MN State Patrol: Speeding Still On The Rise One Year Into The Pandemic
The Minnesota State Patrol has issued another warning about speeding on state roads. One year into the pandemic and speeding is still on the rise.
Early on in the pandemic, the Minnesota State Patrol issued a plea to drivers to slow down after noticing an "extreme uptick" in speeding on state roads. Shortly after their first plea, they issued another, as speeding remained an issue, even in a time when many people were staying home.
Now, they are sharing a scary fact: speeding is still on the rise, even one year into the pandemic. They shared this message on their Facebook page Friday (February 26th). According to the Minnesota State Patrol, from the start of the year through the 20th of February, they cited over 10,000 drivers for speeding. That is a big increase from the nearly 8,000 citations they issued at the same time last year.
What is even scarier is the fact that not only are motorists speeding more on state roads but they are going over 100 mph more frequently as well. Their post states that they have issued "114 citations written this year compared with 59 this time last year" to those going over 100 mph. That is nearly a one-hundred percent increase.
In mid-February, the Minnesota State Patrol shared that traffic deaths related to speeding were also up, not just speeding itself. At the time, they shared that "38 percent of traffic fatalities this year can be attributed to speed." This is obviously a very scary and jarring statistic.
Because of these issues, there will be extra enforcement on state roads until further notice. Slow down.