DATE: Sunday, May 4, 1997                   TAG: 9705030018

SECTION: COMMENTARY              PAGE: J4   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Editorial

                                            LENGTH:   56 lines

SMOOTH OPERATORSA PROGRAM TO END AGGRESSIVE DRIVING OUGHT TO BE IMPLEMENTED IN HAMPTON ROADS.

Virtually every adult in America has had a frightening encounter with an aggressive, irrational driver. Most incidents, thankfully, end with only a rush of adrenalin and jangled nerves.

Last April 17, however, two drivers who dueled their way through heavy traffic on the Capital Beltway around Washington, D.C., caused a horrific car crash that killed three people, including one of the reckless drivers. The surviving aggressive driver, Narkey Terry, 26 of Fairfax, was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison.

In response to this accident and a spate of others caused by out-of-control drivers, a ``Smooth Operator'' campaign has begun in the Washington Metropolitan area aimed at ending such shenanigans on the highways. Local and federal law enforcement agencies are cooperating in the region's first coordinated enforcement of traffic safety laws.

The federally funded pilot program, which will run for just five months, also includes a large public-education effort. Police officers from Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia are taking a zero-tolerance approach to aggressive driving. Violators are being charged and, if convicted, face jail terms.

The federal government is giving the localities a total of $300,000 for the program, money that will allow police departments to reshuffle schedules and free more officers for road patrols.

On Monday, the first day of the Smooth Operator campaign, the Virginia State Police put eight extra troopers on the Beltway. They were assigned to scout for aggressive driving behavior such as speeding, tailgating or passing improperly,

A state police spokesperson said the troopers wrote 118 tickets on the inaugural day.

As part of the campaign, police are keeping detailed records of aggressive driving arrests, which they define as a combination of unsafe and illegal behavior that shows a blatant disregard for safety.

This dangerous, often deadly, driving is not confined to Northern Virginia. According to anecdotal reports, aggressive driving is an everyday occurrence in Hampton Roads, too.

In a recent Virginia Beach court case, a driver who not only tried to run another car off the road, but then assaulted the driver of the car, was sentenced to six months in jail for his antisocial behavior.

The judge noted that this violent behavior on the roads is a ``very tragic situation'' and said he is seeing more evidence of this criminal behavior in his court.

The Smooth Operator slogan is: ``Aggressive driving kills. Be a smooth operator. We're all watching.''

This is a program worth supporting. It would be nice if the Smooth Operator campaign went nationwide. In an era of government cutbacks that's unlikely. Still, there is nothing to prevent the law enforcement departments of Hampton Roads from studying the Smooth Operator program and implementing successful parts of it here.

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