Kansas law enforcement agencies will partner with law enforcement across the nation at the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) kicks off the Labor Day travel period on Thursday with the I-35 corridor enforcement mobilization.
As a major north-south travel route from Kansas City to the Oklahoma border, motorists will see a significant number of law enforcement officers patrolling for speeders and impaired or aggressive drivers on more than 250 miles of I-35 in Kansas.
“It is an all-out, one day, border-to-border enforcement effort,” said Pete Bodyk, chief of KDOT’s Bureau of Traffic Safety. “This aggressive enforcement will place special emphasis on those drivers speeding, failing to use seat belts and driving while impaired.”
Reducing traffic-related deaths and injuries is KDOT’s top priority. On Kansas roadways last year, 428 people were killed. Seventy percent of people killed in car crashes were not wearing seat belts. Kansas’ seat belt usage rate is 69 percent — the seventh worst in the nation. The national average is above 80 percent
“It’s our mission as law enforcement to reduce the number of injuries and fatalities on roadways,” said Colonel William Seck of the Kansas Highway Patrol. “If we can get people to slow down, buckle up and stop drinking and driving, we’ll have accomplished our goal with this enforcement effort.”
The enforcement will run along I-35 from Duluth, Minn., to Laredo, Texas. States participating in the nationwide enforcement effort include Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.