That’s because on Friday, September 29, and Saturday, September 30, they were practicing a joint saturation.
This joint saturation is a combined effort of multiple agencies, intended to educate drivers on how to avoid citations and accidents.
These different officers were surveying highway 62 from the city of Medford all the way to Shady Cove.
The Oregon State Police report that highway 62 had 75 reported crashes.
18 of them resulted in injuries and three were fatal.
OSP’s Lieutenant Mike Benson recognizes behaviors which are what OSP calls ‘the fatal five violations.’
Lieutenant Benson said, “speed, occupant safety, lane safety, impaired driving and distracted driving. Those violations, we have found lead to crashes and oftentimes especially on the highways with higher speeds, result in injuries and fatalities.”
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office says that a lot of the violations they see are cell phone usage, running red lights and speeding.
While out on the field, officers responded to a car crash nearby.
It is still under investigation but is thought to be the result of one of those five violations.
Luckily, no one was injured.
Jackson County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Derreck Moore says that that’s what the saturation is for.
Deputy Moore said, “[we’re] looking for any traffic violations that happen and there’s no shortage of them. So, we’re stopping and enforcing whether that be through writing tickets or through education and just reminding people with warnings but we’re enforcing those laws in that stretch of roadway.”
Today, a lot of drivers were pulled over for violations, but many were let off with warnings.
We spoke to Blake Smith who was pulled over but not cited.
He says it’s always easier to comply and empathize with law enforcement.
Smith said, “they’re not your enemy, like they’re trying to help you as long as you help them. They don’t want to deal with a whole bunch of stuff, I don’t want to deal with a whole bunch of stuff so to make it easier just works out for the better.”
You’re encouraged to stay safe and follow traffic laws.
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