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Additional state, local, municipal and county law enforcement officers will be patrolling West Virginia highways and roads in the coming weeks, as part of a statewide high visibility enforcement period.
Organized through the Governor’s Highway Safety Program, the stepped up enforcement is part of a nationwide effort to prevent vehicular crashes, serious injuries and fatalities.
“Of our 260 fatalities on West Virginia’s roadways, about 33% of those, or 86 lives, were lost on West Virginia’s highways due to speeding and aggressive driving in 2023,” program director Jack McNeely said. “So, speeding needs to be enforced and this is one way that we do that.”
Stepped up patrols begin on September 5 and will continue through September 21.
McNeely said speed and aggressive driving were factors in 57% of crashes in this state from 2016 to 2020. Nationwide, there were 11,775 fatalities that involved speeding, accounting for 29% of traffic fatalities in 2023.
“We need to let folks know that this is the highway safety emphasis area that we take very seriously, just as we do with impaired driving, just as we do with distracted driving, wearing your seat belts.” McNeely said.
“Ultimately, our goal with the Governor’s Highway Safety Program is to reduce crashes, to reduce serious injuries and to reduce fatalities,” he added.
Learn more about the dangers of speeding here.
For more information about the West Virginia Governor’s Highway Safety Program, visit highwaysafety.wv.gov or call 304-926-2509.