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California Highway Patrol officers in Dublin received the first of two low-profile patrol vehicles on Wednesday, which aims to help officers crack down on “video game-styled” reckless drivers, according to officials with the agency.
The new Dodge Durango vehicles are part of a statewide special initiative to make the roads a bit safer by having these specially marked patrol vehicles blend in with traffic “just enough to observe the most reckless and dangerous behaviors without immediate detection.”
“The goal is to improve overall driving behavior, not just when a black and white patrol vehicle is in view,” CHP Dublin Officer Tyler Hahn told the Weekly. “This ultimately makes California’s roads safer by reducing the number of deaths per mile driven.”
According to a May 8 CHP press release, there are over 390,000 documented crashes in California every year and almost 1,000 reports of reckless driving each day. Last year, CHP officers issued almost 18,000 citations for drivers going over 100 miles per hour, the agency said.
“Yes, this type of driving is something we see on our local highways, unfortunately,” Hahn said in regards to seeing “video-game-style driving” in the Tri-Valley.
CHP is deploying 100 of the new low-profile patrol vehicles throughout the state.
“The new vehicles give our officers an important advantage,” CHP Commissioner Sean Duryee stated in the press release. “They will allow us to identify and stop drivers who are putting others at risk, while still showing a professional and visible presence once enforcement action is needed.”
The agency began deploying the first 25 of these new vehicles earlier this month — including the first one for Dublin. The rest of the fleet will be “strategically placed along California’s busiest, high-risk roadways by June.”
