Photo By Damien Salas | An Arlington, Va., school bus drops children off at the Fort Myer portion of Joint...... read more read more
JOINT BASE MYER-HENDERSON HALL, VA. - An increased amount of motor vehicle traffic infractions in residential neighborhoods on the Fort Myer portion of Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall has the joint base police department working to curtail speeding, halt stop sign violations and catch vehicles passing school buses stopped to pick up or drop off passengers.
During an interview with the Pentagram June 8, Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall Commander Col. Mike Henderson explained that a “full-press crackdown” is underway to patrol areas where speeding, unlawful passing and stop sign violations are occurring. According to the Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall Police Department, the areas under high surveillance for traffic violations include Lee Avenue, Sheridan Avenue and any area containing a school bus pick-up or drop-off point plus any four-way stop sign intersections.
Henderson said he is distressed with all the moving violations but was very concerned with the reporting of vehicles allegedly passing stopped school buses which were picking up children on Sheridan Road near the Fort Myer Fitness Center.
“We have surged our traffic enforcement,” the JBM-HH commander said. “We’ve issued the most weekly citations since I’ve been here [as commander in May]. Until we get some indicators that [driving] behavior is changing, we are going to keep doing it [the patrols]. The safety of the kids is a major concern of mine.”
According to the official Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles Driver’s Manual, a driver “must stop for stopped school buses with flashing red lights and an extended stop sign when approaching from any direction on a highway, private road or school driveway.”
Those behind the wheel must also “stop and remain stopped until all persons are clear and the bus moves again.” A driver “must also stop if the bus is loading or unloading passengers and the signals are not on.”
From May 18 through 31, the joint base police department issued 12 citations for speeding and passed out one ticket for texting while driving and another for reckless driving according to statistics issued to the Pentagram by JBM-HH PD. Department Deputy Chief Jennifer Ruggles stands in line with Henderson on the crackdown stating that rush hour and lunch time patrols will continue on residential avenues and at four-way stop signs like at the intersection of Lee Avenue and McNair Road - an intersection Henderson called “ the most disregarded stop-sign intersection” on the base.
“We’re doing a speed enforcement program during high-traffic times, which would be the morning rush between 6:30 and 8:30 and lunch time and again after the evening rush,” Ruggles said.
While JBM-HH PD attempts to control driving behaviors on Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall proper, both Henderson and JBM-HH Command Sgt. Maj. Randall Woods have received complaints about a trouble spot on Fort McNair.
“Residential areas, such as Lee Avenue on Fort Myer and 5th Avenue on Fort McNair, have a speed limit of 15 miles per hour, and too many drivers far exceed the posted speed limit,” Woods said in an email to the Pentagram. “The expectation is that everyone that lives, works or is visiting any part of JBM-HH needs to drive responsibly and obey the laws.”
Again, the posted speed limit on Lee Avenue on the Fort Myer portion of the joint base is 15 mph. The Sheridan Avenue corridor is 25 mph, but the speed limit drops to 15 mph between 6 and 7:30 in the morning when passing service members who are conducting physical training.
Solutions to scale back speeding are planned for Fort Myer and Fort McNair streets. According to Henderson, additional rumble strips will be added to McNair’s 5th Avenue, while on Lee Avenue, a permanent speed monitoring apparatus will soon be installed informing drivers of their current speeds.
Ruggles said Lee Avenue contains “a lot of cut-through traffic,” and Henderson wants children, families and Caisson Platoon details which navigate the street kept safe.
“If the Caisson Platoon gets a license plate number of someone speeding or passing or tailgating a detail, the joint base police department will follow up on the information,” Henderson said. “I will tell you that if people are multiple offenders with multiple infractions, they risk losing their driving privileges on the base.”
The joint base police are also on the lookout for drivers who fail to yield to pedestrians on cross walks. JBM-HH PD Traffic Accident Investigator Patrick O’Mara additionally mentioned that it is illegal to text and drive and operate a non-hands-free cellular phone while driving on federal property.
| Date Taken: | 06.11.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 06.11.2015 17:43 |
| Story ID: | 166333 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE MYER-HENDERSON HALL, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 94 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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