One of the most common and not to mention, dangerous driver behavior is speeding. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), it is estimated that one-third of all fatal motor vehicle accidents is related to speeding and that every month, as much as 900 Americans are killed because of it.
Speeding is a risky driving habit – and while people can always make excuses for doing it such as “running late for work/school/meeting”, or “everyone’s doing it”, or even, “it’s more dangerous to drive slow than to drive fast”, speeding has dangerous consequences that people should know about such as:
• It can reduce a driver’s ability to negotiate curves or maneuver around obstructions on the road.
• The distance travelled before a vehicle can stop is extended.
• The distance a vehicle travels while the driver reacts to a hazard is increased.
• The risk for crashes and injuries is increased because motorists and pedestrians may not be able to judge distance safely and accurately.
What’s worse, when a crash does occur, the crash energy is increased by the square of the speeds. According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a collision with a speed limit of 65 mph or greater is more than twice as likely to result to a fatality than a crash at the speed limit of 45 or 50 mph and nearly 5 times as likely to result to death than a crash on a road with a speed limit of 40 mph or below.
Thus, in high speed crashes, the risk of serious injury or death is extremely high. Speeding collisions, especially those at extremely high rates of speed, can crush the vehicle, restraint systems such as airbags and safety belts would not even be able to keep the forces on occupants below severe injury levels.
The high rate of injury or death in speed-related motor vehicle accidents is the reason why every year, economic costs of this kind of accident costs more than $40 billion. Property damage and death aside, serious injuries which may also result to disability can cost millions of dollars in terms of medical care, treatment, therapy, and lost days of work.
Under the law, speeding is considered as reckless and aggressive driving. Speeding drivers may therefore, be held accountable for the injuries or losses as a result of the accident. A driver is usually considered to be speeding when he or she is driving in excess of the posted speed limit or driving too fast for conditions so if you or a loved one was involved in a speed-related car accident, you may file a personal injury lawsuit or a wrongful death claim as the case may be against the speeding driver.
A Los Angeles car accident lawyer is your best guide in dealing with speed-related car accidents as well as recovering compensation for your injuries or losses.
