(KNSI) – The Minnesota State Patrol says they’re frustrated by drivers continuing to speed despite desperate pleas and extra speeding enforcement campaigns.
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety says the number of people who died in speed-related crashes in 2020 was the highest since 2008 at 120. Preliminary crash numbers from January of 2021 to June of 2021, which is the last month data was available, 82 people have died in speed-related crashes in Minnesota, including two children under ten.
Rockville area Senator Jeff Howe pointed out that drivers may be putting the pedal to the metal because there are fewer police officers out patrolling the roads, and drivers know it, saying, “We’ve been losing law enforcement folks. And their pressures in their positions and their jobs have not declined. It has gotten more and more busy. They have not been able to take anything off their plate.” Howe says there were fewer troopers out patrolling the roads last year as many were called in to help the Minneapolis Police Department, or in St. Paul protecting the capitol.
The Minneapolis Police Department alone saw hundreds of officers retire early, take a medical leave of absence, or just up and quit following the death of George Floyd and ensuing riots, protests, and a push to defund and dismantle the police department. The legislature appropriated money in the latest budget to hire an additional 40 troopers, but Howe says, “the problem is, finding folks who want that job.”
As far as writing new or additional laws creating stiffer penalties, Howe explains the penalties now are already pretty stiff, so it’s up to the judicial system to enforce those penalties, which is another topic of frustration.
In Minnesota, many judges are elected, and Senator Howe says voters can’t even go to the ballot box and oust judges who aren’t tough on criminals as many run unopposed. In the 2020 election, he says there were 123 judges on the ballot, and three of them had a challenger. “Three out of 123. I mean, people don’t even have a choice on who they’re electing for judges. And the judges are the ones making these bad decisions.”
The DPS says there was a 100% increase in the number of tickets written last year for drivers going over 100 miles an hour. A total of 1,068 citations were written in 2020 for speeds over 100 versus 533 in 2019, including one driver who was traveling at 153 miles an hour.
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