Kentucky State Police to Conduct Periodic Traffic Safety Checkpoints in Perry County

Eleven days before Kentucky State Police announced renewed checkpoint operations across Perry County, Edward Dewayne Reynolds, 69, of Mallie, and Christa Slone, 50, of Leburn, were pronounced dead at the intersection of KY-80 and Perry Circle Road in Hazard. The March 22 crash, in which a Post 13 trooper responding to a Knott County emergency collided with Reynolds' vehicle when it turned left into the trooper's path, served as a grim reminder of how quickly the county's main corridors can turn lethal. The injured trooper was airlifted to UK Chandler Medical Center with serious injuries.

KSP Post 13 issued its April 2 announcement stating troopers will conduct periodic traffic safety checkpoints throughout the five counties the Hazard post covers: Perry, Knott, Letcher, Breathitt and Leslie. The checkpoints are not a one-day roadblock but a rolling series of operations conducted at times and locations cleared by supervisors under the agency's Policy and Procedures Manual.

The stated enforcement priorities at Post 13 checkpoints are specific: impaired drivers, children not properly restrained in child safety seats, and occupants not wearing seatbelts. KSP identified the stops as targeting corridors within the Post 13 area that show a high ratio of crashes resulting in injury or death relative to low safety-restraint usage, a description that fits roads like KY-15 and KY-80, the two major arteries connecting Hazard to communities including Vicco, Buckhorn and Chavies.

Knowing what a trooper will ask for at a checkpoint can keep a routine stop brief. Drivers should have a valid license, current vehicle registration, and proof of insurance ready before pulling forward. Anyone who cannot produce a valid license faces a citation and a likely tow. A driver showing signs of impairment from alcohol, drugs, or fatigue faces arrest, a DUI charge, automatic license suspension, and court costs that routinely reach several thousand dollars before fines, attorney fees, and increased insurance premiums are tallied. Failure to wear a seatbelt draws a mandatory citation under Kentucky law; an improperly restrained child in the vehicle adds a separate child-restraint violation.

KSP withheld specific dates, times, and locations from the April 2 announcement, which is standard practice for preserving operational effectiveness. Drivers on KY-15 or KY-80 should treat any hour as a potential checkpoint window. Residents with questions about the operations can contact KSP Post 13 in Hazard directly or reach out to the Perry County Sheriff's Office.