CHP Contra Costa County Freeway Speeding Crackdown Nets 331 Tickets
WALNUT CREEK (CBS SF) -- A crackdown on speeders along the freeways in Contra Costa County ended with 331 tickets being issued, some for motorists driving in excess of 100 mph.
The Thursday crackdown targeted Highway 4, State Route 24, I-680 and I-80.
"Well, we made many encounters yesterday as our Motor & Speed enforcement team issued 331 citations during the operation within Contra Costa County (Hwy-4, I-680, SR-24, & I-80... that's not a typo-331)," officers posted on the CHP Contra Costa Facebook page.
There were several images posted of speed guns showing readings topping 100 mph.
The CHP said it was seeing "an almost 90% increase in the number of speeding citations issued to motorists traveling over 100 MPH."
Since the COVID-19 shutdown began last March, the CHP said it has seen a marked increase in drivers cruising along at 100 mph or more.
During the first two months of the shutdown -- March 19 to April 30, 2020 -- CHP officers wrote about 4,000 tickets to people caught speeding over 100 miles per hour statewide. That was more than double the same time period in 2019.
"Our freeway systems are not the (German) autobahn," said CHP Officer John Fransen at the time. "They're not designed for people to travel over 100 miles per hour, and vehicles are not designed for 100 mile per hour impact."