Georgia State Patrol officials and their peers at county and municipal police departments across the state are flatly concerned with speeding troopers and police officers, and both recent events and relevant statistics indicate that they should be.

Just last month, a Gwinnett County jury awarded $2 million in a wrongful death lawsuit to the widow of a man killed near Snellville in late 2006 after being struck by a police car.. In that incident, the officer -- who was responding to a call as a backup car -- slammed into the side of the victim's vehicle while traveling approximately 34 miles per hour over the speed limit. Neither the lights nor sirens on the police car were activated at the time of the collision