According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, speeding was a factor in 26 percent of fatal accidents in the United States in one year. While the percentage has been slowly decreasing, speeding still causes over one-fourth of all accidents in the country.
There are many reasons speeding persists, and there are many terrible consequences of speeding as well. If you’ve been in an accident and/or injured due to speeding, you are not alone. You can ensure that others don’t get away with injuring you while speeding and that fewer speeding accidents occur in the future.
After an accident, always seek medical attention immediately. Once you are on the road to recovery, reach out to a car accident lawyer to help you recover and to do what you can to prevent further speeding-related crashes.
Why Do People Speed When Driving?
There are many reasons that people tend to speed while driving. In general, they are in a hurry or eager to get out of traffic. However, factors vary by age group and even gender.
For example, young male drivers are the most likely to speed and cause accidents; by the latest data, 30 percent of young (ages 16 to 24) male drivers involved in fatal crashes were speeding. Young (ages 16 to 24) female drivers, on the other hand, were speeding in only 17 percent to 18 percent of all fatal accidents they were involved in.
The main factors that lead people to speed include:
- Heavy traffic. Many people get anxious and irritated in heavy traffic, leading them to make poor decisions by driving too fast, switching lanes in unsafe situations, and otherwise driving aggressively
- Running late. Many people speed when they are running late to work, an important event, or an appointment
- Disregard for others. Some people forget to think about others when they get behind the wheel of a car. They become so focused on arriving at their destination that they forget other humans are driving around them and act irrationally and aggressively.
- Anonymity. When people are driving, they don’t personally interact with others around them. A feeling of anonymity may lead them to make irrational and rude decisions to get somewhere faster.
- Drinking and driving. The NHTSA finds that when people drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs, they are often unable to distinguish how fast they are going from what is safe and necessary on the road. Some drunk drivers speed, while others go far under the speed limit in an attempt to avoid being caught.
Where Do Speeding Accidents Most Often Happen?
Speeding accidents often occur when the outside conditions are unsafe. For example, only about 18 percent of drivers in fatal crashes were speeding on dry roads, while 22 percent were speeding on wet roads, 31 percent were speeding on snowy roads, and 40 percent were speeding on icy roads.
In inclement weather situations, drivers are often going too fast for the surrounding conditions, even if they aren’t necessarily disobeying the posted speed limits. Drivers need to act with common sense when driving in unsafe conditions.
Speeding-related accidents occur more often on local roads than in any other place. Interstates, freeways, and expressways see only about 17 percent of all fatal accidents caused by speeding.
What Do I Do After A Speeding Accident?
You may do your best to stay away from speeding drivers and drive defensively, but you may not be able to avoid an accident if others are acting unsafely. In an instance where a speeding driver hits you, what should you do?
As soon as possible:
- Get off the road as far as possible to avoid causing others to crash
- Call an ambulance to bring medical treatment for you and any others who are injured
- Call the police to file an official report that relates the causes of the accident
- Take photos of the scene and any damages or injuries
- Get statements and contact information from any witnesses to the accident
- Exchange insurance information with the other driver(s) involved in the crash
- Get the medical treatment you need to make sure you are recovering quickly
- Reach out to a speeding accident lawyer to make sure justice is done
How Do I Prove That Another Driver Was Speeding?
Always hold speeding drivers accountable for their mistakes if their unsafe actions led to injury and suffering for you and others. However, you can’t always prove that another driver sped, especially without witnesses.
After getting medical treatment, the most important thing you can do is gather as much evidence as possible from your crash that proves what happened.
- Witness statements are very important, and since most speeding accidents occur in local areas, you will likely be able to find some witnesses.
- You may be able to use video from a traffic cam or a dash cam to show the other driver was driving faster than they should have been.
- Lawyers and insurance claims adjusters sometimes hire crash reconstruction specialists who can reconstruct the scene and make an expert guess as to what caused the accident.
- Taking photos of the accident scene, including any skid marks or specific damage to your vehicle that was probably caused by speeding drivers, can be very helpful when you go to prove that another driver was speeding.
To most effectively prove a driver was speeding and get the compensation that you deserve from them, talk to a car accident injury lawyer. Lawyers have access to crash reconstruction experts and know how to deal with insurance companies who may not want to pay for the damages caused by the speeding driver they represent.
If you were in a speeding accident that wasn’t your fault, your lawyer can help you gain compensation from the driver who caused the accident. You don’t need the extra stress of trying to pay bills for your recovery when your injuries weren’t your fault. With help from an auto accident lawyer and some good evidence, you can recover compensation so you can get more quickly back on your feet.
