More CHP officers on patrol watching for speeding drivers on emptier roadways

SANTA MARIA, Calif. -- Drivers may be seeing more California Highway Patrol cars on local roadways than they have in the past.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and stay at home orders, CHP officers are spending more time in their cars.

"We have officers that are just assigned to certain jobs that are inside the office, to where they’re not actually going out on the road, since those jobs have slowed down a lot, they’re going to the road to assist," said Officer Ben Smith, CHP Santa Maria office public information officer.

The stay at home orders have dramatically reduced the number of cars on all local roads.

"There’s very little traffic and you’re seeing the roadways being open," said Officer Mike Poelking, from the CHP San Luis Obispo office."

He said the open roads are causing some drivers to put a little more pedal to the metal.

"It's conducive to people who choose to break the law by exceeding those posted speed limits," said Poelking, who also said it's become a problem statewide and likely around the nation.

Smith said speeding has become a growing issue in the Santa Maria region.

"We are seeing a lot of high speeds out on the roadways, so it's something that we are trying to reduce," said Smith. "There is not enough traffic to slow people down. They see the open roadway, so they start to pick up their speeds."

Smith adds that not only are some people going above the posted speed limits, a few are taking it to extremes.

"Just in the last two days we’ve had five 100 mile per hour citations," Smith said. "Five in just two days is pretty unusual."

He emphasized that driving at that high rate of speed is something the department will absolutely not tolerate.

"It's very dangerous," said Smith. "If you were to roll over your vehicle, that could result in a fatal collision. It's also endangering the lives of other people on the roadway as well."

During the health crisis, as roadways empty, some drivers could be under the false assumption that law enforcement is letting some traffic laws slide a little bit.

CHP would like to let the public know that right now it is strictly business as usual.

"Nothing has changed on our enforcement side," said Smith. "We're going too continue to do the same job, so ultimately our goal is to provide the highest level of safety, services and security the people of California."

"Highway Patrol simply not turning a blind eye to these things if we see something agree just that needs to be dealt with by all means will do that," said Poelking.

As speeding becomes an issue for the CHP, officers say the reduction in traffic is also causing some positive impacts too.

"You are also having way less traffic related incidents," said Poelking. "Crashes, injury crashes, property damage crashes, those are down roughly 40-50 percent as well."

Poelking added that since more officers are on the road, the San Luis Obispo office has seen its patrol mileage rise as much as 150 percent over the past three weeks.

The added patrol cars are making the roads safer for drivers and passengers.

"Given the fact that we have more time to be out there on patrol, that’s what’s happening," said Poelking. "Due to the fact that collisions and things like that have tailed off due to the lack of traffic."

He adds that drivers should also take advantage of what is a rare motoring opportunity when they get behind the wheel.

"Enjoy the time that you have on the road without all of the hectic activity and aggressive driving that you deal with typically on a daily basis," said Poelking.