Bay Area law enforcement agencies crack down on aggressive driving, speeding

TAMPA, Fla. - If you're running late to work or an appointment this week, you may want to think twice about flooring it down the interstate. The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), in collaboration with the Florida Highway Patrol and Bay Area law enforcement agencies, will participate in the annual Operation Southern Slow Down beginning Monday, July 17, through Sunday, July 23. 

It's a joint effort to enforce speed limits across Florida, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

It’s meant to focus on the busy summer travel period when injury and fatal crashes increase significantly. 

File: FHP Vehicles

Over the past two years, multiple law enforcement agencies across the nation said they’ve seen a substantial increase in cars traveling over 100 miles per hour and other similar aggressive driving.

READ: Law enforcement officers crack down on aggressive drivers: ‘Our roads are not racetracks’

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), for more than two decades, speeding has been involved in approximately one-third of all motor vehicle fatalities. They made note that, in 2021, speeding was a contributing factor in 29% of all traffic fatalities.

At the annual kick-off press conference last year, officials said, of the more than 15,000 warnings and citations issued between Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando and Citrus County between 2019 and 2021 more than half were for speeding.

File: FHP Vehicles

In 2021, alone there were more than 3700 crash-related deaths in Florida.

So far this year, from January to the beginning of July, there have been more than 196,000 total crashes in the state.