Boost the fine for speeders

Minot (N.D.) Daily News: Speeders nabbed in North Dakota could be facing much higher fines if legislators have their way.

The Legislature’s Transportation Committee recently supported raising highway speeding fines in the state, which has some of the lowest speeding fines in the country.

Under current North Dakota law, someone caught driving 65 miles per hour on a 55 mph road would be fined $10. In some other states, that fine would be in the hundreds of dollars. In N.D., someone caught going 80 mph on an interstate highway, where the speed limit is 75 mph, faces a fine of $25. Again, in a lot of other states, that infraction would cost drivers hundreds of dollars.

The suggested higher N.D. fines would still be considerably lower than many states. Members of the Transportation Committee supported raising the fine for going 65 mph in a 55 mph zone to $50, and boosting the fine for going 80 mph on interstate highways to $50 rather than the current $25.

We believe the higher fines will find support in the Legislature. It’s time for the state to catch up with some other states, especially considering the increase in traffic with out-of-state workers flocking to North Dakota to work in the booming oil industry.