Speeding is a factor in one out of three fatal crashes! Why are we still speeding? According to Focus on Safety: A Practical Guide to Automated Traffic Enforcement, we are still speeding because:
- We’re in a hurry (that’s an obvious one)
- We’re not paying attention to our driving
- We don’t think traffic laws apply to us (hmmmm)
- We don’t think our driving while speeding is dangerous
- We don’t think we’ll get caught
I’m saying “we”, because we’re all guilty of speeding at times. And I think the first point may be the number one reason why–even for those of us that want to be safe drivers. We are rushed and what does going 10 or 15 over the speed limit really hurt?
Well apparently it hurts a lot—and our visit to the body shop is not our biggest problem. Thirteen thousand lives are lost every year because of speeding. Our last blog was on construction zones and speeding has played a roll in fatal crashes in construction zones 27 percent of the time. Truly—Give ‘em a brake!
Another consequence: Lost money. According to the NHTSA, every minute we “gain” by speeding costs us over $76,000! I’m thinking that that minute we gained doesn’t come close to the cost—money or lives.
Speeding is habitual and the worst offenders are young males. Thirty nine percent of male drivers aged 15-20 who were involved in a fatal crash were speeding. Make sure you talk to your young drivers regularly about safety on the road. These statistics are sobering and while strategies are in place to prevent speeding, most of the responsibility is on us.
Leave with plenty of time to reach your destination, keeping in mind traffic issues and construction zones. If you’re running late, call ahead to let someone know. Whatever you’re doing can wait the extra few minutes it’ll take to get there.
Source: http://www.nsc.org/safety_road/DriverSafety/Pages/Speeding.aspx
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