OHP Troopers Crack Down On Dangerous Drivers

By Lori Fullbright, The News On 6

TULSA, OK -- Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers are cracking down on dangerous drivers.

Two dozen troopers were brought in for the special patrol, and they will also conduct driver's license checkpoints Friday night.

"This is a no-tolerance policy for this special event," Lt. George Brown said. "Warning books will put away in the trunk, in the back seat. We will be issuing citations for these violations."

Other than a seatbelt violation, which is a $20 dollar fine, the next cheapest ticket is $211.

Trooper Mac Chamblis was out looking for people violating the five traffic rules that lead to deadly crashes: speeding, following too closely, changing lanes improperly, not moving over for emergency vehicles and not wearing seatbelts.

Chamblis says practically everybody drives too close to the person in front of them and that contributes to many chain-reaction crashes. He says it's best to put two to three seconds between you and them.

"If you do that, you'll never be following too closely and have a pretty good chance of stopping if they slam on their brakes," Chamblis said.

Troopers say the saturation patrol is all about safety and trying to stop all the crashes in the Tulsa area.

"This is a public outcry," Brown said. "We received lots of messages from the public, asking what can we do about stopping these collisions. We're addressing those issues tonight."

Troopers say they'll keep doing the crackdowns until drivers get the message and lives are saved.