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An attitude problem
One of the disturbing problems with speeding is that while
most people accept that speeding increases crash risk, most people continue to
speed. While drunk driving is generally viewed as socially unacceptable,
speeding is not.
Research has shown that people make false distinctions about
categories of speeding.
Many people define speeding by 5-10 mph as merely
'driving over the limit' and even view speeding by 10-20 mph as
'acceptable speeding'. Many people consider 'real speeding' to be only speeding
by more than 20 mph.
These are dangerous attitudes because there is no such thing
as safe speeding.
The risk of a crash at 50 mph causing death or injury
increases rapidly even with relatively small increases of speed. The crash risk
at 60 mph is about twice the risk at 50 mph. At 70mph the crash risk
is more than four times the risk at 50 mph.
Underestimating stopping distance
A key issue in speeding related crashes is the fact that
most motorists underestimate the distance needed to stop.
When traveling at 65 mph, your
vehicle is moving at 95 feet per second.
With reaction time and stopping
distance, it will take your vehicle over 100 yards to come to a complete stop
Funding for this website provided by The Illinois Department of Transportation, Division of Traffic Safety
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