Arkansas – Arkansas law enforcement agencies are joining a nationwide high-visibility enforcement effort to crack down on speeding — a dangerous behavior that continues to claim thousands of lives every year.
From July 9 to 31, the Arkansas Highway Safety Office, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), will lead the Speeding Slows You Down campaign. State Police troopers, sheriff’s deputies, and city police officers across Arkansas will participate by increasing patrols and issuing citations to drivers who break speed laws.
“Speed limits are set to keep all road users safe,” said Arkansas Public Safety Secretary Colonel Mike Hagar. “They minimize the likelihood of crashes and the force of a crash’s impact on a person’s body, which dramatically increases with each additional 10 miles per hour of speed.”
According to NHTSA, speeding accounted for 11,775 traffic deaths nationwide in 2023 — nearly 29% of all traffic fatalities. In Arkansas, one in five fatal crashes involved speeding.
Officials warn that speeding isn’t just an issue on highways. In fact, 88% of all speeding-related fatalities in the U.S. occurred on roads other than interstates, including neighborhood streets, school zones, and rural highways.
“Drivers need to understand that speeding is not only illegal — it’s deadly,” Hagar added. “It reduces a driver’s ability to respond to hazards, steer around obstacles, or control their vehicle safely through curves.”
Arkansas law enforcement will focus particularly on local and secondary roads during the campaign, where most speeding-related crashes occur. The goal is to save lives through education, visibility, and enforcement.
Drivers are reminded that the cost of speeding is far greater than a citation — it could be a life.