Motorists enjoying the first signs of fall are advised to maintain the speed limit. From Sept. 23-25, the Iowa State Patrol will join participating law enforcement from Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Arkansas and Oklahoma in a Regional Speed Enforcement Campaign. Officers will be on the lookout for those who are traveling above the speed limit on all roadways.

“The main goal of the Iowa State Patrol is to help ensure that all who travel on Iowa’s roadways arrive to their destination, and arrive there safely. The campaign is aimed to modify unsafe driver behavior through concerted enforcement efforts," said Colonel Michael VanBerkum of the Iowa State Patrol.

"Speeding is a serious problem on Iowa roadways and has contributed to multiple traffic crashes, especially those that resulted in deaths. Too many of our fellow citizens are impacted by drivers who drive too fast for the road conditions or exceed the speed limit,” said Sgt. Nate Ludwig of the Iowa State Patrol. “In order to get drivers to slow down and reduce the number of crashes and fatalities, we plan to intensify enforcement of posted speed limits in Iowa.”

The Iowa State Patrol will be working with county and local law enforcement this weekend across the state, with primary efforts on Interstate 35 and Highway 30.

“There has been a significant increase in Iowa fatalities, currently Iowa has seen an increase of 18 percent from this time last year," said Pat Hoye, Chief of the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau.

Nationwide, 27 percent of crash fatalities in 2015 were related to a driver exceeding the speed limit or driving too fast for conditions. Fully 86 percent of all speeding-related traffic fatalities occurred on local roads - where the posted speed limits were 55 mph or under. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 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.