The Panama City Police Department will continue enhanced traffic enforcement at the following locations during the week of October 12th.

Motorist are asked to be mindful of their driving habits at all times; however in an effort to increase awareness and public safety we will regularly inform the motoring public of these stepped up enforcement efforts.

The dates and places of our traffic enforcement efforts are as follows:

Monday, October 12th 2009 our focus will be Stop Sign violations at 23rd Street and Highway 231 and Stop Sign violations at west 19th Street and Michigan Avenue.

Tuesday October 13th 2009 our focus will be Speed Enforcement on 15th Street west of Florida and east of Lisenby Avenue. Red Light violations at west 11th and Beck Avenue.

Wednesday October 14th 2009 our focus will be Speed Enforcement on Florida Avenue South of 15th Street and North of 11th Street. Red Light violations at west 23rd Street and Collegiate Drive.

Thursday October 15th 2009 our focus will be Red Light violations at 11th Street and Martin Luther King Blvd. and Speed Enforcement on Beck Avenue south of 15th Street and north of 11th Street.

Friday October 16th 2009 our focus will be Speed Enforcement on 11th Street east of Martin Luther King Blvd. and west of Sherman Avenue. Speed Enforcement on Airport Road north of 19th Street and south of 23rd Street.

Driving law tip of the week: The Move Over Law.

Remember that when you approach a stopped emergency vehicle at the side of the road that has any visible signals in use, you must safely move over out of the lane closest to the emergency vehicle. If that is not possible or you are on a 2-lane road, then you must slow down to 20 miles per hour below the posted speed limit.

We would also like to inform the public of the following Driving Law Changes that they may not be aware of:

Effective October 1, 2009 legislation was enacted that requires the mandatory completion of a Basic Driver Improvement (BDI) course for violators of the following statutes: The course must be completed within 90 days of the violator being convicted or pleading no contest to the violation.
1) Running a Stop Sign (F.S.S. 316.074(1))
2) Running a Red Light (F.S.S. 316.075 (1)(c)1.
3) Passing a Stopped School Bus (F.S.S. 316.172)
4) Racing on Highway (F.S.S. 316.191)
5) Reckless Driving (F.S.S. 316.192)

Although we are announcing the dates and places of these traffic enforcement efforts we are of course always diligent in our efforts to increase awareness and public safety.