By By Lydia Grimes – features reporter
The &#8220Take Back Our Highways” campaign was a major success, according Alabama state troopers.
The program, which ran Aug. 13-17, used a daily average of 510 Alabama state troopers who braved the heat to log 22,533 hours and 340,539 miles patrolling the state's roadways, according to Col. J. Christopher Murphy, director of the Alabama Department of Public Safety.
Murphy said the safety campaign was successful and that the Department of Public Safety would continue strategic intensive patrol and enforcement efforts in the future.
Approximately 200 additional troopers from all divisions and ranks were pulled from their regular positions, put into uniform and on patrol during the week to combat the state's increasing fatalities. Murphy stated that the number of traffic deaths climbed more than five percent in 2006, the highest level since 1973. This was during a time when the number of traffic deaths fell two percent nationwide.
In this campaign, the Department of Public Safety partnered with Alabama District Attorney's Association. During the campaign, drivers were targeted for primary violations and driving violations, which contribute to crash severity, Murphy said. This includes speeding, failure to yield the right of way, following too closely, driver inattention, and driving under the influence. The focus was on crash-prone areas and even the governor got a first-hand look at a detail on I-65 during the week.
Doris Teague of the Trooper Information Office agreed that the campaign was successful.
The statistics overwhelmingly show that the violations were reduced in this target week of August 13-17.
Statewide there were: