Philadelphia police announce latest targeted traffic enforcement initiative

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- In an effort to reduce traffic crashes and fatalities in Philadelphia, police on Thursday announced their latest targeted traffic enforcement initiative.

Between August 5 and August 30, police will be cracking down on reckless and aggressive drivers in two high incident areas: Island Avenue between Bartram and Woodland avenues and Aramingo Avenue between Somerset Street and Frankford Creek.

"Everyone's in a hurry to get nowhere, so maybe that'll stop and things will get better," said Jeanette Straub of Wissinoming.

Police have previously targeted other corridors in the city, including Broad Street, and Castor and Frankford avenues.

Police say their efforts are working.

"We've seen almost 20,000 more vehicle investigations than we did last year, almost 9,000 more traffic citations written and also about 800 more cars that were confiscated for an unlicensed driver or they were unregistered," added Deputy Police Commissioner Mike Cram.

According to police, crashes in the city are on pace to fall this year compared to last. There were approximately 48,000 crashes in 2023, 124 were fatal.

So far in 2024, there have been approximately 26,000 crashes with 61 fatalities.

"There were 71 fatalities at this point last year. There are 61 this year," Cram said.

Police said cracking down on ATV riders and dangerous car meetups citywide continues to be a focus.

"If you watch them do it, they're doing it to get a rise out of us, to taunt the police, and to terrorize people in their cars or crossing the street," said Deputy Police Commissioner Jim Kelly.

"We're still running those details constantly. We've run 66 car meet details this year. We've run 38 ATV details. We've confiscated close to 300 ATVs and dirt bikes off the street. It's kind of a menace to society. It causes so much fear and terror amongst residents and motorists. It's something we can't take our foot off the gas with," added Kelly.

Police said this latest initiative is targeted toward vehicular traffic not cyclists but hope better behavior behind the wheel will benefit that community, and pedestrians as well.