The Washington State Patrol caught a driver going 115 mph Wednesday morning along northbound Interstate 5 in Kent near State Route 516 (aka Kent Des Moines Road).
“The driver offered no excuse,” said Trooper Rick Johnson, public information officer for the State Patrol, in a tweet.
The driver received a ticket of $423 for going 55 mph over the 60 mph speed limit.
“Since the Stay at Home order and the lighter traffic volume we have seen a large uptick in high speeds,” Johnson said in a Wednesday email. “I don’t have a number (of cases) as speed is recorded on the trooper’s time and activity report as a speeding ticket but the actual speed is not captured except for on the ticket itself.”
Johnson said a good majority of the triple-digit speeds have met the criteria of second-degree negligent driving, which is an infraction of more than $500 or in some cases a reckless driving offense. Reckless driving can be the offense when there is other traffic on the roadway and the driver’s actions endangers others.
“This is a statewide and I am sure nationwide issue as I have seen posts from many other states,” Johnson said.
No extra patrols are out, but troopers are keeping a close eye on speeders.
“Our response it to continue to stop and issue citations for this dangerous driving,” Johnson said. “There are just as many troopers as always patrolling.”
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