Too often, a person believes that speeding a few miles over the speed limit is no big deal. The truth is that speeding not only increases your chance of being involved in a car accident, but it increases the chance that an accident you are involved in will be serious or involve fatalities. Keep reading to get the facts about how speed can affect an accident, then contact The Law Offices of Larry H. Parker at 800-333-0000 if you are in need of a free legal consultation.
The Faster You Are Driving the Shorter the Time to Stop
One of the main issues with speeding is that the faster you are driving, the shorter the amount of time will be for you to stop to avoid a collision. If you are traveling around 30 miles per hour, you will need around 42 feet to stop your vehicle. However, if your vehicle is traveling at around 25 miles per hour, your vehicle needs around 28 feet to stop.
The Faster You Are Driving the Higher the Risk of a Crash Involving an Injury
For every one mile per hour you increase your speed, you are increasing your chance of a crash involving injury by around 3%. Likewise, you are increasing the chance that an accident will involve a fatality by 4-5% for every one mile per hour faster you are driving. This goes to show that speeding “just a few miles” over the limit can have a huge impact.
Speed Affects the Severity of an Impact
There is no way around it – the speed a vehicle is traveling has a huge impact on how severe any car accident is likely to be. If you are in a vehicle that is traveling at around 50 miles per hour and you are in an impact, your likelihood of dying in a collision is about 20 times higher than it would be if the vehicle was traveling just 20 miles per hour.
Speed Makes it Harder to Make Wise Decisions
If a person is used to driving 35 miles per hour down a particular street, and they then drive down it traveling 90 miles per hour, they are likely to be unable to judge how long it will take to stop, how far away other vehicles are, and other important factors that will greatly impact their ability to drive safely.
Call Today to Talk to a Personal Injury Attorney if You Have Been Injured in a Car Accident
If you have been injured in a car accident in which someone else was speeding or was otherwise at fault, contact The Law Offices of Larry H. Parker at 800-333-0000 to request a free legal consultation. We are standing by to listen to your side of the story and to determine the best way forward.
