LONG ISLAND, NY — New York State Police announced a new initiative Friday that they say aims to reduce the number of accidents and fatalities along the Southern State Parkway.
Running from the Queens-Nassau border in the west to Heckscher State Park in East Islip to the east, the SSP covers about 25 miles across Long Island and has been the site of numerous accidents in recent years. In March, a six-vehicle crash left two people dead at the scene and several more injured.
Just over a month after that accident, police said they would be stepping up enforcement on the state road. Warmer weather, longer stretches of daylight and a subsequent increase in traffic, police said, can bring an uptick in traffic violations and dangerous driving behavior that can lead to crashes, injuries and, in some cases, fatalities.
According to police, the leading cause of those accidents and injuries are speeding, impaired driving, aggressive driving and distracted driving, “which rest solely on the part of the driver,” police said.
As for what the new initiative will entail, state troopers said “Operation Southern Shield” was specifically designed to address those behaviors. Troopers told Patch the operation would feature increased trooper presence along the Southern State Parkway in both directions, with access to aviation equipment as needed, license plate readers, additional investigations personnel, and a continued effort to collaborate with Nassau and Suffolk County police and prosecutors.
“We have a great working relationship with the county agencies, and our partner agencies that are local,” one state trooper told Patch. “The parkways, that’s our main jurisdiction down here, that’s our main roadway.”
“Speeding to save only a few minutes is never worth a lifetime of consequences,” Police said in an announcement of the program. “Slow down. Drive sober. Pay attention. Move over. Put the phone down. Buckle up.”
Operation Southern Shield will run from Friday through June 12, police said, with a goal that police said is “simple.”
“The goal of Operation Southern Shield is simple: reduce preventable crashes, save lives and remind operators of vehicles that every decision made behind the wheel matters,” Police said.