The N.C. Governor’s Highway Safety Program (GHSP) is launching its annual speed enforcement blitz today through April 3 under the tagline: “Obey the Sign or Pay the Fine.”

The intensified enforcement effort against speeding drivers underscores the severity of the problem across our state’s roads. Officers will step up enforcement of posted speed limits throughout North Carolina and stop and ticket anyone caught speeding.

“Speeding translates to death on our roadways. It greatly reduces a driver’s ability to steer safely around another vehicle, a hazardous object, or an unexpected curve,” said Don Nail, director of the GHSP. “We want to help our state and local law enforcement get out their message Obey the Sign or Pay the Fine to reduce fatalities.”

In 2015, speeding was a contributing factor in 23 percent of all fatal crashes in North Carolina and 322 lives were lost in such crashes.  During last year’s Obey the Sign or Pay the Fine campaign there were 23 fatalities, including five speed-related deaths.

Fully 86 percent of all speeding-related traffic fatalities occur on local roads where the posted speed limits were 55 miles per hour or under. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a crash on a road with a speed limit of 65 mph or greater is more than twice as likely to result in a fatality than a crash on a road with a speed limit of 45 or 50 mph and nearly five times as likely as a crash on a road with a speed limit of 40 mph or below. About 14 percent of the country’s speeding-related fatalities occur on interstate highways each year.