AUSTIN (WBAP/KLIF News ) – The Texas Department of Public Safety is hoping its latest effort to crack down on speeding drivers will help curb the growing number of annual fatalities.
According to TX-DOT, there more than 163,000 speed-related crashes in 2021 and 1,532 of them were fatal.
The initiative is called “Operation Slowdown.” TX-DOT Safety Division Chairman Michael Chacone said state and local law enforcement have joined forces to target drivers going over the speed limit but there’s also an element of teaching.
“In addition to enforcing speed laws, law enforcement across the state will be joining all of us on the roads to show us what a safe speed looks like. Our message to drivers is very simple drive a safe speed or be prepared to get an expensive ticket,” he said.
The startling number of fatalities due to speeding speak for themselves. TX-DOT data shows the numbers are equivalent to four Texans dying each day due to speed-related crashes.
Chacone said Texas had not had a deathless day on the roads since November 7, 2000.
“Every day since that date we have lost one person daily. That’s a streak that has to end. We speeding has contributed to thousands of Texas fatalities during the past two decades. It’s time to put a stop to that,” he said.
“Operation Slowdown” runs from Tuesday, June 7 to June 21.
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