MOLINE, Ill. — Illinois State Police are asking drivers to slow down when traveling across the I-74 Bridge.
In just two hours on Thursday morning, troopers issued 17 speeding citations to drivers going more than 20 miles per hour (mph) over the posted 55 mph speed limit. The highest speed tracked at 99 mph. Five troopers ran the detail along with an aerial patrol unit.
The team in the plane monitor the speed of cars going across the bridge by measuring a time distance from when a car hits one painted dash line to the next painted dash. That car gets reported to troopers on the ground who issue the citation. ISP is looking for cars going excessive speeds.
"There have been many complaints from the general motoring public about the speed problem that has been taking place on the bridge," Trooper John Wilson said.
Wilson said speeding has been worse on the current bridge compared to the old one.
According to the Illinois Department of Transportation, the amount of daily traffic on the bridge has also increased compared to the old one. In 2018, the last time the old I-74 Bridge was fully open to traffic, the average daily traffic was 69,700 vehicles. In 2022, the average daily traffic across the current I-74 Bridge was 77,300 vehicles.
"There's a lot more space to maneuver, so there are individuals out there that prefer to see how fast they can go over the bridge and to see how many vehicles they can pass and weave through," Wilson said. "It is very easy to pull over nothing but 20 mile per hour or more over the speed limit."
ISP has cited people for going 120 to 130 mph over the bridge, more than double the posted speed limit.
Wilson is warning drivers about the dangers speeding, especially excessive speeding can cause. Thirty percent of all fatal crashes in the U.S. are from speeding. The faster you drive, the longer it takes you to stop and the less time you have to react.
"We're getting ready to mark up to almost 46,000 fatal crashes across the country," Wilson said. "That's more than the population of the city we're standing in right now, so basically, the entire city of Moline is wiped off the map every year in traffic crashes. So we really need to put it into context as to how serious it is and how much we have to respect what we're doing when we get behind the wheel."
Wilson also said the speed limit is posted at 55 for a reason, and a big reason is safety.
"The road engineers for IDOT, the Illinois Department of Transportation work hand in hand with the Iowa Department of Transportation, and they take a lot of factors into account when they set the speed limits and one of those factors is the ramps being so close to each other on both sides of the river," he said. "So that if there is confusion, people have enough time to be able to react and get off the roadway, where they want to get off the roadway."
Going 35 mph over the speed limit in Illinois is a Class A misdemeanor, which is the same classification as a DUI arrest. That's punishable by up to 12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine.