In Baltimore and Harford counties in Maryland, State Troopers participated in an unusual method to catch distracted drivers.
In the initiative they named “Operation Trojan Horse,” troopers hid in dump trucks for seven hours last week, while they scanned the road for distracted drivers.
According to Patch, on Wednesday, April 27, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., police went undercover in the dump trucks, resulting in dozens of traffic stops between Delaware and Baltimore city.
During this operation, once a distracted driver was spotted from view of a dump truck, officers were then dispatched in order to pull over the drivers along I-95. This resulted in a police-led educational speech about the dangers of distracted driving.
Resulting from this distracted driving operation were:
- Two drivers found with suspended licenses
- Four commercial vehicles inspected with one driver and one vehicle taken off the road
- One safety equipment repair order
- 111 warnings
- 113 citations
- 172 total drivers stopped
Officials say that this initiative was planned in recognition of Distracted Driving Awareness Month. Because of its success, they plan to use the dump trucks for future endeavors.