Nixa police officers are cracking down on center turn lane violations.
"Our main goal to lower accidents," said Lieutenant Jason Fleetwood, with the Nixa Police Department. "(Center turn lane violations are) a huge contributing factor into the accidents that we're having, and we've just seen a lot of increase in that type of violation."
Problem areas in Nixa, according to Fleetwood, include Highway 14 from Main to Nicholas, on Nicholas Rd. between the high school and Highway 14 and on Aldersgate near Wendy’s and Walmart.
"Some things we're trying to get out: It's called a center turn lane, not a center cruise lane, so we don't want to be driving in it," said Fleetwood. "Only use the center turn lane to turn left. Don't drive in the center turn lane for more than 500 feet, and don't ever use the center turn lane to pass traffic. Don't use the center turn lane as an on ramp for gaining speed to merge. When turning left from a cross street, wait until all lanes are clear to cross your lane of travel if you can and then use the center turn lane safely, and that'll just absolutely help us reduce crashes."
Last week, the police department mostly issued warnings to drivers and educated them about the proper use of the center turn lane. But this week they’ll start issuing tickets.
