where crashes and impaired driving arrests have been the highest. I encourage each driver traveling this weekend to make traffic safety their most important concern when they are behind the wheel. Don’t drive impaired or aggressively. Obey the speed limit and always buckle up.”

Troopers will be using laser speed measuring devices, including ten new units purchased by the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division with funding from the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program, coordinated by the MDOT State Highway Administration Motor Carrier Division. Troopers will also be on patrol in unmarked vehicles, looking for drivers exceeding the speed limits and driving aggressively.

Some of the additional troopers will be working overtime, as a result of grant funding for impaired driving and aggressive driving enforcement. This funding comes through the MDOT State Highway Administration and the Maryland Highway Safety Office.

Troopers from the State Police Impaired Driving Reduction Effort, or SPIDRE Team, will be working through the weekend. These specially-trained and experienced troopers focus predominantly on locating and arresting impaired drivers. This team is funded through a grant from the Maryland Highway Safety Office.

Citizens are reminded they can report dangerous drivers traveling on Maryland interstates by safely dialing #77 on their cell phone and providing the nearest State Police barrack a description of the vehicle, location and direction of travel.