CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va -- The Chesterfield Police Department is cracking down on speeding drivers, as speeding remains a factor in an overwhelming majority of crashes throughout the county.
In 2022, data from the department showed speeding was involved in 15 of the 22 fatal crashes in Chesterfield.
Leading up to a crash last Tuesday on Old Gun Road which claimed the lives of two teenagers, police said the driver was traveling at a high rate of speed.
During a crash on Sunday on Hull Street Road, police said a speeding pick-up driver was weaving in and out of lanes when the truck hit another vehicle, which killed the driver of that vehicle.
“We've seen far too often the dangers of speeding and the back end of things that happen when people get hurt and killed out here. It forever changes people's lives, and it's terrible. It's got to stop," said Chesterfield Police Sergeant Stephan Rouze. “Every day, we catch people going 20, 30, 40 over the speed limit. It’s ludicrous. It really is.”
Tuesday afternoon, CBS 6 tagged along with Rouze and another officer as they enforced the speed limit along Robious Road near the intersection at Old Gun Road.
In under an hour, the two officers made five stops, pulling over drivers who were traveling between 15 to 22 miles per hour over the speed limit of 45 mph.
Since 2018, Chesterfield Police has given handed out more than 43,000 speeding tickets:
- 2018: 7,101 tickets
- 2019: 7,936 tickets
- 2020: 8,557 tickets
- 2021: 8,616 tickets
- 2022: 8,193 tickets
- 2023 so far: 2,566
Rouze said they have no plans of letting up on enforcement.
“Our goal is for the community to see it," Rouze said. "You know that the Chesterfield Police Department is out there, and you know that if we see you violating the law, especially the speed limit, we're going to hold you accountable. You're going to get pulled over, you'll be issued a summons and you'll come explain to the judge why you did what you did.”
He said he's seen an increasing trend in speeding drivers over the past few years and that it worsened during the pandemic.
Asked if issuing tickets effectively prevents someone from speeding again, Rouze answered, "We have no way to effectively measure the results of our efforts."
County government leaders, including Mark Miller, the Midlothian Representative on the Board of Supervisors, are also joining the efforts the keep people safe on the roads.
"We need to be paying attention. Heaven forbids this happens again. We need to figure out ways to make our roads safer," Miller said.
Miller, whose district includes the area of Old Gun Road, said he was "shocked" and "afraid" after hearing about Tuesday's crash and the death of two James River High School students. He said he immediately started reaching out to talk about potential improvements to what he considered a dangerous road.
"Working with VDOT is vital. Even within the first 24 hours, we were having conversations to see, 'Hey, what can we do here?' It is windy. There are places where it drops off very quickly. There's no margin for error on that road," Miller said.
Immediate changes he'd like to see on Old Gun Road include additional signage alerting drivers to dangerous sections of the roadway. Long-term solutions, he said, could include physically changing the geometry.
"I would love to see it possibly widened," Miller said.
In 2014, a VDOT study found the road would likely never be widened or straightened due to the historical nature of the roadway. However, Miller said he would welcome a new traffic study of the road.
Old Gun Road, a state route, is not maintained by the county, but rather by VDOT. However, the county said it collaborates with VDOT on projects and requests changes.
All stakeholders involved said they hope their message surrounding safe driving sticks with the public, as seven traffic fatalities have already been reported in Chesterfield so far this year.
“It’s only April. It needs to be seven for the rest of the year. I don’t want to see another person die," Rouze said. "Telling families that their loved ones have been killed in a car crash is the absolute worst part of the job."
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