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Arizona DPS, Navajo County ramp up patrols after spike in fatal crashes on State Route 260 and 377
Summary
Arizona Department of Public Safety and county partners launched a focused enforcement campaign after a short string of fatal collisions on State Route 260 and increased traffic on State Route 377. The campaign, begun June 19, produced nearly 1,500 traffic contacts, about 1,300 citations and 46 arrests, officials said.
Captain Jeff Sharp of the Arizona Department of Public Safety said his agency and county partners have launched an intensive enforcement campaign on State Route 260 and State Route 377 after a cluster of fatal collisions this summer.
"We had five fatality collisions between the top of the rim and Heber, and that was in a very short time," Captain Jeff Sharp said. "Since we started the campaign, we have almost 1,500 traffic contacts, a little over 1,300 citations, with a little more than 1,200 of those being for speed. There's also been 46 arrests, with six of those being DUI related."
The enforcement effort began June 19 and includes overtime shifts for Arizona DPS troopers, troopers reassigned during normal schedules to saturate the corridor, and coordinated saturation details with Navajo, Gila and Coconino counties. Sharp said the goal is to reduce deadly high-speed and illegal passing behaviors that officers have linked to recent crashes.
WHY IT MATTERS
Officials described a pattern of increased weekend traffic from Phoenix-area visitors toward the White Mountains and a routing change on mapping apps that directs drivers to State Route 377 as a shorter path to Phoenix. That shift, together with improvements on SR 260 that widened shoulders, appears to have led some drivers to increase speeds and to attempt risky passing maneuvers on two-lane sections.
"We're getting speeds 85 miles an hour up all the way into the hundreds," Sharp said, describing speeds observed on the corridor. He and Navajo County Sheriff David Clouse said impatient drivers are using short passing lanes to overtake many vehicles, then forcing merges that can send vehicles into oncoming traffic.
BACKGROUND, ENFORCEMENT AND TOOLS
Officials said State Route 377 runs from Holbrook into Heber and that mapping devices increasingly route traffic that way rather than through Flagstaff and I-17. Sharp credited Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) improvements on SR 260 — notably wider shoulders and clearing of some trees — but said the changes appear to have raised drivers' confidence and speeds.
Sharp described specific enforcement actions: troopers on overtime and during scheduled shifts to saturate the corridor, multijurisdictional patrol details, and arresting and towing vehicles when drivers present extreme danger. "If somebody's going to come up here and drive that way and jeopardize everybody's life around them, we're arresting them, taking them to jail and towing their car," Sharp said.
The department is also testing alternative enforcement and detection methods. Sharp said aircraft patrol can time vehicles across quarter-mile markers and calculate speeds from distance/time, and the department is considering drones as an additional monitoring tool to follow violators to locations where patrol units can safely stop them.
NUMBERS AND PATTERNS
- Fatal collisions in a short span: 5 between the top of the rim and Heber (officials gave this count as the trigger for stepped-up enforcement). - Campaign start: June 19 (Arizona DPS). - Contacts and enforcement since campaign start: nearly 1,500 traffic contacts; approximately 1,300 citations; roughly 1,200 speed-related citations; 46 arrests, including 6 DUIs (official totals provided by Captain Sharp). - Speeds reported by officers: commonly 85–100 mph and above in places, with repeated instances cited at 95–100 mph.
Local officials said enforcement alone is not the only needed response. Navajo County Sheriff David Clouse and Navajo County Attorney Brad Carline discussed road-design changes to reduce conflict points and accommodate higher traffic volume, but noted those improvements require state funding and engineering decisions.
Community response
Sharp said social media initially amplified public concern after the fatal collisions, and that public posts have largely been supportive since the campaign began. "Almost every comment on social media has been positive," he said, with residents posting that they were seeing more police presence on the rim.
QUOTES
"We had five fatality collisions between the top of the rim and Heber, and that was in a very short time," Captain Jeff Sharp said, describing the incidents that prompted the campaign.
"We're getting speeds 85 miles an hour up all the way into the hundreds," Sharp said, describing speeds observed on the corridor.
"Since we started the campaign, we have almost 1,500 traffic contacts, a little over 1,300 citations, with a little more than 1,200 of those being for speed. There's also been 46 arrests, with six of those being DUI related," Sharp said.
"If somebody's going to come up here and drive that way and jeopardize everybody's life around them, we're arresting them, taking them to jail and towing their car," Sharp said.
ENDING
Arizona DPS and county partners say the enforcement campaign will continue while officials press for longer-term engineering solutions and state funding for road redesign. Sharp said agencies will also pursue tactical tools such as aircraft and drones to detect violators more safely and reliably so patrol units can make stops in safer locations.
(Reporting based on a recorded conversation among Captain Jeff Sharp, Arizona Department of Public Safety; David Clouse, Navajo County Sheriff; and Brad Carline, Navajo County Attorney.)
