State Police C.A.R.E. About July 4th Traffic Safety

In an effort to reduce the number of crashes on New England roadways during the upcoming July 4th Holiday Weekend, the Massachusetts State Police hosted a media event on Thursday June 29, 2006 at State Police Headquarters in Framingham, highlighting the department's participation in Operation C.A.R.E. Operation C.A.R.E. is a Combined Accident Reduction Effort between seven State Police Agencies comprised of all six New England states and the state of New York.

C.A.R.E. enters its 29th year of operation in 2006. This makes it one of the longest running traffic safety initiatives in our nation's history. Operation C.A.R.E. was formed to deter the three key causes of highway fatalities: speeding, impaired operation and failure to use occupant restraints.

The vision that initiated the Operation C.A.R.E. program was born in the minds of Sergeant Gary Ernst of the Michigan State Police and First Sergeant Gene Neff of the Indiana State Police. Operation C.A.R.E. was formed as a multi-jurisdictional program of patrol, enforcement, and planning activities committed to the goal of accident reduction. Little did they know that their simple plan for interstate cooperation would lead all the way out here in the east and to the program we have today.

The first Operation C.A.R.E. weekend was the July 4th holiday weekend in 1977. Today all 50 states, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the U. S. Virgin Islands, and the Provinces of Ontario and Quebec are actively involved in C.A.R.E., making it an international traffic safety program.

In 2005, there were 4 fatalities as a result of motor vehicle crashes on Massachusetts roadways.

Colonel Mark F. Delaney was on hand to discuss what the Massachusetts State Police will be doing to reduce traffic crashes through the holiday period. "No matter where you travel in the Commonwealth, State and local police will be out in force looking for impaired drivers, aggressive drivers and those who aren't buckled up", said Colonel Delaney. Standing next to representatives of all six New England states and New York, he went on to say, "that commitment is shared by State Police throughout the northeast".

Thanks to funding provided by the Governor's Highway Safety Bureau, the Massachusetts State Police and more than 270 local police departments will have additional dedicated patrols who will be focusing on these dangerous driving behaviors through participation in saturation patrols and sobriety checkpoints. Additionally, tomorrow the State Police will operate another iteration of Operation Zero Tolerance. This Department initiated program puts together extra enforcement teams made up of State Police officers not normally assigned patrol functions. These enforcement teams will add about 50 Troopers to existing patrols during a critical point in the holiday travel period. "Operation Zero Tolerance shows how deeply committed we are to making the roadways of the Commonwealth safer for holiday travelers", said Colonel Delaney.

In addition to enforcement activities, the Governor's Highway Safety Bureau has funded anti-drunk-driving radio ads that will run throughout the holiday period.

During the media event, members of the media were invited to participate in discussions and demonstrations on traffic safety measures and safe driving practices. The State Police Traffic Programs Section conducted demonstrations utilizing the " Convincer ," a roll over simulator which demonstrates the effects of not wearing a safety belt when involved in a motor vehicle rollover. Members of the media were also given a tour of the B.A.T. (Breath Alcohol Testing) Mobile. The 40-foot-long B.A.T. mobile can travel to sobriety checkpoints anywhere in the Commonwealth and provide lighting, video taping and a place to process the impaired driver on site; in short, it is a mobile police station. The new tool was funded through a $378,000 Governor's Highway Safety Bureau grant along with $80,000 in State Police funds. State and local police will hold joint sobriety checkpoints using the B.A.T. mobile primarily during "You Drink & Drive. You Lose." mobilizations around the Fourth of July and Labor Day weekends.