Nearly 300 law enforcement agencies across Minnesota are launching a campaign on May 1 aimed at reducing speeding and related fatalities, according to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. The extra enforcement and awareness effort will continue through Sept. 7.
The initiative comes in response to preliminary figures showing that speed-related crashes claimed 102 lives and seriously injured 388 people in the state last year. Officials say the goal is to address dangerous driving behaviors during warmer months, when more traffic fatalities typically occur.
“For people who think speeding is no big deal, emergency responders will tell you a far different story of what they see at a crash scene,” said Mike Hanson, Director of the Office of Traffic Safety at the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. “If you like to speed, think of this enforcement as a life-saving intervention. Now is your chance to stop this dangerous behavior before someone gets hurt. Our law enforcement partners are out there ready to stop deadly driving.”
The campaign is coordinated by the Office of Traffic Safety using funds from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Memorial Day through Labor Day—often called “the 100 deadliest days”—are highlighted as particularly risky periods for travel due to increased road use and higher chances for crashes involving speeding, distracted driving, impaired driving or lack of seat belt use.
Speeding citations vary by county but generally cost $100 or more for exceeding limits by just 10 miles per hour; fines double for drivers caught going over by 20 mph or more, and those traveling at speeds above 100 mph risk losing their license for six months. From May through September last year in Minnesota, there were 111 road fatalities: in nearly one-third (31 cases), someone was speeding; alcohol consumption was involved in another third (37 cases); seat belts were not used in some (16 cases); and driver distraction contributed to five deaths.
According to officials, approximately two-thirds of speed-related deaths involved drivers exceeding posted limits by only ten miles per hour or more. Between 2020 and last year, there were nearly one million speed-related citations issued statewide.
Officials urge drivers that slowing down saves lives because it gives motorists greater control and allows quicker responses to changing conditions on the road.
