Traffic Safety Campaigns

In the State of Wisconsin, traffic crashes took the lives of more than 500 people in 2008. Thousands of others were injured. Many deaths were caused by speeding while others were a result of drunk driving, or not wearing a safety belt. Tragically, these deaths affect many lives and cause great pain to thousands of people throughout the state. Fortunately, you can help change that number.

Because we care about the people we serve and protect, The Everest Metro Police Department will partner with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and hundreds of other law enforcement agencies in the Zero in Wisconsin campaign. By focusing on proactive approaches to enforcing the speed limit, drunk driving and safety belt laws, we will give an all out effort to save lives and reduce the number of traffic deaths and injuries annually in our community and in Wisconsin.

In Wisconsin, the ZERO VISION means that any preventable traffic death is one too many. By driving within the speed limit, being sober behind the wheel and wearing your seat belt, you can do simple things that can turn more than 500 annual deaths into zero.

For more information visit the Zero in Wisconsin Web site at www.zeroinwisconsin.gov

Speeding can be defined as exceeding the posted speed limit and driving too fast for conditions. Unfortunately many people do not view obeying speed limits as an important way to avoid crashes. Speeding is regarded as a factor in nearly one-third of all fatal crashes.

The important factors to consider are the following:

Speed reduces the amount of available time needed to avoid a crash / to stop the vehicle

Speed extends the distance a vehicle travels while the driver reacts to a dangerous situation

Speed reduces the ability of the driver to steer safely around curves or objects on the road

Speed increases the likelihood of crashing

Speed increases the severity of a crash once it occurs

Everest Metro acknowledges that the public needs to be made more aware of the dangers of speeding. If speeding is to be combated more effectively, we would have to devote increased resources to better enforcement, including more law officers to patrol the roads to target aggressive speeding drivers. The Everest Metro Police will increase speed reduction efforts by utilizing the 3E’s strategy namely Education, Enforcement, and Empowerment. It is however the drivers responsibility to obey the traffic speed laws to ensure everyone's safety.

Current redZones
Motor Officer Clay Vecchio Birch Street (between Community Center Drive and Schofield Avenue)
Eau Claire Avenue
Ross Avenue (between Babl Lane and Mesker Street)
Sandy Lane
Jelinek Avenue
E. Jelinek Avenue (between Von Kanel Street and Camp Phillips Road)

The redZone Speed Enforcement Campaign will utilize saturated radar enforcement patrols. Officers will be assigned to designated redZone areas to help slow traffic.

Wisconsin has the highest rate of drunken driving in the nation. More than 26 percent of Wisconsin adults who were surveyed admitted that they had driven under the influence of alcohol in the previous year, according to a nationwide study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released in April.

Because drunken drivers are prevalent and deadly threats not just to themselves but also to everyone else on the road, Everest Metro will be patrolling in greater numbers and for longer hours to arrest impaired motorists as part of a nationwide law enforcement crackdown. The “Drunk Driving—Over the Limit. Under Arrest” crackdown will combine high-visibility law enforcement with a federally funded media campaign to deter impaired driving.

The 2010 Drunk Driving: Over the Limit, Under Arrest campaign will begin August 20 and end September 6.

“During Click It or Ticket, our officers will be patrolling in greater numbers, including night-time hours when safety belt use declines, ” said Captain James Vercimak. “Our goal during the mobilization is not to write more tickets but to save lives and reduce injuries through voluntary compliance with Wisconsin’s mandatory safety belt law. However, if you are stopped by an officer and are not buckled up, you will get a ticket whether you’re driving or just a passenger. We won’t accept excuses, and you won’t get a warning or a second chance.”

Click It or Ticket combines intensified safety belt enforcement with a public awareness campaign, funded by the federal government.

The 2010 Click It or Ticket Mobilization will begin May 24 and end June 6.