(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa State Patrol is holding a special enforcement effort that run through this Labor Day. Trooper John Farley says There’s a continued focus on bringing down the number of drivers who are clocked at excessive speeds. He says they have many posts online about people who are driving 25 miles-and-hour over the limit to those who are exceeding 100 miles-an-hour on the roadways.  Farley says those types of drivers have increased by 47 percent last year and this year the increase is around 85 percent. He says it is one thing that can be controlled and keep accidents from happening.

“Speed is a factor in every collision. No matter what, speed is a factor. And we can save we have icy roads, we have fog or somebody runs a stop sign — speed is still a factor because cars are moving. And we have to make sure we understand that –we are driving within our capabilities, we are driving within the law,” Farley says. He says excessive speed magnifies the problems created when something does go wrong on the roadway. “It just creates more catastrophe when those collisions occur,” he says.

Farley says the Labor Day weekend usually does not have as many accidents as other holidays and they want to be sure that excessive speed does not change that.