Local police say they support a nationwide traffic safety campaign to stop speeding.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is launching a public education campaign aimed at changing general attitudes toward speeding and reminding drivers of the deadly consequences.

The agency’s “Speeding Wrecks Lives” campaign is running through Aug. 14, using an $8 million national media campaign featuring English and Spanish-language ads running on television, radio and digital platforms.

The ads target drivers ages 18 to 44, who data show are most likely to be involved in speeding-related fatal crashes, according to the NHTSA.

Speeding related crash deaths increased by 17% during 2020 when fewer people were driving during the COVID-19 pandemic. The agency reported that 11,258 people died in those crashes, and speeding was a contributing factor in 29% of all fatal crashes.

That trend continued last year when speeding was found to be among the leading causes in nearly 12,000 traffic fatalities, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association, a nonprofit association representing state highway safety offices.

Butler County saw 0.9% of the state’s traffic-related fatalities in 2020, which was a decrease from years past, according to the state Department of Transportation’s 2020 Pennsylvania Crash Facts and Statistics report.

In 2017, 2018 and 2019, Butler County saw 1.5% of the state’s traffic-related fatalities. In 2016, that percentage sat at 2.5%. Butler County saw 30 fatalities that year, PennDOT reported.

Local roads saw the most speeding, with 87% of all speeding-related traffic fatalities occurring on non-interstate roads last year, according to local police.

Complaints from residents about speeding on local roads are common in Jackson and Butler townships, police said.

“I think it’s a good effort to bring attention to the problem,” Jackson Township Police Chief Terry Seilhamer said of the national campaign.

Speeding on township roads is one of the most common complaints the department receives, but staffing and old speed detection techniques hamper efforts to address those complaints, he said.

The department usually has one or two officers working on most shifts, and they can’t spend an entire shift parked looking for traffic violations, he said.

Using radar, which only state police are currently allowed to use in Pennsylvania, to determine the speed at which a vehicle is traveling would result in better accuracy than the current system that requires officers to use a stopwatch to time a vehicle as it travels between two lines painted on a road, said Seilhamer, a retired state trooper.

“I spent 31 and a half years in the state police and was fully qualified. Now that I have a different patch on my sleeve, I’m not competent to use radar,” Seilhamer said.

He said his use of radar as a trooper included using the device on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

People who grew accustomed to driving faster during the pandemic when there was less traffic on roads haven’t slowed down yet, Seilhamer said.

Some residents who report speeding on their roads offer to let officers park in their driveways to catch the speeders, but not all driveways are conducive for traffic law enforcement, he said.

Butler Township Police Chief John Hays said his department also receives many complaints about speeding on neighborhood roads.

The department tries to address every speeding complaint it receives, and part of the response involves placing small trailers and other mobile devices that detect and display the speed of passing vehicles on those roads, he said.

Hays said the department is participating in an ongoing statewide aggressive driving initiative and takes part in seat belt enforcement programs.

The national anti-speeding campaign, he said, is a step in the right direction.

“You have to try something to slow people down. Some people might slow down, but other people will speed no matter what,” Hays said.

The NHTSA said speeding contributed to 37% of fatal crashes in work zones and was a factor in more fatal crashes on wet roads than dry roads.

Drinking and speeding is the deadliest combination, the agency said. Of drivers involved in fatal crashes, 37% were speeding and had a blood alcohol concentration of .08 or higher.