Officers from six police departments teamed up to watch for speeding motorists on June 24.

The Wadesboro Police Department conducted the saturation patrol on U.S. 74 Business, along with the Lilesville, Norwood, Hamlet, Laurinburg and Pinehurst Police Departments.

Officers focused on speeders in several different locations to help promote traffic safety. In 2015 alone, there were 322 speed-related fatalities and 10,658 speed-related injuries. Speeding was a contributing factor in 23 percent of all fatal crashes in North Carolina. In 2015, 88 percent of all speeding-related traffic fatalities in North Carolina occurred on non-interstate roadways – where the posted speed limits were 55 mph or less. Only 8 percent of the state’s speeding-related fatalities occurred on interstate highways that year.

Officers also conducted a license-checking station on U.S. Highway 52 South later that night to ensure unlicensed drivers were not operating a motor vehicle and to deter anyone from drinking and driving.

During the saturation patrol, a total of 56 charges were issued: 13 drug charges, including felony possession of cocaine, one charge of driving while the license was revoked, one charge of driving with a revoked license tag, and 42 speeding violations, all of which were greater than 15 mph over the posted limit.

At the license-checking station, officers wrote a total of 25 charges: nine seatbelt violations, three child restraint violations, four driving while the license was revoked, four for driving with no operator’s license and five window tint violations.

“Wadesboro Police Department would like to remind everyone that these traffic laws serve a purpose to promote safety and help prevent traffic accidents, injuries, and even death,” the department said in a press release. “Please be smart and obey all traffic laws and watch for other drivers.”

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For the Record