- In single vehicle crashes, “illegal or unsafe speed” is the contributing factor cited most often for younger drivers.
- Drivers who exceed the posted speed limit are easy and legal targets for police.
- About 37 percent of all drivers’ ages 14-19 involved in fatal crashes were in speed-related crashes.
- Speeding-related crashes resulted in 12,330 people in the U.S. in 2021 – that’s over 33 people per day. (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.)
- Speed-related crashes are associated with 10,192 fatalities, 498,000 nonfatal injuries, and $46 billion in economic costs in 2019, accounting for 14% of all economic costs. Speed-related crashes cost an average of $141 for every person in the United States.
- When speed increases from 40 mph to 60 mph, the energy released in a crash more than doubles.
- Research by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) found that when speed limits were raised by many states in 1996, travel speeds increased and motor vehicle fatalities went up approximately 15 percent on Interstate highways in those states.
- Nationally, total number of crashes and speed-related fatalities are lowest in February gradually building to a high in the month of August.
- Holidays are typically the highest for speeding-related motor vehicle fatalities. January 1 and July 4th were the two days with the most speeding-related motor vehicle crash fatalities of the entire calendar.
- Driver impairment is highly correlated with speeding among drivers involved in fatal crashes. About 41 percent of drivers who were intoxicated (BAC=0.08+) were also speeding as compared to 14 percent for sober drivers.
- The geometry of the road plays a vital role in the occurrence of speeding-related crashes. In any given year, about 40 percent of speeding-related fatal crashes occurred while negotiating a curve, while slightly less than 20 percent of non-speeding related fatal crashes occurred under similar roadway geometry.
The Wright County Sheriff’s Office would prefer not to give you a speeding citation. They would love to see everyone driving at safe speeds.
