Troopers issue 26K tickets in speeding crackdown

Raleigh, N.C. — State troopers issued 26,845 speeding tickets in the past two weeks as part of Operation Slow Down.

The crackdown targeted speeders on North Carolina's interstates. Troopers patrolling Interstate 40 in Johnston County, for example, nabbed drivers going up to 105 mph in a 65-mph zone and 118 mph in a 70-mph zone.

Speed is the leading cause of wrecks on interstates, according to the state Highway Patrol, and 359 people have died in such wrecks over the past four years.

Troopers normally issue about 5,000 speeding tickets a week statewide, officials said.