Wash. law officers on hunt for speeders

Washington law enforcement agencies today are launching a crackdown on speeding with extra patrols being deployed by 153 agencies across the state. The Washington Traffic Safety Commission is sponsoring the effort, which it calls, “Slow down or pay up.” The commission said that 40 percent of all traffic deaths are related to speeding. The patrols will run through May 1 on Fridays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 8 p.m. Commission Director Lowell Porter said that the speeding enforcement campaign is part of the state’s commitment to eliminate traffic deaths by 2030. Chief John Batiste of the Washington State Patrol said in a press release that “we routinely create task forces to deal with narcotics, auto theft, or predators on the Internet. It’s only natural that we should take a multi-agency approach to the important issue of speeding and the collisions that result.”