RALEIGH – North Carolina law enforcement agencies will be encouraging motorists to slow down this week, Oct. 3-9, as part of a special speeding enforcement effort dubbed “Operation Crash Reduction”.
The event is part of a larger, regional campaign by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to target unsafe driving behaviors at a particularly deadly time of year. The effort is focused on North Carolina, the District of Columbia, Kentucky, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia — a region that sees some of the nation’s highest numbers of traffic crash-induced fatalities.
According to NHTSA, from 2015 to 2019, October was the most likely month for fatal crashes to occur in these states. 190 people killed in crashes during the month of October last year in North Carolina, including 42 people in speed-related crashes.
“We have an epidemic of high-speed crashes occurring on roads in North Carolina, and that’s why agencies across the state opted to make speeding the focus on this year’s “Operation Crash Reduction” campaign,” said Mark Ezzell, director of the North Carolina Governor’s Highway Safety Program (NCGHSP). “This is part of GHSP’s broader efforts to combat a dangerous increase in speeding through increased enforcement, public awareness, policy and more.”
As of Oct. 3, the 276th day of 2022, nearly 300 people have been killed in speed-related crashes in North Carolina - representing more than one every day so far this year. Between 2017 and 2021, there was a 17 percent increase in speed-related crashes in North Carolina.
Motorists may notice increased law enforcement efforts to crack down on speeding motorists and bring awareness to unsafe speeds in communities statewide this week, including radar operations and speed display signs.
For more information and statistics on speeding in North Carolina, visit Speed a Little. Lose a Lot.