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Alex Cabrero ReportingHighway patrol troopers in Box Elder County are seeing something they've never seen before, and that's the number of drivers going more than 100 miles per hour.
Utah Highway Patrol there would like county deputies to help the patrol the area because speeding there is out of control and people are dying because of it.
If Sgt. Brian Nelson got a nickel for every time he's pulled over a speeding driver, he could pay a lot of tickets, especially those going more than 100 mph.
Sgt. Brian Nelson, Utah Highway Patrol: "Whenever you see it, it's like, you gotta be kidding me."
Since January, Highway Patrol Troopers in Box Elder County have written 68 tickets for drivers going over 100 mph.
Sgt. Brian Nelson: "We've got a 110, and there's a 118. It goes everywhere from 100 to 127."
Sgt. Nelson keeps them on his wall as a reminder that something needs to be done.
Sgt. Brian Nelson: "We didn't really realize we had this many people going this fast, and this is just the ones we caught."
It's likely not a coincidence that deaths in this area have gone up, with 27 just last year.
Sgt. Brian Nelson: "I've seen more people than I could even count."
So UHP has a plan. They'd like to have deputies from Box Elder County help patrol state roads on their off time. The hard part, though, is who pays the overtime.
Suzanne Rees, Commissioner, Box Elder County: "I guess it comes down to money because it's either, how in the world can we pay for it? What sacrifices can we make to make the money stretch further?"
Suzanne Rees is Commissioner of Box Elder County. She would love to have the county chip in some money but knows the sheriff's budget is already stretched.
Sgt. Nelson says he too understands budget issues, still, he doesn't think you can put a price on saving a life."
Sgt. Brian Nelson: "You can't say that for sure we've stopped somebody from dying, but I would sure like to think so."
As to why so many drivers are going so fast there, Sgt. Nelson thinks there are two reasons. Number one, it's a rural county; and number two, there are a lot of wide open spaces. But even out there, he says, you need to take it easy and drive safely.
One more interesting note, of the 68 tickets for drivers over 100 mph, only four are from Box Elder residents.
