Wet Weather Impacts Cruisin Weekend, Reduces OCPD Service Calls

OCEAN CITY — Torrential downpours in the early part of last weekend likely prevented a true barometer for the first motorized event with the new special event zone and other efforts in place, but early indications are the new initiatives achieved the desired results.

After last year’s rocky motorized special events season, resort officials formed a task force to begin exploring ways to combat some of the illicit and reckless activity. Throughout the winter and early spring, the task force met several times to explore measured responses to many of the issues related to the motorized special events.

Out of those meetings and brainstorming sessions came a variety of initiatives aimed at curbing some of the undesired activity associated with the motorized events and make them more palatable for the community, its residents and visitors not associated with the events. The centerpiece of the task force initiatives has been the creation of a special enforcement zone along the resort’s roadways akin to highway work zones and school zones, for example, with lower speed limits, higher fines and stronger enforcement.

At the request of town officials, a pair of special event zone bills were cross-filed in the General Assembly this year by Senator Jim Mathias and Delegate Mary Beth Carozza. Both bills breezed through their respective chambers and the legislation was officially signed into law two weeks ago by Gov. Larry Hogan. In the days leading up to last weekend’s spring Cruisin, the first motorized event with the new special enforcement zone in place, signs throughout Ocean City and along the access points to the resort warned visitors of the special event zone with its increased fines and stronger enforcement efforts.

Then the skies opened up and dumped several inches of rain on Ocean City and across the Lower Shore through much of Thursday and Friday and into Saturday morning. The rain caused the cancellation of some of the off-island events planned to siphon at least some of the participants out of Ocean City for a few hours, including at the U.S. 13 Dragway in Delmar.

Nonetheless, many participants and the unregistered hangers-on came anyway, and when the weather cleared by Saturday afternoon, traffic backed up and the weekend began to resemble a typical spring Cruisin weekend. What was atypical, however, were the reduced speed limits, heightened police presence and some of the initiatives borne out of task force recommendations.

Anecdotally, the Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) and its allied partners were out in force throughout the weekend and at times it seemed there were flashing blue and red lights every couple of blocks. Statistically, however, the early numbers indicate the special event zone and its associated initiatives were a success, with the caveat the severe weather early in the weekend reduced the crowd totals.

“Overall, the weekend went very well and there are indicators that the special event zone had a positive effect on public safety,” said OCPD Chief Ross Buzzuro. “The police department is pleased to report crime incidents and vehicle-related collisions were minimal. With that said, we cannot discount the downpour of rain experienced on Friday and its effect on the event.”

According to OCPD statistics, the total number of calls for service for the four-day spring Cruisin weekend was 1,461, down from 2,041 in 2017 and 2,137 in 2016. Similarly, the number of traffic stops recorded last weekend came in at 435, down from 754 in 2017 and 962 in 2016.

What the raw numbers don’t show, however, is the severity of the fines handed out for speeding and other traffic violations. In some instances, fines totaling over $600 were handed out to vehicles stopped for going a mere 10 mph over the speed limit in areas where the speed limit was reduced from 40 mph to 30 mph in the special enforcement zone. Buzzuro acknowledged the fines were high, but that was the plan going into the weekend and there was no shortage of public outreach about the dramatic changes.

“Although officers issued a number of citations, including speeding, word quickly got out when the hefty fines were realized,” said Buzzuro. “Reducing speed, increasing fines, coupled with a strong law enforcement presence noticeably deflated the recent reckless and erratic driving that had been experienced. For these reasons, we are optimistic all measures in place will continue and allow us to provide an acceptable level of public safety while still preserving and enjoying the motor events.”

From the town’s perspective, the special event zone seemed to achieve the desired result, according to Communications Manager Jessica Waters.

“I do think there was noticeable changes when compared to years’ past,” she said. “The weather did make it hard for us to get a perfect picture of how much the special event zone helped and it also impacted the events that were held out of town that were canceled due to rain, but overall, the many changes all together seemed to make a big difference.”

Waters said the next step was to get a full report on the weekend in front of the task force to decide what measures were effective and which needed tweaking.

“Of course, there is no magic answer or solution to the challenges that come along with motor events, but it is amazing to see how our community, police department and event promoters came together to make changes that would improve the safety of the weekend,” she said. “I haven’t seen the police department’s numbers, but the complaints I received were drastically low compared to last year.”

About The Author: Shawn Soper

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Shawn Soper has been with The Dispatch since 2000. He began as a staff writer covering various local government beats and general stories. His current positions include managing editor and sports editor. Growing up in Baltimore before moving to Ocean City full time three decades ago, Soper graduated from Loch Raven High School in 1981 and from Towson University in 1985 with degrees in mass communications with a journalism concentration and history.