The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) is encouraging motorists to practice safe driving measures, citing an increase in speeding violations and other infractions amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“While COVID-19 is clearly our national priority, our traffic safety laws cannot be ignored,” GHSA Executive Director Jonathan Adkins said. “Law enforcement officials have the same mission as health care providers — to save lives. If you must drive, buckle up, follow the posted speed limit and look out for pedestrians and bicyclists. Emergency rooms in many areas of the country are at capacity, and the last thing they need is additional strain from traffic crash victims.”
GHSA examples of reckless driver behavior include police clocking highway speeds over 100 mph in Colorado, Indiana, Nebraska, and Utah while State police in Florida and Iowa are reporting drivers going 20 to 40 miles over the posted speed limit. In New York City, automated speed cameras issued 24,765 speeding tickets citywide on March 27, or nearly double the 12,672 tickets issued daily a month earlier. In Los Angeles, speeds are up by as much as 30 percent on some streets, prompting changes to traffic lights and pedestrian walk signals.
“During the past two months, Americans nationwide have shown that we are all willing to do the right thing to protect ourselves and each other,” Pam Shadel Fischer, GHSA’s senior director of External Engagement and Special Projects, said. “We must maintain that same sense of urgency when it comes to the road. Drivers need to respect the law and look out for other road users so that we can prevent the needless loss of life now and moving forward.”