Motor Vehicle Safety
Speeding
Properly set speed limits provide a safe, consistent, and reasonable speed to protect drivers, roadway workers, pedestrians, and bicyclists. Speed limits frame expectations for drivers and other roadway users. To determine speed limits, the amount of vehicular, pedestrian, and bicycle traffic is considered. Also considered are the physical conditions of the road such as sidewalks, hills, curves, lanes, driveways, intersections, roadway surfaces and traffic controls. To learn more about how roadway speed limits are determined, visit the U.S. Department of Transportation’s website on Speed Limit Basics.
Speeding is a major factor in traffic deaths and injuries. Driving over the posted speed limit reduces the amount of time a driver has to react to or avoid a crash, increases the vehicle’s stopping distance, and reduces the ability of road safety structures (guardrails, impact attenuators, etc.) and vehicle safety features (air bags, crash resistance, etc.,) to adequately protect vehicle occupants in a crash. The laws of physics show that if a vehicle's speed is doubled, the force of impact is four times greater during a collision. This increased force comes with an increased risk of injury or death to the vehicle occupants and the occupants of any other vehicle the speeding vehicle collides with.
Speeding includes not only exceeding posted speed limits but also driving too fast for conditions. While driving at the posted speed limit on a dry road may be considered safe, driving at that same speed when the road is wet or covered with snow or ice is considered unsafe.