Excessive speeding is one of the leading causes of fatal car wrecks in America. Naturally, this means many people are pulled over for traffic stops over the offense each year. However, the number of citations for excessive speeding in Utah is down, and the state believes it has to do with a law officials put in place a couple of years ago. Perhaps this will lead to crackdowns in other states on drivers going at excessive rates of speed.

Fewer people are being pulled over for excessive speeding in Utah

According to KSL TV5, the number of people pulled over for traffic stops and cited for excessive speeding is decreasing. Notably, the number of people going between 100 and 105 miles per hour dropped by almost 29 percent between 2022 and 2023. The number of people going 105 miles per hour or more fell by 20 percent during those years. If the trends of 2024 continue, the same will be true for those numbers this year. 

So, what is causing this change in the number of people who get pulled over and cited for excessive speeding? Officials in the state believe it has to do with the harsher punishment associated with the act. Back in 2022, the state severely increased the cost of speeding tickets for people going 100 miles per hour. Additionally, going 105 miles per hour or more now constitutes reckless driving, a class B misdemeanor. 

Jeff Nigbur, the Utah Highway Patrol Major, said, “We’ve all been out there on the road. When we get our doors basically blown off by another car going really, really, really fast. And this law has just been useful for us to kind of get that point across and reduce it.”

The Utah Highway Patrol also said excessive speeding worsened in the state during the pandemic. Naturally, the fight for safer roads isn’t over, as speeding continues to cause several car wrecks.