FACT SHEET

Slow Down or Pay Up

January 2008

Speeding Drivers Create Serious Consequences in the United States

• Nationally, a crash is considered speeding-related if the driver was charged with a speeding-related offense or if an officer indicated that racing, driving too fast for conditions, or exceeding the posted speed limit was a contributing factor in the crash.  [NHTSA]

• Speeding is one of the most prevalent factors contributing to traffic crashes. The economic cost to society of speeding-related crashes is estimated by NHTSA to be $40.4 billion per year. In 2005, speeding was a contributing factor in 30 percent of all fatal crashes, and 13,113 lives were lost in speeding-related crashes.  [NHTSA]

• Motor vehicle crashes cost society an estimated $7,300 per second. The total economic cost of crashes was estimated at $230.6 billion in 2000. In 2000, the cost of speeding-related crashes was estimated to be $40.4 billion — $76,865 per minute or $1,281 per second. [NHTSA]

• Speeding reduces a driver’s ability to steer safely around curves or objects in the roadway, extends the distance necessary to stop a vehicle, and increases the distance a vehicle travels while the driver reacts to a dangerous situation.  [NHTSA]

• For drivers involved in fatal crashes, young males are the most likely to be speeding. The relative proportion of speeding-related crashes to all crashes decreases with increasing driver age. In 2005, 38 percent of the male drivers age 15 to 20 who were involved in fatal crashes were speeding at the time of the crash.  [NHTSA]

• In 2005, only 49 percent of speeding passenger vehicle drivers under age 21 who were involved in fatal crashes were wearing safety belts at the time of the crash. In contrast, 67 percent of nonspeeding drivers in the same age group were restrained. For drivers age 21 and older, the percentage of speeding drivers involved in fatal crashes who were using restraints at the time of the crash was 43 percent, but 72 percent of nonspeeding drivers in fatal crashes were restrained.  [NHTSA]

• In 2005, 22 percent of speeding drivers involved in fatal crashes had an invalid license at the time of the crash, compared with 11 percent of nonspeeding drivers.  [NHTSA]

• Speeding was a factor in 28 percent of the fatal crashes that occurred on dry roads in 2005 and in 33 percent of those that occurred on wet roads. Speeding was a factor in 51 percent of the fatal crashes that occurred when there was snow or slush on the road and in 58 percent of those that occurred on icy roads. Speeding was involved in over one-fourth (27%) of the fatal crashes that occurred in construction/maintenance zones in 2005.  [NHTSA]

• In 2005, 86 percent of speeding-related fatalities occurred on roads that were not interstate highways.  [NHTSA]

Speeding Drivers Create Serious Consequences in Washington

• From 1996-2005, 2,141 drivers were involved in speeding-related fatal collisions in Washington State. Of these drivers:

• 82.3% were male
• 56.6% were 15-30 years old
• 49.2% were not wearing seat belts
• 56.8% had BACs at or above .08
• 21.8% had revoked, expired, suspended or cancelled licenses
• 14.2% had prior collisions
• 27.5% had prior suspensions or revocations
• 33.4% had prior speeding violations
• 4.8% had prior DUIs
• 29.4% had other prior violations  [FARS]
  
• Speeding trends within Washington remain relatively consistent with 35 – 67% of observed vehicles traveling at or above the posted speed on all highways combined.  [WSDOT]
  
  
• In December 2007, the site with the highest number of vehicles traveling at or above 90 mph was Preston (I-90 near Issaquah). Preston recorded 11, 913 vehicles traveling at or above 90 mph, which averages to 132 vehicles per day. Data also shows that the higher speed volumes occur throughout the day with no dominant trend although approximately 61% of vehicles traveling at or above 90 mph were traveling westbound.  [WSDOT]

Challenges to Changing Speeding Behavior

• Nationally, there is a lack of data on travel speeds and speed involvement in crashes. Additionally, there is a lack of political will to make speed management a priority.  (FHWA)


• Other challenges include:

• vehicle manufacturer’s advertisements emphasize speed and performance of their vehicles
• many posted speed limits were arbitrarily or politically set or have not been evaluated for many years
• posted speed limits are often not consistent with roadway design or with drivers expectations
• traffic enforcement is often a low priority for cash-strapped law enforcement agencies  [FHWA] 

FARS: Fatality Reporting Analysis System
FHWA: Federal Highway Administration
NHTSA: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
WSDOT: Washington State Department of Transportation