New Fairfax “Road Shark” Campaign Designed to Save Lives

Fairfax, VA, — Starting today, the Fairfax County Police Department is rolling out their 2023 “Road Shark” campaign throughout Fairfax County. Road Shark is a high-visibility and coordinated enforcement and education effort to deter aggressive driving, reduce crashes, and change driving behavior.

The FCPD Road Shark program was imagined in 1999 in response to increased crashes and aggressive driving in Fairfax County. The goal of the initiative was simple: reduce crashes and save lives. After each round of increased enforcement, speeding violations and other reckless charges across the county dropped.  

With the significant increase in crashes in recent years, now is the time to roll out the Road Shark program once again. Educating aggressive and distracted drivers will be a key to the success of the initiative.

The department will have police officers in high-visibility areas all over the county. Officers will be looking for an array of traffic violations including aggressive driving, excessive speeding, driving under the influence, school zone violations, distracted driving and others. A 2022 NHTSA synthesis of studies concluded that high-visibility enforcement efforts such as these reduced crashes and improved safety outcomes in study locations.

Fairfax County police officers, along with Virginia State troopers, will utilize data-driven and risk-based enforcement strategies and operations that target areas with high crash concentrations to reduce crashes. They will also be focusing on concurrent education and enforcement campaigns to better inform and reduce unsafe driving behaviors across Fairfax County.

In conjunction with FCPD’s 2023 Monthly Traffic Safety campaigns, Road Shark will be an integral part of this approach to keeping community members safe.

For more on this and other traffic safety initiatives, notifications, and results, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at @FairfaxCountyPD