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State Police Stepping Up Speed Enforcement On I-70

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Concerned by the rising number of accidents on Interstate 70, state police are stepping up speed enforcement.

Police say their goal is to keep people safe, not to make money by writing tickets.

You need only drive on this stretch of 70 for a short distance to understand why the

Many locals will readily tell you that I-70 is a hazardous road. In some areas it feels like a bobsled run.

It's a highway built to standards of long ago.

"It's very tight, the berms are very small, the ramps are very small, so it's very hard for vehicles to merge," said Lt. Doug Bartoe, of Pennsylvania State Police.

State police say with 300 accidents in the stretch last year and 97 already this year, the hazards of now require action.

"There are a lot of accidents on 70, and lately there's been an awful lot of deaths on there, too," said Linda Farner, of Spears.

"We've had two recent fatals, so we decided to increase the enforcement on 70," Lt. Bartoe said. "We're going to use some untraditional methods like using using the airplane, using some bridge enforcement, bridges to run radar from, some unmarked cars."

Also, at times they'll use multiple troopers working together.

"When we stop somebody, we hope 100 people see that person stopped and slow down," said Lt. Bartoe. "What we're trying to do is get the message out to slow down, be less aggressive in their driving and give everybody a little bit more space."

The crackdown will run through at least this month.

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