Hendersonville police officers are cracking down on speeders in an attempt to curb crashes throughout the city.

According to HPD Chief of Police Blair Myhand, Hendersonville sees almost double the number of crashes they should for a city of its size.

“We’re running around 1,800 crashes a year, and we should be below 1,000,” Myhand said. “This is an issue that is significant for us here in the city that we can really focus our efforts and deploy our resources to try to have an impact. Violent crime is very low property crime is on par with most, but this is something that we’re definitely out of whack with.”

The city’s layout can’t keep up with the amount of traffic traveling through the area, said Myhand.

“You have to go through downtown to get from one side of the city to the other, so we see a lot of traffic in an area that’s really not built for the amount of traffic we normally see,” Myhand said.

According to Myhand, HPD’s traffic safety team and other officers are focusing patrol efforts on two crash hotspots within the city: Asheville Highway and Church Street.

“In the last 60 days, we’re having a crash every other day on these two streets,” Myhand said.

The traffic safety team was established last fall. Myhand is hopeful their impact is reflected on next year’s crash numbers.

“Their job is to pull our data, dive into that information and deploy where those crashes are happening and when they’re happening,” Myhand said.

Hendersonville’s ‘speed a little, lose a lot’ campaign is running in conjunction with the Governor’s Highway Safety Program (GHSP). The initiative continues through Easter weekend, and wraps up April 9th – but for those with a lead foot, Myhand has a warning:

“Come April 10th doesn’t mean officers aren’t going to be paying attention,” Myhand said. “There’s not a green light on April 10th to start speeding again.”

 

STORY & PHOTO COURTESY OF ABC 13 WLOSOfficers crack down on speeders to combat high crash rates in Hendersonville | WLOS