Why do Minnesota drivers speed? Public safety officials want to know

Minnesotans put the pedal to the metal in greater numbers during the COVID-19 pandemic. But even as traffic has returned to near-normal levels, they have not let off the gas.

Speeding continues to be a big problem on the roads, said Mike Hanson, a spokesman for the Department of Public Safety's Office of Traffic Safety (OTS). Last year, speeding was a contributing factor in 27% of road fatalities, and the State Patrol issued more than 1,100 citations to motorists traveling 100 mph or faster.

"Far too many drivers are making the critical mistake of excessively exceeding the speed limit," Hanson said. "Our job is to change the behavior for the better and learn why drivers are making the decision they are while behind the wheel."

To get those answers, OTS is partnering with the Minnesota departments of transportation and health and other traffic safety advocates on a first-of-its-kind survey to find out why people exceed the speed limit and what can be done to stop it.

OTS hired a research firm at a cost of $150,000 to devise an online survey and asked 10,000 Minnesotans 18 and older to answer questions about their driving behavior and attitudes about speeding. Typically, surveys get about a 5% to 8% response rate, Hanson said, but more than 10% — 1,045 people — had taken the 22-question survey by the March 24 deadline.

"That is statistically significant," Hanson said. "It tells us how seriously the need is to look at aggressive driving. They want their voice to be heard."

The survey included multiple-choice questions that asked drivers about what causes motorists to speed, why others choose to obey the speed limit and if enforcement levels are too high, too low or about right. Each question also contained a field allowing respondents to expand on their answers or suggest reasons that were not listed.

Allison Hawley, who is heading up the Speed Action Survey, said the research firm will crunch the data, then do a deeper dive by hosting focus groups and compile a final report by fall.

"The main goal is to figure out what we need to do to get Minnesotans to drive more safely," said Hawley, MnCrash administrator for the Department of Public Safety. "We hope it will give us insight as to what countermeasures would prevent the risky behavior."

Past efforts to reach lead-footed drivers have included weeks- or monthlong speeding enforcement campaigns, ads on billboards and public service announcements that aired on TV, radio and social media.

Last summer, the State Patrol brought back its Highway Enforcement for Aggressive Traffic campaign — HEAT for short — to crack down on speeding and other aggressive driving behaviors. Speed-related fatalities in Minnesota rose from 75 in 2019 to 171 in 2021 and 120 last year.

With summer coming, "We know speeds will go up and so will injuries and fatalities," Hawley said. "We need to keep speeding at the forefront of drivers' minds."