Traffic cops point out Valley drivers' most frequent foibles

June 19. 2005

KATE GOLDEN/Frontiersman reporter

WASILLA - Myth: Traffic cops must fill ticket quotas.

"It's not legal to have a quota," said Wasilla traffic police officer Jentry Crain. "I write what I see - if it's bad enough for me to write."

Crain, who once exploded bombs in Iraq for a living, said some people ask him why he doesn't do "real work." Why, they ask, doesn't he go out and get the drug dealers?

With all due respect to the hard-working Mat-Su Drug Unit, Crain said, motor-vehicle accidents kill and injure more people.

"It's extremely important from a proactive standpoint," agreed Sgt. Craig Allen, an Alaska State Trooper at the Palmer post.

Beyond that, however, Allen said that traffic duty is "fun." It's a change of pace from his dispatch-driven job, where investigating crimes is a higher priority than stalking speeders. "It's almost like a relief from the other stuff," Allen said.

Why we crash

The top accident causes Allen sees on the highways: alcohol, tailgating speeders, and - particularly in the summers - fatigue. People want to have fun, they want to have it far from home, and they want to cram it all into one weekend, he said.

"Sleep is the one item that they dispense with," he said.

Allen's most frequent citations, he said, are for speeding, stoplight and stop-sign violations.

Crain, a full-time motorcycle cop, went into more detail.

€ Lack of situational awareness. It's not just that people don't look where they're going. They also don't listen. Crain said he sometimes leaves his sirens on for blocks before they realize he's there. You use all your senses when you drive, he said.

€ Stop-sign etiquette. As the driver manual tells us, the driver on the right has the right of way if, and only if, two cars stop at the same time.

€ Stop-sign laziness. The old "California stop," or rolling through intersections, leaves a rolling blind spot behind the A pillar that holds up the windshield. A moving car in that direction will be obvious if you actually stop your car, Crain said.

€ Inching out of a driveway through backed-up traffic. If someone gives you room and a nod to go, you're still the one in trouble when an oncoming car smashes into you. It's a state law to stop at driveways, Crain added, and he could write citations for that alone at the Carrs parking lot all day long.

The violators

Young drivers, overcautious and uncertain, cause their share of accidents, Crain said. But he said older teens get in more trouble. That's when they start pushing the envelope.

They may be the flashiest violators, but they don't fill Crain's days.

"I stop more people in their 30s to 40s than just about anybody," he said.

Save the traffic cops

"Traffic stops are some of the most dangerous things we do," Crain said.

A driver could be mild and remorseful, or he could be armed and irritated. Crain said he once found a robbery suspect in someone's trunk at a traffic stop.

But all those other drivers whizzing by are dangerous, too.

He implored us all: Slow down when you see pulled-over vehicles. Clear the lane next to them if it's an option. Violating this law results in a mandatory court appearance; it's a misdemeanor if anyone gets hurt. On a two-lane highway, slow down enough to react if something unexpected happens. Nearly everyone violates this one, Crain said.

That's why he skews his vehicle into the traffic lane when he parks behind someone he's pulled over, although some people find it heavy-handed.

"It's not about an ego trip," he said. "It's just - I want to go home at night," he said.

Good behavior

Crain leaves his cited drivers, he said, with an "I hope to meet again under better circumstances," never a "Have a nice day."

"Who wants to hear that?" he said.

"There are times," admitted Sgt. Allen, "when I witness good driving behavior. And I wish there were some way to reward them."

Contact Kate Golden at 352-2284 or kate.golden@frontiersman.com.