Crackdown nets hundreds of speeders on 151
A traffic enforcement zone on U.S. 151 in mid-August netted hundreds of citations for local law enforcement agencies, according to statistics from two of the county sheriff's departments who took part in the project.
Over 360 speeding tickets alone were issued in Lafayette and Dane Counties during the traffic enforcement effort, with other citations issued for a variety of moving violations, seat belt citations and at least one possession of marijuana charge.
The crackdown took place from August 15 through August 24 on the portion of the "backbone" highway that runs from the Iowa state line in Grant County through Lafayette, Iowa, Dane, Columbia and Fond du Lac Counties.
U.S. 151 is considered one of the "backbone," or major conduit highways in Wisconsin, highways that move the most amount of traffic across the state.
Sheriff's departments from the six counties as well as the Wisconsin State Patrol and the Belmont Police Department took part in the enforcement effort.
The crackdown was financially supported by the state Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Safety, and was set up because of increasing concerns about speeders on the highway.
One of the more tragic recent examples of the dangers of speeding on the busy four-lane highway came on Aug. 6 when three people were killed in a two-car crash near Mt. Horeb, after the cell phone-using driver of one car lost control while traveling about 80 miles per hour, crossed the median, overturned and landed on a car heading in the other direction.
The three occupants of the speeding car were also not wearing seat belts, according to the sheriff's department investigation.
Speeding and not wearing seat belts are two of the three top contributors to traffic fatalities, with drunk driving being the third.
State officials are expected to look at the results of the crackdown to determine if more dollars are needed to increase traffic law enforcement and other traffic safety measures on U.S. 151.
