From John Townsend, AAA:
- October is not only one of the deadliest months of the year on roadways across the region and the nation. The long October weekend leading up to the Columbus Day holiday is also one of the deadliest periods of the year for drivers in Virginia, Maryland and in the nation’s capital, area law enforcement officials and traffic safety advocates are warning. In fact, the Columbus Day weekend has the “second-highest total number of fatal crashes among all holidays.” That is according to the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). Its deadliness is only exceeded by the Fourth of July, in terms of the overall number of fatal crashes. That might surprise motorists.
- [Saturday], the Maryland State Police, in tandem with the Prince George’s County Police Department, will be “conducting a speeding and aggressive driving enforcement initiative” on the Inner Loop and Outer Loop of the Capital Beltway (I-495/I-95). The speeding enforcement initiative on I-495 is slated to take place from “10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, October 12.” This weekend’s high-visibility speed enforcement campaign along heavily traveled segments of the Capital Beltway inside Maryland will include Maryland State Troopers from the College Park Barracks and the Forestville Barracks, as well as patrol officers with the Prince George’s County Police Department. “The initiative comes as a three-year crash analysis study determined that the Columbus Day weekend has a high propensity for speed-related collisions,” explains the Department of Maryland State Police (DMSP).