Cool Tips for Travelling with Your Pets

June 25, 2024

Hot Dog, was it ever hot last weekend! It seems like summer is here in full force. While the oppressive heat can be managed in many cases with a strong dose of air conditioning and an ice-cold beverage, it isn’t so easy for our four-legged friends. Dogs and cats are especially susceptible to extreme weather. Here are a couple of COOL tips for travelling with your pets.

No matter what the outside temperature is, you should never leave your dog (or cat, or ferret, or hamster, or llama) in an unattended vehicle. The inside of a car can heat up very quickly, which can result in terrible consequences for your poor four legged friend. In fact, Harford County Code Section 64-20 says “No person shall leave any animal unattended in a motor vehicle when the temperature 70° F., except the Sheriff, a police K-9 officer, or within any vehicle equipped with a safety climate control system designed for animal transport.” Not only could this land you a criminal citation for animal cruelty, you could also be charged with a traffic citation for “endangering the health, safety, and welfare of a cat or dog by leaving them in an unattended motor vehicle.” This carries a seventy dollar fine.

“But Sergeant Eaton…I am just running into the store for a second and I always leave the air conditioning on so Bruno doesn’t get too hot.” Not so fast! Maryland Transportation article forbids leaving an unattended vehicle running. This one also carries a fine of seventy dollars plus one point against your driving record.

Believe me when I tell you, there is nothing I love more than putting my dogs (Winston and Kate) in the car, strapping on their doggie seatbelts and hitting the open road. However, if we are going someplace that doesn’t allow dogs (which should itself be a crime), it is better to just leave them at home.

Until next week, slow down, pay attention, wear your seatbelt, and drive safely.
HCSO Main Line – 410.838.6600
Northern Precinct – 410.692.7880
Southern Precinct – 410.612.1717
HCSO Traffic Unit – 443.409.3324
traffictiptuesday@harfordsheriff.org

Border to Border

June 11, 2024

Earlier today, The Harford County Sheriff’s Office Traffic Unit, along with a few members of patrol and one Maryland State Trooper, participated in a “Border to Border” seatbelt channelization detail. You are probably asking yourself, “what is seatbelt channelization?” “Was it effective?” “Did the Trooper look handsome in his Stetson hat?” Let me offer some insight.

We call the event “Border to Border,” because we worked at the county Line in conjunction with the Baltimore County Police Department.

Officers and Deputies on each side of the county line targeted motorists who were either not wearing a seatbelt or driving distracted. This certainly doesn’t mean we ignored other moving violations. Just that distracted driving and seatbelt misuse were the main goals. As far as the effectiveness of the detail, the numbers speak for themselves. In just four hours, eleven Law Enforcement Officer made 81 traffic stops, issued 49 citations, 49 warnings, and 5 safety equipment repair orders. One of the best parts of the detail is that the funding came from a grant provided by the Maryland Highway Safety Office. It is details like this one that allow the Harford County Sheriff’s Office and our allied partners to work toward zero deaths on Maryland roadways.

As the summer heats up, and more and more drivers take to the road, you can expect to see officers working traffic enforcement details just like this to help keep everyone safe. Be sure you are following the rules of the road and wearing your seatbelt on every trip, because it won’t matter how handsome the Stetson hat is if the officer wearing it is issuing you a citation.

Until next week, slow down, pay attention, wear your seatbelt, and drive safely.
HCSO Main Line – 410.838.6600
Northern Precinct – 410.692.7880
Southern Precinct – 410.612.1717
HCSO Traffic Unit – 443.409.3324
traffictiptuesday@harfordsheriff.org

More on DUI Checkpoints

May 28, 2024

Welcome to part three of our series: “Everything I Ever Wanted to Know About DUI Checkpoints.” Last Friday, members of the Harford County Sheriff’s Office conducted a DUI checkpoint detail just outside of Bel Air. As I mentioned in the previous two #traffictiptuesday posts, the focus of a checkpoint is public education. Yes, we had Deputies out patrolling for impaired drivers. Yes, we made a few arrests that night, but in the end, the education we were able to provide the motoring public was a tremendous success.

In just under two hours, Sheriff’s Office Deputies made contact with 466 vehicles. Many of these had multiple occupants. This means that over 500 people travelling on our roadways had the opportunity to meet a Deputy and receive information about the dangers of impaired driving. Each driver was given a brochure that had information about DUI checkpoints, a link to the zerodeathsmd.com website, and statistics related to impaired driving. For example, over the past 5 years, more than 800 Marylanders were killed in impaired driving crashes. Not only were there no impaired driving crashes the night of the checkpoint, we also were able to confirm that every driver who came through the checkpoint was doing so without being impaired by drugs or alcohol.

For those that think we could have done more, let me tell you, we did! Deputies working DUI Saturation patrols during the checkpoint made 56 traffic stops. They issued 40 warnings and 51 citations for various driving infractions. In addition to this, three drivers were arrested. We also removed several suspended drivers from the roadway. All in all, not a bad night.

Now that the checkpoint is finished, our work is far from over. We have multiple DUI patrols scheduled throughout the summer as we work toward zero deaths on Maryland roadways.

Until next week, slow down, pay attention, wear your seatbelt, and drive safely.

HCSO Main Line – 410.838.6600
Northern Precinct – 410.692.7880
Southern Precinct – 410.612.1717
HCSO Traffic Unit – 443.409.3324
traffictiptuesday@harfordsheriff.org

Detecting Drunk Drivers

May 21, 2024

Last week, we spoke about DUI checkpoints. Specifically, what to do if you approach one while driving. This week I want to get into a little more detail about detecting impaired drivers. Most people do not flag down Deputies to say ‘hey…I’ve been drinking since 9am and I probably shouldn’t be operating this vehicle. Would you mind arresting me so I can stop endangering other motorists?” So, how does law enforcement KNOW that someone is impaired. Well, to answer that question, I need to take you waaaaay back to ancient times.

In 1975 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration- Drunk Driving wanted to develop a series of field sobriety test that could be used to determine if someone was under the influence of alcohol. Through a partnership with the Southern California Research Institute, the folks at NHTSA scoured the country and asked law enforcement agencies what time of sobriety test they were using on suspected drunk drivers. 6 tests were identified. The problem was that no two agencies were using the exact same tests. Furthermore, none of these tests were “validated” (AKA, there was no way to use them in court). Now NHTSA had some work to do. The goal was to determine the best and most practical roadside tests that could be used to see if someone was boozin’ and cruisin’.

Between 1977 and 1983 NHTSA did a ton of testing and studies and decided that the three most accurate and reliable tests for alcohol impairment were the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus Test, The Walk and Turn Test and the One Leg Stand Test. Since then, these tests have become standardized and systematic. Basically meaning, if you are stopped for DUI in Maryland and later fly to California (you’ll have to fly because your license will be suspended) and get stopped again for DUI, the Officer on either side of the country will utilize the exact same battery of tests. Even cooler is the fact that each of these tests have specific clues of impairment. Even MORE cooler is that these tests do not discriminate. Men, women, old, young, country music fans and death metal enthusiasts will all show the same clues when they are impaired.

So, the next time you are driving slow, sober and attentive (as we all should all the time) and you see some poor decision maker being put through a series of field sobriety test by a law enforcement officer, you can rest assured that if that person is impaired, the Officer will be able to see clues of impairment and get that dangerous bozo off of our roads.

Until next week, slow down, pay attention, wear your seatbelt, and drive safely.

HCSO Main Line – 410.838.6600
Northern Precinct – 410.692.7880
Southern Precinct – 410.612.1717
HCSO Traffic Unit – 443.409.3324
traffictiptuesday@harfordsheriff.org