Police in North Texas take active action against speeding on major highways – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

Allen police say a new initiative that assigns officers to stop and penalize speeders and aggressive drivers on the city’s busiest streets is already having a positive impact.

The department allowed NBC 5 to accompany officers on patrol Thursday afternoon.

Just minutes after arriving on Sam Raybourn Tollway 121, Allen Police Officers Manuel Castro and Andrew Rembert noticed speeding motorists.

Castro stopped a driver with an Oklahoma license plate for driving 87 miles per hour.

When Castro asked her why she was driving 17 miles too fast, the driver replied that she had to go to the bathroom.

“Okay, can I see a driver’s license and proof of insurance?” he asked.

In this case, the woman received three citations: speeding, expired insurance and registration.

“I think the fastest I’ve ever seen is about 210 km/h,” Castro said. “We’ve had accidents where people were going much faster. 240 km/h, 240 km/h and more.”

According to APD, the City of Allen will respond to approximately 9 traffic accidents per day in 2023.

Although the number remains the same, there is hope that the new regulation will ensure greater safety on the roads.

“When I was appointed police chief on February 1, the number one complaint in my office was poor driving behavior, particularly speeding,” said Allen Police Chief Steve Dye. “We need to improve driving behavior and driving culture in North Texas.”

Dye, whose career in law enforcement began in Houston in 1984, says there are several reasons for the decline in “good” driving behavior, including cell phone use.

“On our highways, with the growing population and demand for police services, we have found that the visibility and control of some highways may not have reached the magnitude they deserve,” he said.

When he took over as police chief in Allen, Dye set about getting the city’s approval to launch a program in May to combat speeding and aggressive driving on the city’s two major highways: Highway 75 Central Expressway and the northbound lanes of Tollway 121.

“I’m already getting a lot of positive feedback from our citizens. We’re already seeing some calming of driving behavior,” said Dye.

Dye is working with the Collin County Sheriff’s Office and the Texas Department of Public Safety, who also patrol the area.

Since May, the APD has conducted over 500 checks, most of them for speeding.

Department statistics show a decline in checks from 327 in May to 182 in early June.

Some checks led to arrests.

“We see some vehicles driving at over 100 without even having a driver’s license,” Dye said.

The department head said he wanted to ensure that the increased measures would not place a financial burden on Allen taxpayers.

Dye says the APD pays officers overtime for their participation in patrols, using only revenue from traffic tickets.

Each overtime hour costs less than $100 and any violation can result in a fine of at least $200, he said.

“Most of the drivers on our highways who misbehave don’t live in Allen, so I don’t want our taxpayers to have to fund the prosecution of this bad driving,” he said.

Stopping distance increases exponentially for every 10 miles of exceeding the speed limit, Dye said.

A few minutes after stopping a driver, Castro turned his lights and sirens back on.

This time a car with an Alabama license plate traveling at 92 miles per hour on 121.

“That’s 22 miles over the speed limit,” he told the driver, who said he was late for work.

The man drove away with a speeding ticket and a warning because he could not immediately show his insurance coverage.

“We don’t ticket everyone we stop,” Dye explained. “We issue a lot of warnings. Our goal is to turn bad driving behavior into good driving behavior. If that takes a ticket, so be it.”