In nearly 40 years of driving, Tony Polombo of Delmont has gotten two speeding tickets, the latest for traveling 52 mph in a 40 mph zone on divided, four-lane Route 22 through Murrysville.

A police officer working overtime stopped him as part of the state's 2-year-old "Smooth Operator" program intended to target aggressive driving.

Mr. Polombo wasn't pleased.

"Aggressive driving is normally boorish behavior where a driver is going much faster than others, maybe tailgating, maybe constantly changing lanes," he argued. "We all would like to see this kind of behavior ticketed. But driving above the speed limit, no matter how safely or courteously, is being enforced as aggressive driving."

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation District 11 issued a news release yesterday, touting the results for Allegheny, Beaver and Lawrence counties for the latest Smooth Operator campaign held April 6-20: A total of 3,370 citations were issued, including 2,067 for speed-related violations and three DUI arrests.

They were the result of the latest safety effort, part of a coordinated statewide program that takes place in scheduled "waves." Wave Three will be June 23-July 26 and Wave Four Sept. 7-21.

"It appears a wholesale number of people are being ticketed in order to create successful results and blind admiration for the program," Mr. Polombo said.

He has appealed the speeding ticket but said it will be at least a month before he receives a hearing due to the large number of Smooth Operator tickets issued in the magisterial district.

Mr. Polombo said while the program may fall short of imposing illegal quotas, the fact that police who write the most citations are awarded special medals for outstanding enforcement of aggressive driving suggests "something is out of kilter."

A lot of safe drivers are suffering as a result of ticket-writing frenzies, he said, costing money, adding points to their driving records and possibly affecting their insurance rates.

If Mr. Polombo traveled 52 mph in a 40 mph zone, the officer who stopped him acted properly, PennDOT spokesman Steve Chizmar said.

"Smooth Operator isn't just about looking for speeders, but it doesn't ignore them, because speeding is aggressive driving," he said. "This is about getting people to drive responsibly. We all share the road and we want to do it safely."

In 2007, the first full year that PennDOT participated in the national program, state police and 329 participating local law enforcement agencies issued a total of 96,457 citations during the crackdowns, including 54,140 tickets for speeding.

"The rest were for things like reckless driving, improper passing, improper turning and other aggressive behavior," Mr. Chizmar said. "If you look at speeding, out of 1,525 fatalities in 2006, 663 of them were speed-related, so controlling speed matters. It's still one of the prime reasons for accidents."

PennDOT paid out $2.6 million in safety funds -- all federal money -- for state and local police participation in the Smooth Operator program last year.

Information about the program is available on the Internet at www.pasmoothoperator.org.