State Patrol targets drivers with lead feet

You know the feeling.

You're driving down the freeway, carefully navigating traffic, when suddenly someone zips past you at breakneck pace, sliding between lanes and taking unnecessary risks to get where they're going a little bit faster.

Do you ever wish you could flip on the flashing lights, pull them over and slap them with a hefty ticket?

Well, the State Patrol has your back. Troopers are cracking down on speeders, and not just your garden-variety 5-to-10-mph-over-the-limit type. We're talking about the ones who cruise at 90 mph or more.

Wednesday, the State Patrol worked an undercover speed trap on a stretch of highway where more drivers reach speeds above 90 mph than almost anywhere else in the state. Troopers wanted drivers to let up on the accelerator and cut down on one of the leading causes of traffic fatalities — speed.

The state Department of Transportation ranks that section of I-5 north of Marysville third for the number of cars driving faster than 90 mph. The data is gathered using sensors in the road and it goes into quarterly speed reports.

The top two spots for speeding are I-90 near Preston in east King County and I-5 at Woodland near Vancouver, Wash., according to the most recent report available.

About 2,000 vehicles per month were clocked exceeding 90 mph in Marysville during the third quarter of last year, according to the Department of Transportation.

Wednesday, a trooper dressed as a road worker sat in a green tractor in the I-5 median near the Smokey Point rest stop and clocked cars using a laser speed gun. Nearby, a queue of troopers pulled over offenders and handed out tickets.

They'll be there again this morning, so be sure to slow down and wave.

Troopers say they don't necessarily want to hand out tickets or cause grief but to send a message to drivers to slow down for the safety of themselves, other drivers and road-construction workers. About a dozen speeding drivers were pulled over in two hours Wednesday.

Making up time

The stretch of I-5 north of Marysville has received attention for high-speed crashes after several cross-median head-on fatality collisions. The Department of Transportation studied the problem and determined that cable barriers in the area were failing to stop cars, in part because of high speeds.

During the speed emphasis Wednesday, one driver was caught going 97 mph. When the trooper spotted her, she was leaning into the passenger's side of the car, with only one hand on the wheel and without her full attention on the road.

She told the trooper she was on her way to a store and wanted to get there fast. She was cited for negligent driving, a $538 ticket — it would have been double had she been driving in a construction zone.

Trooper Kirk Rudeen said he doesn't know why drivers go so fast, but that most who are pulled over say they just wanted to get to their destination quickly.

"Things are so busy in today's world, and so they're trying to make up time on the road," he said.

Rudeen said people driving more than 90 mph won't have enough time to react to hazards; when they lose control at speeds that high, it is often fatal.

Pushing the limit

Interstate 90 near Preston is the worst area in the state for above-90 mph speeding. About 128 drivers a day were clocked there breaking the limit by more than 20 mph, in an area that is posted at 70 mph.

Though that accounts for only about one of every 435 drivers speeding through the area, it means that on average one driver is pushing past 90 mph every 15 minutes.

The problem is of particular concern to Penny Nerup, speeding program manager for the Washington Traffic Safety Commission.

Nerup heads a program called "Slow Down or Pay Up" that began in Pierce and Snohomish counties late last year and hopes to do for speeding what "Click It or Ticket" did for buckling up.

"Our research shows that about 40 percent of all fatal collisions on Washington roads are caused by excessive speed," Nerup said.

The state commission paid officers overtime to spend extra time patrolling areas that suffer from many speed-related collisions in Pierce and Snohomish counties in October and November. The commission also posted signs in those areas.

During about three weeks of emphasis in Pierce County, officers doled out 6,888 speeding tickets. In Snohomish County, officers handed out 2,335 tickets in less than a week.

Emphasis continues

The second wave of enforcement in Pierce County begins today in an area bordered by Highway 512, Highway 161, 176th Street East and Highway 7, Nerup said.

Nerup said the commission looked at the 90-mph-and-above areas but decided the State Patrol had those covered and it was better to focus on county roads.

Rudeen said the Patrol will likely repeat this same sort of emphasis in the future.

"It worked well today, so it will be repeated," he said.

Brian Alexander: 206-464-2026 or balexander@seattletimes.com