Cops tell speeders to get the lead out (of their feet)

Slow down. That's the message police officers want fast drivers to hear.

From Friday through July 26, law enforcement agencies across the state will be cracking down on speeders as part of a new awareness campaign funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

So far this year, 185 people have died on Minnesota roads, said Bruce Gordon, spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. At this time last year, that number was 157.

"It has been a challenging and deadly first half of the year in the state of Minnesota," he said.

"Speed is playing a significant role in those traffic crashes," Gordon said. "We know that one in five crashes on Minnesota roads are attributed to excess speed."

More than 300 officers will pay special attention to drivers who are driving fast or aggressively. If they see multiple drivers speeding, they will try to stop as many as they can by signaling to the drivers, said Lt. Tiffani Nielson of the Minnesota State Patrol.

Officers will target areas where they have noticed drivers going too fast and causing accidents.

Speed violations increase during the summer, because the weather is nice and people do not watch their speed, Nielson said.

"We know in 2014, 94 people lost their lives to speed-related crashes," she said. "That's 94 families that have been affected, and their lives will never be the same."

During an enforcement campaign last year, 17,000 were cited for speed, said Donna Berger, director of the Office of Traffic Safety. A dozen drivers were clocked going faster than 100 mph.

On average, 28 people die in speeding accidents during the summer months in Minnesota, Berger said.

On Thursday, officers patrolled Interstate Hwy. 494 at Excelsior in Minnetonka. In less than 30 minutes, Trooper Tyler Uthe stopped three people who were driving more than 10 miles over the speed limit in a 60 mph zone.

Uthe said the most difficult thing about his job is making death notifications, when he visits a family to say that a loved one will not be coming home.

He has done three death notifications in the past two years, he said.

There's no set threshold for the speed that will result in a ticket, he said. "That's based solely on the officer's discretion whether they are going to write the person that they stopped a ticket or not," he said.

State law prohibits drivers from exceeding the speed limit at all. If you are going 1 mile an hour over the speed limit, you could be stopped and cited.

On Thursday afternoon, officers stationed themselves on a bridge between I-494 and Hwy. 62. They pointed lasers at the fastest cars and radioed the exact speeds and types of car to Uthe, who was nearby.

A few minutes later, Uthe stopped a man driving 72 mph in a 60 mph zone. He took the man's license and went back to his squad car.

The driver, Tom Whitaker, was running behind while delivering supplies to a customer. "I was speeding. There's no question in my mind," he said.

But Whitaker rarely speeds, he said.

"I hadn't had a speeding ticket for probably 35 years," he said. "I've never had an accident. I've only been pulled over for an illegal lane change once, and that's the last ticket I got, and that was in 2001."

A few minutes later, Trooper Uthe came back. "I appreciate your honesty," he told Whitaker. "You have a great driving record. I'm giving you a warning on the speed."

"Better to get your packages there a little late and safely than getting in a crash," Uthe said.

And he told the driver to slow down.