GARY, W.Va. – A rash of speed related accidents in the Gary area has prompted the Gary City Police to do a week of extra patrols to try and stem the trend.

“Myself, the Sheriff’s Office or the State Police have responded to five accidents in the Gary area in the past month and a half that were speed related. Four of those were single vehicle accidents, one of which wound up jumping an embankment and plunging a hundred feet over the hill,” said Gary Police Chief S. P. “Pat” McKinney. “Speeding, whether cars or commercial vehicles, make up half of our citizen complaints. I met with Mayo Larry Hairston and we decided to do a week of strict enforcement that is publicized and see if we get overall speed down.”

The schedule goes as follows:
• Tuesday September 1, 2020 WIlcoe 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Pinchback 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.
• Wednesday September 2,2020 Thorpe area 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. and then City Hall area 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
• Thursday September 3,2020 Elbert area 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. then Thorpe from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.
• Friday September 4,2020 Wall Street from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. then the Pinchback area 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
• Saturday Sept 5 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. from Wall Street to the Pinchback area
• Sunday Sept 6 10 a.m. to noon from Pinchback and Wall Street area.
• Monday September 7 Elbert area 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

McKinney indicated traffic citations are not the motive for these extra patrols.

“If we wanted to write tickets we would just park up and start writing,” said McKinney. “We are publicizing where and when we will be as a deterrent. We want fewer accidents and safer roads is all. The residents of Gary deserve to sit on their front porch without worrying someone will run through their fence.”