Speeding Causes Accidents
If you or a loved one are injured in a vehicle accident, there’s a good chance the other driver was speeding. Many Americans don’t take speed limits seriously, which has consequences. It puts people in hospitals and the family plot.
Speeding Accidents By the Numbers
Speeding accounted for nearly a third of all vehicle accident fatalities in 2021, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Nationwide speeding-related fatalities went up 8% from 2020 to 2021, with 12,330 fatalities in 2021, or 29% of all traffic fatalities that year. The estimated number of those injured in speeding-related crashes increased by 7%. About a third of motorcyclists killed in crashes in 2021 were speeding.
Speeding is just part of the problem. Many drivers who speed are also impaired by substances, distracted, running red lights and stop signs, and weaving in and out of traffic.
The Kentucky State Police report that in 2022, there were 746 fatal vehicle collisions and 2,785 with a suspected serious injury. Of all the accidents the state police were aware of that year, 30.1% of accident-related tickets were issued for failing to keep the vehicle under control, 4.92% for driving too fast for conditions, and 15.19% for driving at an unsafe speed.
Why Speeding Causes Accidents
The slower the vehicle travels, the more control the driver has. The faster the vehicle moves, the more the laws of physics take over, and how a driver wants the vehicle to move and respond takes a back seat. You may break the rules of the road, but you can’t break the laws of physics.
You may want your pickup truck to negotiate a curve at 60 mph, but that may be impossible, given the truck’s mass and speed and the sharpness of the curve. You will run off the road, or the truck will flip over.
You may hit the brakes because you don’t want to rear-end the person in front of you when you’re on a highway going 80 mph, but if there’s not enough space between the vehicles for that to happen, you will hit them.
The faster you travel, the less time you have to react to conditions because you’re moving towards them faster. You may have plenty of time and distance to stop for a pedestrian crossing the street if you’re moving at 25 mph. But you may strike them if you’re going 50 mph because, by the time you see the person and hit the brakes, there’s not enough distance for your vehicle to stop.
Other factors make speeding more dangerous. If it’s dark, raining, or snowing, your ability to see what’s around you worsens. If the roads are wet or icy, you’ll lose traction, and stopping distances will be longer. If you’re under the influence of alcohol or drugs, your perception and judgment can worsen.
Speeding makes accidents more likely, and injuries caused by speeding drivers can be more serious. As a vehicle goes faster, it will deliver more force into whatever it strikes. If that’s another vehicle with occupants, the energy released will be far more if the vehicle was moving at 50 mph instead of 25.
Speeding Has Consequences
That spectacular crash on a bridge in Louisville that got the nation’s attention earlier this year? It was caused by a speeding pickup truck.
The driver is under arrest and charged with causing a four-vehicle crash on the George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge that sent a tractor-trailer through a guard rail, where it dangled over the Ohio River, reports the Associated Press.
Trevor Branham of Jeffersonville, Indiana, faces four counts of wanton endangerment and one of operating on a suspended license after the well-publicized accident on the bridge between Kentucky and Indiana on March 1. A Louisville firefighter rappelled from the bridge to rescue the truck driver as the cab dangled over the river
Witnesses informed police the pickup driver was speeding and weaving through traffic when he struck a stalled vehicle, went into opposing traffic, hit another car and the tractor-trailer, which partially went off the bridge.
Talk To a Satterley & Kelley Personal Injury Attorney Today
If you’re injured in an accident caused by another driver’s speeding, Satterley & Kelley, PLLC lawyers can protect your interests and legal rights to compensation for the harm you suffer.
Call our Louisville office at 855-385-9532 to schedule a free initial consultation so we can talk about your accident, injuries, and legal options. If it’s more convenient, you can complete our contact form.