Missouri law enforcement officials issued 1,951 speeding citations as part of a six-state speed enforcement blitz conducted throughout the state from July 21 to July 23.
“Obey the Sign or Pay the Fine” was an intensified effort to crack down on speeding in Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. More than 7,700 speeding tickets were issued in the six states during the three-day enforcement period.
In addition to cracking down on speeding, the effort also resulted in citations for other offenses, such as driving while intoxicated and not wearing seat belts. In Missouri, the results for the “Obey the Sign or Pay the Fine” initiative are as follows:
| 3728 | Total Number of Traffic Citations |
| 316 | Total Number of Seat Belt Citations |
| 1951 | Total Number of Speed Citations |
| 2148 | Total Number of Traffic Warnings |
| 54 | Total DWI Arrests and Citations |
| 106 | Total Commercial Vehicle Citations |
| 67 | Total Commercial Vehicle Warnings |
| 79 | Total Drug Arrests Made |
| 213 | Felony Arrest/Other |
“While we’re pleased with the results of this effort to crack down on speeding, we still have a long way to go,” said Bill Whitfield, director of Highway Safety for the Missouri Department of Transportation. “Speed continues to be one of the leading factors in fatal crashes in Missouri.”
Law enforcement officials reported 180 crashes in Missouri during the blitz, 33 of which were speed related. In addition, there were seven fatalities on Missouri highways during the three-day speeding crackdown, with one occurring on the routes included in the enforcement effort. Interstates 70, 44, 55, 35 were the primary routes targeted in the initiative because that’s where most of the state’s speed-related crashes occur.
In 2015, speeding was a contributing factor in 27 percent of all fatal crashes in the U.S. and more than 9,500 lives were lost in such crashes, according to the latest data available from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). In Missouri during 2015, there were 869 total traffic fatalities with 310 of them (36%) speeding related.
Regional results for the “Obey the Sign or Pay the Fine” initiative are as follows:
| 1,362 | Total Number of Crashes |
| 359 | Total Number of Speed -related Crashes |
| 12,150 | Total Number of Traffic Citations Issued |
| 1,091 | Total Number of Seat Belt Citations Issued |
| 7,731 | Total Number of Speed Citations Issues |
| 12,330 | Total Number of Traffic Warnings Issued |
| 276 | Total DWI Arrests and Citations |
| 227 | Total Commercial Vehicle Citations Issued |
| 941 | Total Commercial Vehicle Warnings Issued |
| 295 | Total Drug Arrests Made |
| 467 | Felony Arrest/Other |
