Pennsylvania State Police Troop M will increase traffic enforcement during the Christmas and New Year\u2019s holidays, targeting aggressive and impaired drivers across Lehigh, Northampton and Bucks counties.<\/p>\n
The Christmas holiday enforcement period runs from Dec. 24 through Dec. 28. The New Year\u2019s enforcement period begins Dec. 31 and continues through Jan. 4, 2026, according to a press release from the Bethlehem-based troop.<\/p>\n
Troopers will focus on violations including speeding, seat belt infractions and distracted driving. Specific attention will be given to drivers who text while driving, use handheld mobile phones, or violate careless and reckless driving laws.<\/p>\n
The enforcement efforts fall under two safety programs. The Pennsylvania Aggressive Driving Enforcement Education Program targets drivers who operate vehicles in a dangerous manner. The Selective Traffic Enforcement Against Drunk Drivers program and Drug Recognition Expert troopers will concentrate on apprehending motorists driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.<\/p>\n
During last year\u2019s Christmas enforcement period, Troop M troopers investigated 51 crashes and made 11 driving under the influence arrests. The 2024-25 New Year\u2019s enforcement period resulted in 31 crash investigations and 14 DUI arrests. During the Christmas period, troopers issued 27 speeding citations, while the New Year\u2019s period saw 90 speeding citations issued.<\/p>\n
Police reminded motorists that fleeing from law enforcement can result in a third-degree felony charge, which carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison and a $15,000 fine, plus restitution for any damages or injuries caused during a pursuit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pennsylvania State Police Troop M will increase traffic enforcement during the Christmas and New Year\u2019s holidays, targeting aggressive…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":66822,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120],"class_list":{"0":"post-66821","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-allentown","8":"tag-allentown","9":"tag-allentown-headlines","10":"tag-allentown-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}