Speeding on Minnesota roads? Expect to be stopped, police say

There is a problem on Minnesota roads and it's not potholes, as plentiful as they are.

Speeders are the biggest menace on the roads, and law enforcement is trying to rein them in before the busy summer travel season begins, said Mike Hanson, director of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety's Office of Traffic Safety.

An all-out blitz that started in February has state troopers teaming with county sheriffs and local police to crack down on lead-footed driving.

"If you speed, you can expect to get stopped," Hanson said. "It might not be today or tomorrow, but it will be next week or next month. There will be consequences."

Troopers have issued more than 15,400 citations as of March 11. That's about 2,700 more than at the same time last year — a 21% increase, according to the Department of Public Safety (DPS).

During the first week of March, troopers stopped about 500 drivers in the metro area and 1,200 in greater Minnesota. The numbers are even higher when tickets written by local agencies are factored in.

"It's everywhere," Hanson said.

Law enforcement normally conducts a one-week speeding enforcement campaign in the summer. But speeding became a bigger problem last year when stay-at-home orders decreased traffic and tempted some drivers to push harder on the gas pedal. As of Friday, troopers have stopped 172 motorists going more than 100 mph, an 81% year-over-year increase.

The state secured $1 million from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to aggressively go after speeders. The effort will continue through the summer.

"We are throwing tremendous resources at it to get it under control," Hanson said. "The danger is concerning."

Preliminary data show 120 people died last year in crashes in which speed was a factor, the most since 2008.

The trend has continued this year: Speed-related deaths have doubled in the first nine weeks of 2021 compared with the same time period last year, from 10 to 21, DPS said.

Traffic fatalities are up this year, too. As of Friday, 64 people had died on state roads, compared with 50 at the same time last year. A third of this year's deaths have been attributed to speeding, according to DPS.

A ticket can cost $130, plus court costs. Fines are doubled for motorists caught going more than 20 mph over the limit.

"This is not about revenue; it's about traffic safety, period," Hanson said. "Fines hopefully will change your behavior. We are working as hard as we can to get some sanity to what people are doing behind the wheel."

Enforcement alone will not end speeding, Hanson said — safety requires cooperation from all drivers.

"The flow works best when traffic goes at the same speed," he said. "When we have high and low speeds, that is when we have trouble. "

With COVID-19 restrictions being relaxed and the weather warming, Hanson said he expects more drivers to take to the roads, heightening the urgency to get speeding under control.

"We like to say, 'Go to the lake, not a funeral. Go on vacation, don't bury a loved one,' " Hanson said. When drivers are speeding, "you can't react to your mistakes or somebody else's mistakes. If you are in a crash, it won't end well for anybody."

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