DESOTO COUNTY, MS (abc24.com) - They're fast, and it's making cops furious.
The results are in on a North Mississippi traffic study. Both the DeSoto County Sheriff's Department and supervisors say the findings prove the county needs radar.
The sheriff's department gauged how fast people drive on DeSoto's rural roads. Deputies found almost half of drivers are speeding. So just how fast are they going? The department found several exceeding 100 miles an hour.
"I think they speed a lot on here, I really do," says driver John Lane.
The county clocked thousands on rural roads like Holly Springs; they found some drove up to 130 miles an hour.
"That's too fast," says Ken Blake.
"It's excessive," says Katie Brown. "Over 100 miles an hour? Wow."
The study showed almost half of drivers exceed the speed limit when it's 50 miles an hour. That number jumps to more than 80 percent when the limit is 35.
On twisty, curvy roads, drivers are scared of what could happen.
"You never know what you're going to run into right around the other side of the curve," Brown says.
"You could cause a bad wreck, somebody might even get killed," adds Lane.
Even though they know the numbers, the sheriff's department's hands are tied.
"We don't give any speeding tickets whatsoever," says Sheriff Bill Rasco.
Sheriff's departments across the state aren't allowed to use radar.
DeSoto County is lobbying for a new law this year granting the privilege just for North Mississippi. Deputies and supervisors are both hoping that bill has a chance of passing, but drivers are as up and down as the speed on whether it should happen.
"I'd rather have the sheriff's department have as little equipment as possible," says Blake. "Even though I think people drive too fast."
"It would help," says Lane. "They're going to get a ticket and they're going to have to slow down or get tied down."
