VA State Police Target U.S. 15 In Safety Patrol

LEESBURG, VA — The Virginia State Police will step up patrols this weekend along U.S. 15 as part of a multi-state law enforcement effort called Operation Border to Border. State police and state highway patrol agencies in nine states along the East Coast "will target non-interstate highway corridors popular with college students and families kicking off their summer vacations and trying to avoid congested interstates," the Virginia State Police said in a statement.

The operation will target 791 miles of U.S. Route 15, which originates in Waterboro, S.C., and runs north through Virginia to Corning, N.Y.

Operation Border to Border began at 12:01 a.m. Friday and runs through through midnight Sunday. It will include sobriety checkpoints and other enforcement initiatives "aimed at reducing traffic crashes and combating criminal activity along the major, non-interstate highways," the Virginia State Police said.

Along with Virginia, the operation will involve state troopers from Maryland, Florida, Georgia, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and West Virginia.

The 2017 Operation Border to Border resulted in 3,071 traffic summonses and arrests in eight participating states, the Virginia State Police said. Of those traffic violations, 1,269 were for speeding, 25 for DUI and 441 for individuals failing to buckle their safety belts. No fatal traffic crashes occrred during the three-day operation last year.

Image: Virginia State Police