All summer long, Minnesota law enforcement agencies, including Eden Prairie, have been participating in a statewide speed enforcement and awareness campaign.

According to preliminary reports from the Minnesota Office of Traffic Safety, 115 people died in speed-related traffic crashes in Minnesota last year. Speed contributed to an average of 123 deaths per year from 2019–2023.

In 2023, Eden Prairie officers issued 2,179 citations for speeding. To date in 2024, EPPD officers have issued 1,444 speed citations. One of those citations was issued just after midnight June 27 to a 17-year-old who was driving 102 mph on Highway 212. The driver led officers on a short pursuit until it stopped in a retail parking lot. All three occupants then fled on foot. Officers apprehended them and learned that two were 17 years old and one was 16. Several open containers of alcohol were found in the car and all three occupants had been drinking. The driver was arrested for DWI, fleeing and speed, and all three were issued citations for underage consumption and fleeing on foot.

There are a number of consequences of speeding including:

• Greater potential for loss of vehicle control.
• Increased stopping distance. At 30 mph, the stopping distance is approximately 110 feet. At 60 mph, the stopping distance is more than 300 feet.
• Less time for driver response for crash avoidance.
• Increased crash severity leading to more severe injuries and death. A crash on a road with a speed limit of 65 mph or greater is more than twice as likely to result in a fatality than a crash on a road with a speed limit of 45 or 50 mph.

The cost of a speeding violation varies by county, but typically costs a driver more than $110 with court fees for traveling 10 mph over the limit. Fines double for those speeding 20 mph over the limit and drivers can lose their license for six months for going 100 mph or more.