Traffic Safety

Driving Safely

The Victoria Police Department is dedicated to promoting safe driving for anyone entering our city. Please do your part by driving safely and courteously. Plan your trips with plenty of time to get you there safely.

  • Never drive around barricades (traffic cone, police car, traditional barricade, etc.) or into oncoming traffic lanes unless directed to do so by a Police Officer. The consequences for doing so may result in a Municipal Court fine.
  • Plan your trips and include extra time for unforeseen situations such as flat tires, accident scenes, trains, inclement weather, etc. That way you’re never late and you won’t be rushing around.
  • Remember the 10 mile an hour rule - for every ten miles of speed there should be a car length between you and the vehicle in front of you. For example: 40 miles per hour equals 4 car lengths. This allows for driver reaction times and braking distance to come to a stop.
  • Use your turn signals even when just changing lanes - it’s required by law.
  • When backing your vehicle, look first before you put it in reverse, and even then look both ways.
  • When stopped in traffic you should be able to clearly see the rear tires of the vehicle in front of you touching the ground; if not you’re too close.

Purpose

The main focus of the unit is to supplement the patrol divisions. By working the majority of accidents and escorts during peak work hours, the traffic unit frees up patrol officers to respond to other calls for service. Without the traffic unit, patrol divisions would have to work all accidents and escorts called into the dispatch office.

Job Duties of the Traffic Safety Unit

  • Fatality investigations
  • Hit and run follow-up investigations
  • Investigate automobile accidents
  • Provide escorts for: funerals, houses, oversize loads, parades
  • Reduce call load for patrol officers so they can respond to other calls
  • Reduce the number of accidents
  • Traffic enforcement

Additional Information

  • Any patrol officer that responds to your accident (not just traffic safety unit officers) is quite capable of investigating the accident
  • The decision to issue citations at crash scenes is an individual officer decision
  • The officer uses traffic law from the Texas Transportation Code to determine fault at crash scenes
  • This department does not take photos nor measure out the normal crash incident
  • The traffic safety unit would be called out by a supervisor when the accident is a fatality or involves possible liability issues to the city or some other entity and specialized training is required
  • The traffic team has training in scaled diagramming of accident scenes