Police across Arkansas will be emphasizing the enforcement of speed limits and stop drivers who don’t obey posted speed limit signs.
According to a release from the Arkansas State Police, law enforcement officers across the state will be working overtime shifts as part of the “Obey the Sign, or Pay the Fine” campaign, which is, “a coordinated effort aimed at stopping drivers who exceed the posted speed limit along streets and highways they’re traveling,” the release states.
“Speeding translates into injury and death on our roadways,” said Colonel Bill Bryant, Director of the Arkansas State Police and the Governor’s Highway Safety Representative. “It greatly reduces a driver’s ability to steer safely around another vehicle, a hazardous object on the roadway or an unexpected change in the highway, such as a sharp curve.”
In 2017, 26% of all fatal crashes in the United States had speeding as a contributing factor, which resulted in over 9,7000 deaths.
“Speeding drivers put themselves, their passengers and other drivers at tremendous risk,” Colonel Bryant said, “and the Arkansas State Police is prepared to dedicate whatever resources necessary to stop speeders and make the highways safer.”
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration claims that a vehicle crash on a road with a 65 miler per hour or greater speed limit is more than twice as likely to result in a fatal accident compared to a wreck on a road with a 45 or 50 MPH speed limit.
According to the NHTSA, nearly 15 percent of the speeding-related fatalities occur on interstate highways. Road conditions, including weather and time of day, also play a factor into the vehicle crashes.