The Connection Between Speeding and Fatal Accidents

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A wide range of driving behaviors and road conditions can lead to fatal accidents. However, few behaviors are as closely tied to fatal crashes as speeding. There’s a large body of research linking speeding to fatal accidents, and unfortunately, each year proves that research to be true.

If you or someone you love has been hurt in a speed-related accident, you could be entitled to compensation. Find out now by calling Mann & Potter at 205-879-9661.

Speeding—the Most Common Form of Reckless Driving

There are many behaviors that are considered reckless driving: driving while impaired, driving while distracted, drag racing, and any other activity that displays willful disregard for other people’s safety.

Speeding, though, is something that almost everyone does sometimes. Even the safest drivers find themselves driving five to ten over when they’re running late. However, speed limits exist for a reason. Research indicates that the given speed limit is the safest option for that road and its conditions. Driving above the speed limit—or even below the speed limit in certain weather conditions—is reckless.

That’s why it’s so alarming that speeding is closely connected to fatal crashes. Since almost everyone speeds at least some of the time, there are likely far more fatal crashes than there ever should be.

Speeding Leads to More Severe Crashes

The Federal Highway Administration has conducted research on speeding and fatal car accidents. Their basic explanation is that the faster two cars are driving when they collide, the higher the collision speed is. This is true even for single-car crashes, as a single car driving at a higher speed will cause much more damage than a slower car when it strikes an obstacle.

Speeding gives drivers less time to react to obstacles in the road, a sudden slowdown in traffic, or someone cutting them off. This increases the overall accident rate, and the higher speeds increase the damage of the crash itself. They note that speed, while not the only factor in collisions, is definitely one of the most easily controlled. They estimate that roughly one-third of fatal collisions are completely or partially caused by speeding, even if speeding isn’t listed as the cause of the crash in the official report.

Other agencies have noticed this troubling trend and weighed in. The NSC has looked into the correlation between higher fatal accident rates and higher rates of speeding. Per official reports, 29% of traffic fatalities in 2020 were caused in part or in whole by speeding. That’s over 11,000 lives that could have potentially been saved had drivers chosen to slow down. While speeding-related deaths had been trending downward, that trend reversed in 2020 and speeding-related fatalities are now on the rise.

It’s important to note that this trend does not affect all demographic groups equally, perhaps due to differences in driving habits and preferences. The ratio of speed-related collisions to fatal collisions decreased with each jump in the age demographic, indicating that younger drivers’ tendency to speed and drag race is a serious risk factor. Furthermore, female drivers are far less likely to cause a speed-related crash. The group showing the greatest risk for speeding-related fatal accidents is male drivers between the ages of 15 and 24.

The correlation between speeding and fatal crashes is also different across weather conditions. The correlation is lowest on dry roads and highest on roads with moving or standing water. The accident rate is also higher than average on roads with mud, dirt, gravel, ice, or frost.

Drivers who caused speeding-related fatal accidents to follow another trend. Speeding and being under the influence of alcohol are closely linked, and those who are impaired are more likely to speed than sober drivers. Drivers between the ages of 21 and 54 are the most affected by this troubling trend.

Get the Support You Deserve: Call Mann & Potter Now

Speeding-related crashes are far too common and often cause devastating injuries. If you’ve been hurt by a speeding driver, we’re here to help. Schedule a consultation with Mann & Potter now by calling us at 205-879-9661 or filling out our online contact form. We’ll help you fight for the compensation you deserve.

Looking at the Positive Side of COVID-19

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We are in the middle of difficult times. For many of us, it is the most difficult thing we will face in our lifetime. No one knows when this will end, how it will end, or what the future looks like once it’s all over. Many states, including Alabama, have begun to reopen, but it will likely be a while before things returned to “normal”.

Yet, despite all of this, there is hope. There is truly a silver lining in every cloud, and in the COVID-19 pandemic, people have grown in new ways. While we all hope that this situation ends quickly, there are some things we’d like to take with us as we find out what post-COVID 19 life looks like.

Family Time

Many families are spending meaningful time together for the first time in years. Think about what the average American family’s schedule looked like before COVID 19. Working parents and school-age students were separated for 8-10 hours per day, followed by a rush to finish extracurriculars, shove down dinner, clean up, and get to bed in order to do it all again the next day.

Now, eight hours of school per day have been replaced with four or five hours of distance learning, and there are no extracurriculars to rush to. Families are taking walks together, enjoying dinner together, playing games, and learning how to spend time together without the rush of daily life. When life resumes as normal, we hope these new connections will continue to get stronger.

Improved Work Efficiency

Working from home is a flexible option for many people, and not just during a pandemic. Parents, those who live far from their main office, and those in areas prone to bad winter weather can all benefit from flexible working options. Now that many companies have essentially been forced to develop remote work options, perhaps this creativity can benefit employees in the future. This could change how business is done in the future, bringing more people into the workforce.

Diverse Educational Options

Education has changed in many of the same ways that businesses have changed. Educators note that online K-12 learning has been forced into the spotlight, giving children new ways to harness their energy and creativity. This has led to the rise of tools like Outschool, which allows kids to take ongoing or one-time courses on everything from grammar and math skills to the use of Japanese mythology in Animal Crossing. Kids are building connections with people from across the globe and exploring new mindsets that had never been available to them.

This change could benefit current and future students. Not all children learn well in a classroom setting, and the rise of online learning options could help students who have learning difficulties, who are subject to bullying at school, and those who are unable to attend school for medical reasons. Robust online learning options can help these students get the same rich educational experience as in-person students.

Scientific Collaboration

Never in recent history has the scientific community been quite as focused as it is at this exact moment. COVID-19 has impacted the entire world, and scientists are in a race to come up with treatments, vaccines, and rapid tests that will benefit society and allow us to return to normal as soon as possible. Now that we see the unharnessed power of scientists, we look forward to seeing how this collaboration will change the future of health care.

New Ways to Connect

As a result of COVID-19, extended families have been forced to go long stretches of time without seeing each other, friends can’t get together for happy hour, and in-person dating is all but gone. But instead of giving up on socializing, people have found new ways to connect. From simultaneous Netflix experiences to Zoom happy hours and Skype dates, people are discovering that there is more to being connected than simply being in the same physical space.

Everyone looks forward to restaurant dates, family gatherings, and birthday parties resuming, but we hope that these other means of connection will still be used. After all, if we can connect with friends from around the corner with Zoom, why not use it all the time to bond with friends from across the country or across the world? Life as we know it has changed completely, and it is important to look at the positive changes while grieving our losses. This pandemic has the potential to make life more accessible, enjoyable, and productive for everyone in society—including those who were shut out before. As we prepare for life after COVID-19, let’s take the lessons from this time and use them to improve life for everyone. The team at Mann & Potter remains optimistic about the future, and as always, we are here to help