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SALT LAKE CITY — If a state trooper pulled you over recently and gave you a ticket for excessive speed, you're not alone.
Over the last several months, the Utah Highway Patrol had aggressive driving on its radar to rein in deadly crashes. For this campaign, UHP isn't looking for drivers that go five or 10 mph over the speed limit. It is looking for drivers exceeding the speed limit by 15 or 20 mph or even more.
And troopers are catching them in unmarked cruisers in an effort to reduce fatalities.
Trooper Gary Perea said he sees people driving 80 to 90 mph all the time.
The risk, Perea said, is "they're just going too fast to negotiate any obstacle or vehicle in front of them."
"Everybody that drives the interstate system has seen it," said Sgt. Todd Royce of UHP. "That person that does multiple lane changes, that's exceeding the speed limit by 15 or 20 mph or more over the speed limit."
Since Memorial Day, troopers targeted those drivers by adding 299 extra shifts — a total of 1,506 hours — specifically looking for excessive speeders.
They made 3,111 stops, wrote up 1,079 citations for excessive speed and handed out 784 warnings.
They saturate the "hot zones" with troopers where they see the most fatalities caused by speeding.
"We are pinpointing the problem and we're pinpointing the reasons why those crashes are happening, and we are putting troopers there and issuing citations for that exact reason," Royce said.
While pursuing a vehicle that sped up to 105 mph, Perea said, "If there is a vehicle that stalled in the emergency lane or in front of him, there is absolutely no way he can negotiate that."
That driver now faces a ticket of nearly $300, points on his license and the possibility of traffic school.
Royce also demonstrated how few motorists slow down and/or move over when a traffic stop is in progress.
That's the law, and it helps keep the troopers safe on the side of the road, especially in the coming months when the roads are slick and snowy.
