News

North Dakota has special provisions for young drivers regarding driver’s license points.  If an adult driver has twelve (12) or more points assessed against their record, the result is a driver’s license suspension of seven (7) days for each point over eleven (11).  For a driver under the age of 18, the point limit decreases to five (5).  Any points above five carries significant driver’s license consequences for the minor.

To enhance safety for school children and provide education to the public, North Dakota Highway Patrol (NDHP) Troopers in the southwest region will partner with the Flasher school district on Jan. 22 and the Linton school district on Feb. 6 to conduct a ‘Trooper on a Bus’ enforcement efforts.

The North Dakota Highway Patrol (NDHP), Stutsman County Sheriff’s Department, and Jamestown Police Department conducted a sobriety checkpoint on Saturday, Dec. 29 in Stutsman County. During the checkpoint, 59 vehicles were screened, and no violations were found.

The North Dakota Highway Patrol (NDHP) and North Dakota Department of Transportation (NDDOT) urge motorists to exercise caution while snowplows are working to clear highways.

In an eight-hour period on Wednesday, Dec. 26, NDHP investigated five crashes involving snowplows. In four separate crashes, vehicles rear ended snow plows on I-94 near Richardton; on I-94 near Hebron; on I-94 near Steele and on Highway 85 near Williston.  Minor injuries were reported in the Steele and Richardton crashes. 

  At 10:16 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 28, a North Dakota Highway Patrol (NDHP)Trooper was completing a crash investigation in the westbound lane of I94 near mile marker 352, between the Red River Bridge and University Drive in Fargo. The NDHP Trooper’s vehicle was parked on the westbound shoulder when a 2018 Honda Civic, driven by Tazitabong Nkengateh, 40, Fargo, lost control while traveling west and side-swiped the patrol vehicle. Nkengateh and the trooper were uninjured in the crash. Moments later, another crash occurred between two vehicles at the same location.  In addition, another three vehicles spun out in the same location, nearly striking the trooper and other motorists.

The North Dakota Highway Patrol (NDHP), the North Dakota Department of Transportation (NDDOT) and the North Dakota Department of Health (NDDoH) – lead agencies of North Dakota’s Vision Zero strategy to reduce motor vehicle crash fatalities and serious injuries to zero – remind motorists to drive and ride safely this busy travel season.  The agencies stress that every driver and vehicle occupant in North Dakota needs to take personal responsibility on the road to help meet the Vision Zero goal.

Nearly every state trooper, at some point in their career, will be accused of entrapment by a person stopped for a traffic violation. Often the person alleging entrapment does not have a clear legal understanding of entrapment.  To many, it is a legal buzzword taken from a television drama used as an attempt to get out of a ticket or even to intimidate a law enforcement officer.

Professional drivers who hold a commercial driver’s license (CDL) are held to a higher standard and face stricter penalties toward their CDL regarding alcohol related offenses.  These penalties apply to CDL holders while operating a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) as well as to their non-commercial motor vehicle (personal vehicle).

The North Dakota Highway Patrol will be participating in No-Shave/Nail Polish November to financially support and promote the work of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. NDHP Colonel Brandon Solberg granted a month-long exemption to the dress code policy to participants, which allows female troopers to paint their fingernails and male troopers to grow beards or goatees. 

 On Friday, Oct. 12, the North Dakota Highway Patrol, Dickinson Police Department, and Stark County Sheriff’s Office conducted a sobriety checkpoint at 30th Ave W and 19th St W, north of exit 59 in Dickinson.