CMPD targeting city's most dangerous corridors to crack down on speeding

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said they are cracking down on speeding drivers to try and save lives.

“I really don’t like coming on this side of town because of the traffic,” Kayla Butler told Channel 9 while she was driving down Albemarle Road.

Butler is from Charlotte but said she knows who isn't by how they drive.

“Horrible, move over, get in the slow lane, it’s horrible,” she described.

As the city has grown, so has its crashes.

[ALSO READ: Four seriously hurt, road shut down from crash in northwest Charlotte]

Officials said there have already been nine deadly crashes so far in 2019 and more than 200 serious wrecks.

CMPD Deputy Chief Jeff Estes said, “We know what it feels like to be out among the broken glass and twisted metal and see people’s lives literally shattered across the road.”

Estes said officers are now trying to target the city's most dangerous corridors twice a week to try to prevent other families from losing someone in a crash.

“We’ve written a little more than 1,400 speeding tickets more than we did this time last year,” said Estes.

Officers said they have pulled over 16,000 drivers so far in 2019 compared with the 11,000 they stopped by this time in 2018.

Butler said she has been sideswiped on Charlotte's streets before and she hopes the patrols pay off.

“I hope it does cut back on accidents as far as traffic-wise because it’s very frustrating getting off work, you want to get home, and boom, there’s an accident,” she explained.

CMPD said it is also working with the Charlotte Department of Transportation to improve dangerous roads.

Charlotte Department of Transportation said it has $30 million for sidewalk and crosswalk improvements, so it plans on going over police data to figure out which intersections need to be improved first.

Officers said they are targeting 42 roads for their patrols:

As you can see from this list, it includes nearly every major road in Charlotte.

Cox Media Group