Increased Patrol on US41
OSHKOSH, WI - Officers are beefing up patrols on the road and in the air. Several departments are teaming up to closely monitor construction zones on Highway 41. Sites around Oshkosh, Neenah, and Green Bay will be intensely monitored.
In just two days, more Winnebago and Brown County Deputies will be out on Highway 41. Not only that but State Patrol will also be deploying air-crafts to monitor speeding. It's all because they say crashes and accidents are more likely near these work zones. Construction season means more Deputies and State Patrol Officers on the watch.
Sergeant Tim McGrath of Wisconsin State Patrol said "We've got an officer in the plane. He can clock the speed of vehicles, he can look for violations, any other types of aggressive driving violations." All these extra eyes are for your safety and the safety of construction workers. Sergeant McGrath said "Our goal is not to issue citations, we hope we're bored all day out there. But unfortunately the reality of it is not the case."
The State Patrol says there are roughly 700 construction site crashes each year in Wisconsin and that worries Captain Nick Scorcio."If you think about it, where are you more likely to be involved in a situation that's violent?" The Captain says the most common accidents are rear end crashes. "You're going to have some people that are going to violate the speed limit, they're going to follow other vehicles too closely, they're going to be inattentive."
That's the reason why State Patrol airplanes will be used to keep an extra eye on traffic especially, in the 55 mile per hour zones on Highway 41. The State Patrol says if the reduced speed limits are violated, drivers could face double the fines. The increased patrol both on the roads and in the air are expected to continue until the end of construction season sometime in the fall.
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