There is an $8 million advertising campaign by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration running this month on national TV that is aimed at getting drivers to slow down.
“Speed Wrecks Lives” will run on television, radio and digitally and will target male drivers age 18 to 44.
The agency says speed contributed to 29-percent of all fatal crashes, with 87-percent of speed-related deaths happening on local roads, not interstate highways.
It should be obvious to everyone in Clarksdale and Coahoma County that speeding is dangerous to us all and needs to be stopped.
The advertisement is graphic. We urge you to look at it at www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/nhtsa-launches-new-campaign-remind-drivers…
So how do we slow people down?
We think the solution is blue lights and traffic tickets, not speed bumps that penalize us all.
Check yourself the next time you spot a police car parked on the side of the road or in your rear view mirror. You instinctively take your foot off the gas and look at the speedometer.
We think the City of Clarksdale and Coahoma County have a problem with speeders and we urge law enforcement to write tickets for speeding and then ask our municipal and county judges to enforce the law and back up our police and deputies who are trying to make us safe.
We have heard reports our police department has been urged by City Hall to not write tickets. We do know the Mayor and Board of Commissioners gave themselves handsome raise but defunded police cutting our police force almost in half two years ago.
We know Sheriff’s deputies traditionally don’t run radar. We’ve also been told the Mississippi Highway Patrol prefers to write tickets in counties where judges enforce the law.
Speed bumps are for parking lots and not the roads we use every day to get to work. Speed bumps penalize us all. Speed bumps damage the cars of people who live on the streets where they are installed, because they are the people who hit them the most.
Last but not least, if speed bumps worked, well, we have enough potholes that should slow people down.
We urge city fathers and county leaders to show some intestinal fortitude and support the men behind the badge who enforce the law.
Speeders can be heard night and day in this community. We urge authorities to get tough and stop those who speed before someone gets killed.
