By Paul Hamel
Nebraska Examiner
LINCOLN — Drivers on Nebraska roads are putting the pedal to the metal and getting pinched for it.
In July, troopers with the Nebraska State Patrol stopped 118 people for speeding at 100 mph or more — the most since July 2020.
Another 505 tickets were written for lead-footed driving of between 90 and 99 mph in July.
The Patrol reported that in 2023, 85 drivers per month, on average, have been ticketed for traveling above 100 mph and 421 per month for speeds between 90 and 99 mph.
The peak in tickets came during a national “Speed Catches Up with You” campaign, from July 10-31, to deter speeding.
“The statistics are clear: Speeding plays a factor in a large percentage of serious injury or fatal crashes,” said Col. John Bolduc, the Patrol’s superintendent.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, in a 2022 study in Virginia, blamed the COVID-19 pandemic — and the emptier roads that resulted — for a 50% increase in excessive speeding.