Sheriff’s office increases patrols after deadly Owensboro crash

OWENSBORO, Ky. (WEHT) — A deadly and fiery crash on US-60 that left two people dead and one seriously injured has prompted the Daviess County Sheriff’s Office to increase patrols near the Owensboro bypass in an effort to improve road safety.

Fatal crashes are not something Daviess County officials take lightly. Local leaders are assessing the road safety concerns after that deadly crash. The first step for law enforcement was to increase patrols on the Owensboro bypass.

“It makes me feel more safe to be honest because seeing all these patrol cars makes me more self-conscious about how I’m driving,” new driver Alexis Benito-Cruz said.

“People respond to seeing officers whether they’re in medians or whether they’ve already pulled someone over,” Judge-Executive Charlie Castlen said.

Judge Castlen says a lot of accidents he’s witnessed involves drivers not paying attention to the road.

“We see it and dare I say most of us are guilty of it in today’s world, having glances at a text or picked up a phone while driving,” Judge Castlen said.

For new drivers Alexis and Sierra Benito-Cruz, they say seeing drivers on their phone on the road while speeding has become all too common.

“There’ll be people who speed in front of us or when we’re trying to turn or merge,” Benito-Cruz said.

This is something Captain Duane Harper says his team at the sheriff’s office hopes to fix.

“I don’t even know if we can do that,” Captain Harper said. “But you know what?  We’re going to try to look into that, and bring the speed limit back down to what it used to be.”

In addition to increased patrols, Judge Castlen says an official request has been made to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet to have the 65-mile-per-hour speed limit reduced.