State police are cracking down on aggressive, speeding drivers

EAST LYME, Conn. (WFSB) – State police are cracking down on aggressive and speeding drivers, putting everyone at risk.

For Trooper First Class Michael Buck, some of the speeds are unbelievable.

“Listen, there’s a little problem here. You were doing 98 back into that work zone over there before we hit you,” Trooper Buck told a driver.

The driver exceeded 3 different speed limit signs that say 50 mph in a well marked construction zone.

Construction on I-95 in East Lyme is ramping up. The road is narrow and the work hard.

“These are unprecedented figures. People are very reckless and we’re just trying to cut it down,” Burk said.

Fatal accidents and reckless drivers happen in CT. A reckless driver is someone going 85 MPH or more.

Reckless driving, if caught, is costly, especially in a construction zone.

“Things happen in the blink of an eye in a construction zone. They use heavy equipment. They drive personal and construction vehicles in and out of patterns. The booms on the cranes are swinging,” Buck said.

Buck is part of the aggressive driving unit of twelve. Their number one job is to patrol highways like I-95.

“For me, death notification is the hardest thing I do as a soldier,” he said.

Troopers use new speed cameras with video playback to stop drivers and teach a lesson.

“We want to encourage a culture of safe driving, not just in work zones, but in the state of Connecticut as a whole,” Buck said.

The speed limit on this stretch of I-95 is 50 mph only during construction. Once everything is packed, it will return to 65 mph.