Philly police to crack down on traffic violations in the northeast and northwest

Philadelphia police say they’re cracking down on speeding, reckless lane changes, improper turning, and drivers who don’t yield the right of way on some of the busiest corridors in the northern parts of the city. It’s the latest in a series of initiatives to make roads safer across the city.

Aggressive driving behaviors have become “all too frequent” on certain roads in the 2nd, 5th, and 14th Districts, Chief Inspector Michael McCarrick, the commanding officer of Regional Operations Command North, said during a news conference Monday.

“The behavior was really in our face,” said McCarrick, adding residents have also expressed concerns about the safety of local roadways.

Though traffic enforcement occurs 24/7, McCarrick said residents have called for reinforcement.

“This is the number one priority you hear,” he said. “You hear about not feeling safe in our roadways and/or crossing the streets.”

For now, the crackdown looks a little old-school. Additional police cars will be assigned to the corridors, said McCarrick, adding the city is exploring the expansion of red light and speed cameras.

The expansion is modeled after a similar effort launched on Bustleton Avenue in 2022. McCarrick said in the years since, police have launched approximately 3,200 investigations that have yielded almost as many tickets and moving violations.

ATV enforcement has also been a target of police crackdowns with ramped up enforcement announced in February.

Police announced a 30-day crackdown on aggressive drivers on North Broad Street last month. Authorities said the strip was chosen because of the more than 1,600 crashes recorded there in the 12 months after April 2023. More than 50 of those crashes in the last year involved pedestrians. Since 2019, there have been 44 fatalities on that stretch of road.

» READ MORE: Philly police launch crackdown on ‘crazy driving’ and illegal parkers along North Broad Street

McCarrick said police have seen drivers modify their driving behavior in the sections they’ve ramped up staffing. Still, he acknowledged the slow work of making roads safer citywide with limited resources: Cameras aren’t available for every road and the department is not pulling resources dedicated to 911 response to boost enforcement.

McCarrick pointed to how enforcement on other roads and uncontrollable incidents like the I-95 collapse have turned secondary roads into primary roads, saying some drivers treat them like highways.

“This did not become this way overnight,” he said.