Tonya Maxwell

tmaxwell@citizen-times.com

Stepped up speeding enforcement on North Carolina highways is not expected to target motorists who are driving only a few miles an hour over posted speed limits, a highway patrol spokesman said Thursday, while state officials on Thursday said some media reports misinterpreted the campaign.

The North Carolina Governor’s Highway Safety Program, which on Thursday launched a boosted speed enforcement effort, has been getting increased attention on social media over concerns that drivers doing as little as 1 or 2 mph over speed limits could be ticketed.

North Carolina Highway Patrol Trooper Kelly Rhodes said the Asheville-based troop will participate in the campaign, but he does not expect a wave of tickets for going 1 mph over the speed limit.

“We are going to be involved in the campaign, but for the Highway Patrol it’s going to be business as usual, as far as we’re concerned,” said Rhodes, who is a spokesman for the local office. “We only stop cars for clear-cut and substantial violations.”

Jonathan Bandy, a Department of Transportation spokesman for the campaign, said increased numbers of officers on roadways deters speeding, a major contributor to traffic fatalities, but the state has issued no guidelines to police or sheriff’s departments.

“We don’t provide any direction to local agencies,” Bandy said. “We tell them we’re doing a high-visibility enforcement. We encourage them to participate in it, and that’s about it.”

Asked if motorists risked tickets for driving 1 mph over the limit, Bandy reiterated that a posted speed limit is a law and local agencies participate in the campaign at their own discretion.

“A station in Raleigh, North Carolina started that rumor,” he said. “We’re telling people the speed limit is the speed limit for a reason and that is the safest speed to travel when you are on that specific road. Engineers put that limit there for a reason, but we give no directives to law enforcement on how to enforce the law, when to enforce the law, et cetera.”

In a Wednesday lead up to a report on the initiative, Greensboro-based Fox 8 anchor Julie Grant, said officers were giving no grace for speeders.

“Even if you go 1 mph over the speed limit, law enforcement says you will be getting a ticket,” Grant said before the report. “This is a new initiative that has everybody talking today, especially as many people are preparing to travel for Easter weekend.”

The Fox station's online report, in part, cited ABC News 11 of Raleigh, which said the campaign would ticket anyone driving over the limit.

However, the two-week crackdown, ending April 3, is not new. Last year about 400 law enforcement agencies participated statewide, with a similar number expected this year, Bandy said.

Known as “Obey the sign or pay the fine,” the campaign dates to at least 2009 and was known as “No Need 2 Speed,” until the slogan bumped up against a copyright issue and was changed.

The campaign is an effort to curb traffic fatalities, and according to the program, high speed contributed to the deaths of 322 people in North Carolina in 2015, or 23 percent of the state’s fatal crashes.

Most fatal accidents nationwide – 86 percent – happen on local roads with posted speed limits that were 55 miles per hour or under, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

During the campaign, some motorists will undoubtedly get stopped for being just a few miles over the speed limit, said Trooper Rhodes, and that could be as little as 1 mph over.

“Will you get stopped for 1 over? You might get stopped for 1 over and given a warning ticket,” Rhodes said, adding that if the trooper finds other violations such as driving without a license or expired registration, “then we would cite you for being 1 mile over.”

In a press release issued Thursday afternoon, Public Safety Secretary Frank L. Perry echoed that sentiment, saying officers will continue to exercise reasonable discreation.

“The North Carolina State Highway Patrol does not intend to change its tactics when it comes to enforcing the speed limit," he said in the statement. "Our troopers still have reasonable discretion when it comes to enforcing our traffic laws. Earlier reports that we would begin ticketing drivers going one or two miles over the speed limit were based on a misinterpretation of the initiative. Troopers and local law enforcement officers will continue to enforce the speed limit.”

Staff writer John Boyle contributed to this report.

Holiday traffic campaign yields 107 DWI arrests in Buncombe