‘Excessively fast and extremely dangerous’: NSP cracks down on speeding drivers
The Nebraska State Patrol was on the ground and in the air Sunday
By Sarah Fili
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OMAHA, Nebraska (KETV) — The Nebraska State Patrol was on the ground and in the air Sunday, trying to catch speeding drivers as people are dying on the roads.
The patrol said law enforcement agencies across the country reported an increase in deadly crashes, so the state patrol launched a special enforcement to crack down on dangerous behavior on the roads.
The Nebraska Department of Transportation said in Nebraska, there’s been a 19% increase in traffic fatalities in the last year. NSP said most were attributed to people speeding or driving under the influence.
“That’s definitely a problem,” NSP Capt, Matt Sutter said.
That 19% increase in fatalities represents 135 people who have died on Nebraska roads this year, and troopers hope this enforcement will help prevent any more.
Sgt. Jeremy Thorson was patrolling Interstate 80 as one of almost a dozen extra troopers working enforcement on Sunday.
“Oh, we could pull over 13-overs here all day long,” Thorson said.
The troopers’ focus was on speeding drivers.
“Lately with these operations, we’ve had vehicles well in excess of 140 miles an hour,” said Sutter said.
“On any roadways here in the metro that is excessively fast and extremely dangerous.”
A federal grant is paying the overtime for these troopers so they can slow down speeding drivers, but chasing a speeding driver is dangerous too.
So, the patrol brought in an eye in the sky.
“We utilize our aircraft to look for violations from the air such as reckless driving, speeding, any type of racing,” Sutter said. “The aircraft pilots will call that out to the troopers on the ground.”
The helicopter caught a birds-eye view of a memorial ride for a motorcyclist killed in a crash days ago.
That’s all legal, but blocking traffic to let them through red lights en masse, is not.
“You’re always going to have your agitators within that group,” Thorson said.
The helicopter can also follow violators until they stop, and troopers can catch them.
But, NSP wants drivers to understand that speed can kill.
“Most of these fatalities that we do see involve driver error of some sort,” Sutter said, “Whether that’s excessive speed, inattentiveness behind the wheel, or intoxication, most of these fatalities that we are seeing are very preventable.”
NSP wants drivers to know that they are always watching for excessive speed, and if the safety of others doesn’t slow you down, the tickets can cost you close to $500.
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