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Speeding enforcement to increase on roadways for Operation Southern Shield, preventing crashes

Last year, there were more than 1,200 traffic fatalities statewide. Offiicals said 180 of them were directly related to speeding.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — There will be more officers on East Tennessee highways giving out speeding tickets. If you are worried this could slow you down, maybe it's time to reconsider your driving speed.

Tennessee joined Operation Southern Shield alongside four other states: Alabama, Georgia, Florida and South Carolina. The purpose of the regional campaign is to increase traffic safety awareness and enforcement to reduce speeding across the Southeast.

"Speeding endangers everyone on the road,” said Carmen Hayes, the regional administrator for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. “It endangers not only the life of the speeder, but all of the people on the road around them, including other drivers, pedestrians, and bicyclists.”

Closer to home, Ellen Zavisca, the Principal Planner for Knox Planning pulled crash numbers from across Knox County from 2016 to 2019.

There have been more than 2,000 crashes since 2019, and more than 300 of them ended with a death.

Credit: Knox Planning

"It's about individual behaviors and helping people understand that speeding really does increase the probability of a crash,"  Zavisca said.

According to national data, more than a third of crashes happen while speeding is involved. 

The National Highway Safety Administration found speeding was a contributing factor in 26 percent of all traffic fatalities nationwide in 2018.

"It's something that if we can get a grasp on it, we can really save a lot of lives," Zavisca said.

Tennessee Highway Patrol Colonel Matt Perry agreed.

"Losing a friend or loved one to a fatal traffic crash is an extremely painful, life-altering experience which creates a void that can never be filled,” Perry said.

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