State Police Add Patrols to Routes 24 and 195

In response to recent fatal and near-fatal crashes on Route 24, Massachusetts State Police are beefing up patrols in the area.

State police announced Thursday morning that 11 additional patrols would be on Routes 24 and 195 from 8 p.m. until 4 a.m. on Friday into Saturday and again on Saturday into Sunday for the remainder of the summer.

Police say the additional patrols will crack down on unsafe drivers.

"If you will not drive safely for your own sake, please remember you have no right to put anyone else's life in danger," Superintendent Colonel Timothy Alben said during a press conference at the Route 24 Burger King in Bridgewater.

He said the additional patrols would be paid for with state police operating funds for "problem-related events."

"This is a problem," Alben said.

He said from Jan. 1, 2011 to July 17, 2012, 11 Route 24 crashes resulted in fatalities and five resulted in serious bodily injury. The statistics show 31 percent of the crashes involved drugs or alcohol, 19 percent were a result of marked lanes or failure to yield violations and another 19 percent resulted from speeding.

Many crashes took place after 2 a.m. and "sometimes as late as four or five in the morning," Alben said.

Mansfield teen Lisa Banat and John LaChapelle, 44, of Tiverton, R.I. on the highway in West Bridgewater near Easton's border.

Alben said two nights later, state police made two separate arrests for wrong-way drivers on Route 195. This past week, two more were arrested for the same offense.

The West Bridgewater crash was preceded by a slew of crashes in the same area.

, a 12-year-old from Norton was killed and two others were injured July 12 in an afternoon crash on Route 24 on the Stoughton/Avon line, just north of Easton.

On July 14,

Massachusetts Department of Transportation Administrator Frank Depaola said the state is finishing a $12 million resurfacing project on Route 24, leaving the roadways in top condition.

"Because of the fresh surface, it may be enticing for some to increase their speed," he said. "We ask that they don't."

Depaola, Alben and State Police Troop D Commander Major Anthony Thomas reiterated the importance of driving safely on the roads to avoid such accidents.

Thomas said all drivers should refrain from driving impaired, avoid being distracted from phones or text messages, stay attentive to other drivers on the road and wear a seatbelt.

Alben said the extra enforcement could continue after the summer if it were determined to be neccesary