The program intends to make the roads in the Virginia county safer by focusing on high visibility enforcement, outreach and education to the public.
Over the past seven months, nearly 50,000 drivers in Fairfax County got a written reminder from police to drive more carefully.
Fairfax County and Virginia State Police held five weeklong crackdowns on speeders and distracted drivers as part of their Road Shark campaign.
The program intends to make the roads in the Virginia county safer by focusing on high visibility enforcement, outreach and education to the public, the department said in a release earlier this year.
The 2025 campaign ended Oct. 19 with almost 50,000 citations and warnings being written, a 43% jump from last year when only 35,000 tickets and warnings were given out.
“We’re still seeing tens of thousands of people die every year on the highways in the United States, so we’re trying our very best to reduce that,” said Fairfax County Assistant Chief of Police Robert Blakley during the program launch.
The last week of the campaign racked up 10,565 citations and warnings, with more than 900 of them for speeding. But the focus isn’t on the number of citations.
“This campaign is not about writing tickets or seeing how many tickets and warnings we can write,” Blakley said. ”By seeing more blue lights and police officers out on the roadways, our residents are more likely to remember to look down at their speedometer, reduce the distractions in the cockpits of their cars and get home safe.”
The annual Road Shark campaign has been going on since 1999.
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An Escondido Police cruiser. (File photo courtesy Escondido Police Department)
Nearly 100 motorists took home citations Friday courtesy of a crackdown on distracted driving in Escondido.
Of the 92 tickets handed out by officers over the day in the northern San Diego County city, 48 were for violations involving cellphone use while driving, according to the Escondido Police Department. Other cited infractions included speeding and failing to heed signs and signals, the agency reported.
“Despite repeated efforts to warn drivers about the hands-free cellphone law, some drivers continue to use their phones (manually) while operating a vehicle,” EPD Chief Ken Plunkett said. “Our ultimate goal is to change behaviors (in order to) help make our roads safer.”
State law prohibits motorists from using electronic devices by hand for any purpose, including talking, texting, or accessing an application.
Funding for Friday’s operation was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
A father in Maryland built a track on his private property for his son. But issues surrounding permits and noise are now at the center of the controversy.
The go-kart track that Chris Siperko built on his private property in Highland, Maryland.
(Courtesy Chris Siperko)
Courtesy Chris Siperko
Chris Siperko and his son Achilles, who races go-karts competitively.
(Courtesy Chris Siperko)
Courtesy Chris Siperko
Siperko says he’s spent nearly $200,000 to build a go-kart track for his son on their property.
(Courtesy Chris Siperko)
Courtesy Chris Siperko
Permits and noise are at the center of the controversy over whether the family can keep the racetrack.
(Courtesy Chris Siperko)
Courtesy Chris Siperko
A father in Howard County, Maryland, built a go-kart track on his private property for his son. But permits and noise are now at the center of the controversy over whether he can keep it.
“I just didn’t think it was going to be an issue,” said Chris Siperko, who lives on 11 acres in Highland.
Siperko said he spent close to $200,000 constructing a go-kart track on his private property for his son Achilles. The track was completed around mid-January, he said.
The family travels to Florida almost every weekend for Achilles to train as a racer. Siperko said he did some research and didn’t see anything about permits.
“So I called some paving companies,” Siperko told WTOP. “They came out and they said, ‘Oh, it’s your property. You don’t need a permit, as long as it’s not touching a main road. So as long as it’s not touching the driveway that touches the road or accesses the main road, you don’t need a permit.’”
Dan O’Leary, chairman of the Greater Highland Crossroads Association, told WTOP that his group is strongly supporting neighbors who object to the track. He called the opposition to the go-kart track “emotional and overwhelming.”
Siperko said when neighbors saw the construction, they contacted the county. He then received two citations, one for the paving and one for constructing it on wetlands.
“We are sympathetic that a family has gotten itself in a such financial and emotional situation. Everyone wants to help their children succeed in their aspirations,” O’Leary wrote in a statement. “A simple call to Howard County officials would have confirmed that extensive permissions are required to disturb more than 5,000 Sq. Ft. (about 1/8 acre) of ground.”
There have been two community meetings on the matter, and Siperko said he is gearing up for hearings with the county on fighting to keep the track.
A Change.org petition on the issue supporting the Siperko family in keeping the track has received more than 1,700 signatures as of Saturday afternoon.
“I’ll do everything to try to make it right for the county,” Siperko said. “If he wanted to do basketball, I’d build him up a basketball court. I mean, if he wants to swim, I could build him a pool, but he doesn’t want to do that. He wants to be a racer, so I built him a track.”
The Greater Highland Crossroads Association represents Highland and rural areas of Fulton, Dayton and Clarksville. The goal of the association is to “see new development evolve in a way which compliments, not compromises, the Highland area,” according to the association’s website.
In his statement, O’Leary wrote that the go-kart track was not approved and is greatly impacting the neighborhood.
“The principle objection — other than the environmental damage — was the noise generated by the tires on the EVs, prompting distant neighbors to call the police and the authorities,” he said.
O’Leary said that the association will “continue until the end to support our neighbors and members. In our experience, this may take around two years if it goes to the District Court.”
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