CRESTVIEW - The holidays always seem to put more drivers on the road, but in Crestview, they're already dealing with a 16% increase in traffic accidents this year.

Channel Three's Laura Hussey shows us how the police department is trying to reverse that trend.

Ron Ellison/Crestview: "People drive crazy. It's like the Cannonball Run going south in the morning and coming north in the afternoon."

Truck driver Ron Ellison isn't surprised that traffic accidents in Crestview spiked sixteen percent in the first half of the year.

Ellison: "People run stop signs, red lights, you never see them get pulled over. I see it every day."

Crestview's police department has a plan to change that, backed by a 43 thousand dollar grant from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, to fight aggressive and intoxicated drivers.

This is the traffic signal just outside Walmart on Highway 85. The police chief says it's a prime spot to see some of the aggressive behaviors they're trying to crack down on.

Cynthia Roberts almost had a wreck there last week.

Cynthia Roberts: "...and I was in the right of way, I mean these people are crazy up here."

Part of the problem is geography: three major highways run through town.

And it will get more congested in 2011.

Mac Brooks: "The thing about it is, they're going to move this base in here from Ft. Bragg down here, right across Shoal River."

Barber Mac Brooks is talking about the Army's Seventh Special Forces group. Crestview's mayor says it could bring 6000 new people to the area.

The FDLE grant will pay for beefed-up traffic enforcement, a new unmarked vehicle, and a breathalyzer.

Cynthia Roberts has high hopes for the plan.

Roberts: "Hopefully they'll catch all of 'em, because they're bad."

In Crestview, Laura Hussey, Channel Three News.

Traffic accidents in Crestview were trending down from 2006 through 2008. The police chief believes distracted as well as aggressive drivers are one reason for this year's increase.Crestview Police Hoping to Prevent Accidents This Holiday Season