A survey by CivicScience, a Carnegie Mellon University incubator project, found 59% of American drivers regularly exceed the speed limit by five to 10 miles per hour. Another 8% said they drive more than 10 miles over the speed limit.
Today, people speed on local roads and highways, which is dangerous behavior. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) data shows that speeding not only increases the risk of car crashes but also increases the risk of death or injury.
Driving over the speed limit, especially at a high speed, accounted for 29% of traffic fatalities in 2023.
Contents
Speeding is Always Dangerous Due to Physics
Speeding is always dangerous because of Newton’s law of physics and other factors. Without getting too mathematical, speed is the rate at which something covers distance.
A vehicle moves at a certain velocity, which is how fast the vehicle is moving in a particular direction in a specific period.
Newton’s law says an object will continue in motion in a straight line unless some force acts on it. The net force involved in speeding is acceleration.
Kinetic energy is the property of the car that depends on motion and mass.
When you speed, there is a braking distance based on the various laws of physics that account for the vehicle’s mass, the speed of the car, the force, which includes acceleration and braking, and the reaction from changes in the force.
Add in turns, curves, the road condition, the type of engine, the condition of the tires, the crashworthiness of the vehicle and other factors to determine the risk and severity of car crashes.
Unfortunately, many people do not understand or think about the fact that the results of speeding are subject to the laws of nature, in addition to the condition of the car and roads.
The car’s kinetic energy is proportional to the square of the car’s speed. Another way of saying this is that the exchange of energy in a crash significantly increases due to speed rather than mass.
Small increases in vehicle speed will result in significant vehicle damage and a major increase in injury risk.
A car traveling at 80 mph has four times the kinetic energy of a car traveling at 40 mph. NHTSA statistics have found that for every 10 miles per hour the car’s speed is increased over 50 mph, the risk of a fatality, disfigurement or debilitating injury in a crash doubles.
Combining Physics and Reaction Time
When speeding, the time needed to react is increased simply because the vehicle is moving faster. Edmunds broke down the timing of a car going 60 miles per hour and covering 88 feet per second.
• The driver must first perceive the need to brake (perception time) and then brake the vehicle (reaction time).
• It takes approximately three-quarters of a second to realize the need to brake and three-quarters of a second to react by placing the foot on the brake pedal.
• In the meantime, the car is still speeding. At 60 mph, bringing the car to a complete stop takes 1.5 seconds to start braking and another 3.1 seconds (4.6 seconds total) for the car to come to a complete stop.
• The car travels more than 270 feet during this time, nearly a football field length.
• Road conditions and vehicle weight can add more time and stopping feet needed to avoid a collision.
When traveling too close to another vehicle, not enough space is left to bring the car to a complete stop.
There is less time to react to vehicles ahead that are moving slower than expected or suddenly brake, manage sharp curves or respond to road hazards.
The faster a car is going, the more kinetic energy it has. When a car is still speeding when it hits another vehicle, the kinetic energy causes a more forceful impact.
The force of impact causes greater damage to the vehicles and increases the risk of serious injuries or death.
The National Safety Council developed the minimum three-second rule for safety. This rule recommends maintaining a three-second gap between vehicles.
When the vehicle in front passes a stationary object, count one thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three, and determine if your car passes the same object at the third count. If the road conditions are poor, a greater distance is needed.
Speed Combined with Alcohol: Recipe for a Severe Car Crash
In 2023, there was a total of 40,901 fatalities. The NHTSA names three major behavioral factors that contribute to severe crashes causing injury or death. One is speed. There were 11,775 speeding-related fatalities.
The second is failing to wear a seatbelt. There were 10,484 fatalities involving people not wearing a seatbelt. The third is alcohol-impaired driving, which accounted for 12,429 fatalities in 2023.
Speeding Means Less Control
While there were 11,792 people killed in cars in 2023, another 919,035 people were injured, and some were permanently disabled for life.
Also in 2023, 12,167 people were killed in light trucks (SUVs, pickups, vans), and 1,028,263 were injured. As the statistics show, speeding was a factor in many of these incidents.
Speeding leads to car accidents for even more reasons than those already mentioned.
• A vehicle may suddenly switch lanes in front of you. If you are speeding, there is less reaction time.
• Speeding compromises tires. Driving at high speeds creates more road-tire friction and creates high heat. The heat softens and weakens the tires. Over time, frequent speeding puts the tire at risk of failing, and a blowout at high speed can be catastrophic.
• Speeding makes even slight overcorrections dangerous.
• Speeding makes it more difficult to comprehend what is in peripheral vision, like merging vehicles.
Speeding is Risky from Any Perspective
Dangerous car accidents are far too common. In just the state of Florida, there were nearly 400,000 accidents in 2022. Increased speed leads to more frequent and more dangerous accidents.
Speeding is common today, and it is dangerous whether driving a car through a neighborhood, along city streets or on the interstate.
It reduces the ability to react to unexpected situations, increases stopping distances and increases the severity of car crashes.
Speeding plays a central role in traffic fatalities and injuries. Driving the speed limit is not just about following the law. It is about protecting the car driver, passengers and others on the road.
