For the Renton Reporter

Police departments in King County, including Renton’s, will inundate area roads, highway, and interstates with extra police patrols targeting speeding drivers beginning this Friday through Aug. 1.

The goal of the statewide campaign, “Slow down or pay up,” is to eliminate deaths and serious injuries from traffic crashes in Washington by the year 2030.

“Speeding may seem like a quick and effective shortcut, but in fact it is a leading cause of traffic deaths and injuries in King County and Washington state,” said Dr. David Fleming, Director and Health Officer for Public Health – Seattle & King County. “Speed-related crashes harm individuals, families, and communities, and many people hurt in these crashes suffer life altering trauma and never recover fully.”

The emphasis patrols over the next month are a key component of the Strategic Highway Safety Plan: Target Zero. The vision of Target Zero is zero deaths and serious injuries from traffic crashes in Washington by the year 2030. The Washington Traffic Safety Commission funds the extra patrols.

According to the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, from 2006 – 2008, speeding drivers killed 140 people in King County crashes, an average of four deaths a month. These speeding-involved crashes accounted for 44 percent of traffic deaths in King County for that period.

Besides Renton, the following departments will conduct the emphasis patrols: Auburn, Bellevue, Black Diamond, Burien, Des Moines, Federal Way, Issaquah, Kent, Kirkland, Maple Valley, Mercer Island, Newcastle, Normandy Park, North Bend, Pacific, Redmond, Sammamish, SeaTac, Seattle, Snoqualmie, Tukwila, and the Washington State Patrol District 2.