Area police departments increase speed enforcement for Speed Awareness Week

If you’ve noticed an increased police presence on the roadway this weekend, then hopefully you’re also keeping an eye on the speedometer.

Police departments across New York are participating in Speed Awareness Week, an initiative of the governor’s traffic safety committee and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The steeped up enforcement is expected to continue through Wednesday.

In Riverhead Town, police have been focused on roadways deemed to have issues with drivers following speed limits. Route 58, Sound Avenue, Peconic Bay Boulevard, Church Lane in Aquebogue and North Country Road in Wading River are among the roads police said they would be posted, the department said in a press release. The Southampton Police Department also sent out a press release announcing it was participating in the initiative.

As part of the campaign, the two departments shared several statistics with the media:

• In 2018, nearly one-third (29%) of all traffic fatalities in New York were caused by speeding. A total of 274 people lost their lives and 1,984 suffered serious injuries in these collisions.

• The number of fatal crashes caused by unsafe speed increased during the summer months with the highest totals in June, July, August and September.

• More than one-third (36%) of the speed-related fatal and personal injury crashes occurred between noon and 6 p.m.

• NHTSA says 3 in 10 people speed. These drivers are also more likely to engage in other risky behaviors (no seat belt, drinking and driving, or using a cell phone while driving).