Aggressive Driving?

[rcannon100]

Is there any point in reporting aggressive driving to the police? Are there jurisdictions where this is effective?

My impression is that there is no point. That the police either will not or cannot do anything with the information. I observed an incident this morning - even have a video - but since there was no accident and no one was injured, my assumption is that taking the time to report it would mean wasting 15 minutes of my life? I am pretty sure I have tried to report aggressive drivers in the past in ArlCo and the reception I received was that I was wasting the police's time.

Thoughts? Is it effective? Does it make a difference?

[Dirt]

I report it every time I have something substantive to provide (license plate number).
Arlington tries to pretend that they care.
Falls Church doesn't do as good a job of pretending to care, but seem to feel bad about not doing a good job of pretending.
DC asks what I want them to do about it.
Fairfax County is interested, listens and often does something about it. On more than one occasion they have sent out squad cars at dinner time to talk to people about their driving habits.

I <3 Fairfax County.

Dirt

[jabberwocky]

Fairfax County is interested, listens and often does something about it. On more than one occasion they have sent out squad cars at dinner time to talk to people about their driving habits.

I <3 Fairfax County.

Dirt

Agreed. Fairfax county has always taken me seriously when I reported a driver (sent a squad car to my office or house to take my statement and followed up with the driver).

[rcannon100]

Arlington tries to pretend that they care.

Yeah. That's my impression. There is this really weird relationship between ArlCo and Arlington Police that I dont quite understand.

Good to hear about FFX.

[GuyContinental]

So what happened?

[rcannon100]

Oh nothing exciting. There are a number of intersections in Arlington that are known for bad traffic. We all know the intersection of doom. Another one is Lorcum Lane and Old Dominion (aka Lee Hwy). Traffic going South on Lorcum, to go West on Old Dumb - to go to McLean - generally perform a right on red by (a) rolling through the red light and (b) not looking right for pedestrians.

Unfortunately there is a lot of pedestrian traffic here. This is a common route from these parts east to the Custis Trail. But more importantly this is also a way that students get to HBW School.

Even tho this has been marked on the map as a dangerous intersection for decades, nothing ever gets done and there is never police enforcement. In fact, Arl Police set up a trap for illegal left turns at this intersection (see news articles over the past year about Arl Police and quotas - this spot is one of their favorites). But they wont ticket people for making illegal rights on red (that is, without coming to a full stop and without looking for pedestrians). Arlco's response is they cant do anything about this intersection because too much traffic comes through (????)

The simple answer is the way to stop bad drivers at this intersection is to change poorly designed infrastructure - and much like the intersection of doom - there is little promise of that happening. Which leads to bad things happening.

Cant say I am a big believer in the Arlington Civic Association system, but I think the most immediate solution is to see if I could get my civic association to recommend to ArlCo that traffic calming measures be introduced. Prob is that Old Dumb (Lee Hwy) at this point, just like at the Intersection of Doom, is VA State property - Arlco has no control over Old Dumb (Lee Hwy).

[jrenaut]

If you have video, I think you should report it. Even if they don't care or do anything now, it sets precedent for the future. If enough people complain, they'll eventually change policies.

[Riley Casey]

You could always post the video on line with some editorial content. Cathartic for you and bit of salacious voyeurism for us.

[TwoWheelsDC]

Sigh...it's past time to just get rid of right-on-red. It doesn't save anyone a significant amount of time and it endangers pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers alike.

[rcannon100]

You could always post the video on line with some editorial content

To anyone thinking of doing such things, realize that you are exposing yourself to legal action for negligible benefit. If you are going to poke a tiger, be ready for it to bite back.

I have already today sent an email to Arlco another note about the intersection, and I will contact the local civic association. I will also raise this with ArlBAC where I have suggested previously that even tho many of these dangerous intersections are quagmires, the ArlBAC should nevertheless maintain them as priority concerns. (there are actually some positives being talked about for the Circle of Doom)