Ongoing efforts to curb traffic accidents and fatalities in the Erie region have included the Erie Bureau of Police’s use of speed enforcement signs, like one posted in the westbound lanes of East 38th Street near Mercyhurst University, to get motorists to slow down. The area where the East 38th Street is posted has a 25 mph speed limit.
Tim Hahn/Erie Times-News
USA TODAY Network, Reuters
There were nearly 800 reportable traffic accidents in the City of Erie for the year as of mid-September, according to the Erie Bureau of Police’s accident investigators.
A little more than half of those crashes were hit-and run accidents, according to police.
Add to that the 1,052 nonreportable crashes, defined as crashes involving property damage but with vehicles still drivable, and the first 9½ months of 2026 have again proven to be dangerous on roadways in the city as the numbers approach last year’s figures.
City traffic investigators reported in January that there were 980 reportable and 1,487 nonreportable crashes in Erie in all of 2025, with three traffic fatalities. Erie police report one traffic fatality so far this year.
There have been 10 motor vehicle fatalities in all of Erie County as of Sept. 16, according to Erie County Coroner Lyell Cook. There were 12 for the year in 2025.
Efforts to curb traffic accidents and dangerous driving habits in Erie are continuing, with a little help from an outside agency.
Making streets safer
Over the first six months of 2026, Erie police officers made 74 arrests for driving under the influence, up from 56 arrests during the same time period in 2025, Police Chief Rick Lorah said.
City police patrol officers do the primary DUI enforcement in the city, said Sgt. Scott Kornetz, commander of the city police Motorcycle Unit. The unit, which primarily works during daylight hours, has so far this year issued 2,784 aggressive driving and distracted driving citations and responded to 3,200 calls for service, Kornetz said.
The biggest problem areas in Erie remain the primary routes, he said, including 12th and 26th streets, as well as Peach Street. Kornetz also points to West 32nd Street and 38th Street, both east and west, although he said East 38th Street has been a notable problem area due to speeding.
Erie police, with an assist at one time from the Pennsylvania State Police, have kept a close watch on East 38th Street over the past several years to combat speeding along the 25 mph and 35 mph stretches of the roadway. During an eight-month stretch of 2025, more than 800 motorists were clocked traveling 56 mph or higher on East 38th Street, Kornetz reported in January.
Police timed those vehicles with a portable speed sign, which remains in place along the westbound lanes of East 38th Street in a 25 mph zone. Kornetz said two other signs are in place on a section of Cherry Street and a section of Washington Avenue.
The presence of state police troopers in Erie hasn’t gone unnoticed.
Erie City Councilman Andre Horton, at a council study session earlier this month, told Lorah he is seeing the state police patrolling the city’s east side more frequently, and asked whether some type of task force or operation was going on. Lorah said troopers could be doing aggressive driving or click it or ticket campaigns.
State police in the Erie region do a number of DUI checkpoints as well as a few clicket or ticket campaigns and some aggressive, distracted and impaired driving campaigns each year, said Lt. Gary Garman, patrol section supervisor for state police Troop E in Summit Township.
As the troop’s coverage zones neighbor those of other police agencies, including the Erie Bureau of Police, it’s not uncommon for troopers to develop probable cause in their areas and then follow a person’s vehicle into a neighboring law enforcement’s coverage area, Garman said. State police usually try to stay out of those areas, but the state police has statewide jurisdiction which allows them to do so, he added.
State police troopers in Summit Township and Girard work zones that border those of Erie police and the Millcreek Township Police Department. Between June 1 and Aug. 31, according to figures provided by Garman, those troopers have made 5,037 traffic stops and issued 4,668 citations and 1,788 warnings in their areas. Troopers also made 216 DUI arrests and issued 334 seatbelt citations, according to figures provided.
Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie traffic crashes remain high as police focus on enforcement efforts
Reporting by Tim Hahn, Erie Times-News / Erie Times-News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
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This story was originally published September 17, 2026 at 5:02 AM.