Starting today, Feb. 18, and running through Monday, Feb. 21, the Oregon State Police Patrol troopers from Pendleton, Salem, Albany, Springfield, Roseburg, Grants Pass, Central Point, Portland, La Grande, and Ontario area commands are conducting a high-visibility saturation patrol that will be focusing on Interstate 5, Interstate 205 and Interstate 84.
This saturation will be focusing on what OSP refers to as the “Fatal Five” – speeding, occupant safety, lane safety, impaired driving, and distracted driving. These five driving behaviors, according to the OSP are the leading causes of serious injury and fatal crashes.
Cutting down on dangerous driving behavior isn’t easy. Consider the following stats:
- Currently, OSP has 410 sergeants & troopers in patrol across Oregon. This number is authorized positions and doesn’t include vacancies, troopers on leave, troopers at training, troopers at court, etc.
- Oregon has about 8,000 miles of state-owned highways, which are primarily patrolled by OSP.
- Oregon has 4.1 million registered vehicles with nearly 3.1 million licensed drivers.
- Those numbers do not include the estimated over 29 million visitors Oregon gets a year.
- If you do the math, with just the number of licensed drivers (3.1 million) that is 1 trooper for every 7,561 licensed drivers in Oregon.
