Police plan clamp-down on speeding

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13177939/

Police from New Hampshire and Massachusetts plan to "strategically saturate" certain roads and highways beginning this evening in an effort to clamp down on speed and illegal road racing, state police said yesterday.

State police said the effort - code-named Operation RACE for "real, aggressive, cooperative enforcement" - will involve troopers who patrol Rockingham and Strafford counties, Massachusetts state police and police from 14 area towns.

The towns range from Hampton to Auburn and Lee to Plaistow.

Also involved is New England Dragway. The Epping dragway is developing an educational effort to discourage illegal road racing, the company said in a statement.

New Hampshire State Police Lt. Robert Quinn said police notice an increase in speeding on Wednesday and Friday nights, when the track allows beginners to run their street-legal cars and motorcycles on the track. In one recent violation, a speeder was caught traveling in the high 90s, a trophy on his front seat, Quinn said.

"All in all, if you have a high performance car and you're a racing enthusiast and you enjoy the sport, just keep it to the track," Quinn said. He praised the dragway for its cooperation.

In a press release issued yesterday, state police said: "Our plan is to strategically saturate certain roads with numerous state, local and county officers to reduce speed and identify violators."

Massachusetts police will have similar patrols in the Bay State, the press release said. Recently, road racing has caused some fatalities in Massachusetts, Quinn said.

In New Hampshire, troopers in Rockingham and Strafford counties have clocked cars topping 100 mph, according to the press release. Also, troopers have noticed an increase in equipment violations, many by the owners of modified, high-performance cars.

They include tinted windows, altered exhausts, illegal decals, illegal lighting and modified height.

The New England Dragway plans to encourage responsible driving with track announcements and public service advertisements in track publications.

"Law enforcement officials have a lot of work ahead of them," said Joe Lombardo, track manager at the dragway. "By tackling the educational aspect, we let them focus on making the roads safer for all motorists."