While drivers in the state are now allowed to go a bit faster on some Nebraska highways, the state patrol says excessive speed is becoming a problem.
They label excessive speeds as any vehicle going over 90 miles per hour. Troopers say they have already caught three motorcycles going over 150 MPH this summer.
The Nebraska State Patrol does not mince words when it comes to this topic, saying drivers going over 90 MPH is an epidemic in the state of Nebraska.
"If it were coming and going in peaks and valleys it wouldn't so problematic but the numbers seem to be going up."
Nebraska State Patrol Lieutenant Matt Sutter says troopers ticketed over 5,000 drivers last year for going over 90 MPH in 2017, they're on pace to pull over just as many vehicles this year.
"There are more vehicles on the roadways nowadays that are capable of attaining speeds that are over 100 MPH and just because they are capable of attaining those speeds it certainly doesn't make it safe to do that nor is it legal."
While the majority of drivers are flying down the interstate, Sutter says they've seen excessive speeds on the W. Dodge expressway and West Maple. They've also watched about every type of vehicle commit the offense.
"We have stopped anything from minivans to motorcycles going in excess of 100 MPH here lately in the metro and so there really isn't one type of vehicle that we're identifying as a problem vehicle."
NSP has clocked a motorcycle at 173 MPH this year and due to the persistent problem, they're cracking down, using OPD’s ABLE1 helicopter to track down speeders and putting extra troopers on the road on certain days each month.
"We've seen some pretty significant results and we've been able to generate some felony cases out of those enforcement operations."
While the speed limits are increasing throughout the state, Sutter says he doesn't believe that will help or hurt the problem, saying they're two separate issues.
