Troopers in 11 states along I-80 are stepping up speeding enforcement for the last week of July, annually one of the deadliest periods for crashes on that highway, says USA Today. The I-80 Challenge (“More Cops, More Stops”) was implemented by the Iowa Department of Public Safety after it analyzed crash data and found that summer was the deadliest time for crashes along the 2,900-mile-long interstate.
The goal of the campaign is zero fatalities through the end of the month along I-80, which stretches from Teaneck, N.J., to San Francisco. In the three-year period 2009-2011, there were 350 fatalities on all of I-80, the country’s second-longest interstate, trailing only I-90. Participating in the effort are state police in California, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, along with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the agency that regulates trucking safety.