Whoa, slow down there, fellow driver! Police say more people speed on I-84 around Boise
Have you noticed people driving sometimes much faster than 80 mph on Interstate 84?
It isn’t just you. Idaho State Police said they’ve seen an increase in excessive speeding and reckless driving on the freeway this year.
Idaho State Police Sgt. Curt Sproat, who was born and raised in Boise, said these days on the interstate, “people are just driving faster.”
In 2020, Idaho State Police issued 1,713 tickets for drivers speeding by 15 mph or more on I-84 in State Police District 3, which includes the freeway from Payette through Elmore counties, including Boise, Meridian, Nampa and Caldwell. That’s just short of five tickets per day. So far in 2021, the police have issued 1,368 tickets. Sproat said 2021 violations have trended upward lately but may not surpass the 2020 number.
Sproat said on I-84 between Payette and Elmore counties, troopers find a lot of drivers going over 100 mph.
“It is not uncommon for us to see that every day while we are out working,” he said Wednesday by phone.
According to records obtained by the Idaho Statesman, each year since 2018, the police have increased the number of tickets given for excessive speeding. In 2018, Idaho State Police issued 239 tickets for excessive speeding violations in District 3, one-seventh as many as in 2020. In 2019, they issued 1,082.
This is so even though Idaho raised I-84’s speed limit in rural areas to 80 mph in 2014. The limit remains at 65 mph from Caldwell through Boise.
In June, the Idaho State Police joined an effort by the Western States Traffic Safety Coalition to focus on addressing high speeds and serious crashes on Idaho highways.
“Throughout the West, law enforcement has seen a dangerous trend in excessive speeds, including speeds of 100 mph or more,” a June 23 news release from the department said.
Excessive speeding means more I-84 crashes
Idaho State Police have investigated a higher-than-normal number of crashes on the interstate recently, Sproat said.
State police in District 3 are averaging 45-50 crashes a week, with most of those occurring on I-84, he said. Though Sproat couldn’t say what a normal week looks like for crashes, he said 45-50 is a high number.
“Unfortunately because of those crashes, our resources are being taken away from speed enforcement to investigate the crashes,” he said. “Speeding is contributing to most of these crashes.”
Sproat leads a patrol team and coordinates with other patrol division leaders on patrol focus and resources. He said he sent a memo last Tuesday to troopers to remind them to pay attention to speeders.
He said the department, based in Meridian, has received numerous calls from Boise-area residents concerned with the rate of speed on the interstate.
He wants to remind people to slow down before they get pulled over or get into an accident.
This story was originally published December 13, 2021 at 4:00 AM.
