Speeding

Traffic Safety Facts 1996

U.S. Department of Transportation
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Speeding -- exceeding the posted speed limit or driving too fast for conditions -- is one of the most prevalent factors contributing to traffic crashes. The human and economic sacrifice is unacceptable. The economic cost to society of speeding-related crashes is estimated by NHTSA to be $28.8 billion per year. In 1996, speeding was a contributing factor in 30 percent of all fatal crashes, and 12,998 lives were lost in speeding-related crashes.

Motor vehicle crashes cost society an estimated $4,800 per second. The total economic cost of crashes was estimated at $150.5 billion in 1994. The 1996 costs of speeding-related crashes were estimated to be $28.8 billion -- $54,804 per minute or $913 per second.

In 1996, 624,000 people received minor injuries in speeding-related crashes. An additional 75,000 people received moderate injuries, and 41,000 received critical injuries in speeding-related crashes.

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.

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 1996, 36 percent of the male drivers 15 to 20 years old who were involved in fatal crashes were speeding at the time of the crash.

Alcohol and speeding seem to go hand in hand. In 1996, 22 percent of the speeding drivers under 21 years old who were involved in fatal crashes were also intoxicated, with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.10 (grams per deciliter [g/dl]) or greater. In contrast, only 9 percent of the nonspeeding drivers under age 21 involved in fatal crashes in 1996 were intoxicated.

For drivers between 21 and 24 years of age who were involved in fatal crashes in 1996, 47 percent of speeding drivers were intoxicated, compared with only 19 percent of nonspeeding drivers.

Alcohol and speeding are clearly a deadly combination. Alcohol involvement is prevalent for drivers involved in speeding-related crashes. In 1996, 42 percent of the intoxicated drivers (BAC = 0.10 or higher) involved in fatal crashes were speeding, compared with only 14 percent of the sober drivers (BAC = 0.00) involved in fatal crashes (Figure 3).

For both speeding and nonspeeding drivers involved in fatal crashes, the percentage of those who had been drinking, with BAC 0.01 or greater, at the time the crash occurred was higher at night than during the day. Between midnight and 3 am, 78 percent of speeding drivers involved in fatal crashes had been drinking.

In 1996, 42 percent of all motorcyclists involved in fatal crashes were speeding. The percentage of speeding involvement in fatal crashes was nearly twice as high for motorcyclists as for drivers of passenger cars or light trucks, and the percentage of alcohol involvement was 50 percent higher for motorcyclists.

In 1996, only 37 percent of speeding passenger vehicle drivers under 21 years old who were involved in fatal crashes were wearing safety belts at the time of the crash. In contrast, 58 percent of nonspeeding drivers in the same age group were restrained. For drivers 21 years and older, the percentage of speeding drivers involved in fatal crashes who were using restraints at the time of the crash was 35 percent, but 64 percent of nonspeeding drivers in fatal crashes were restrained.

In 1996, 20 percent of speeding drivers involved in fatal crashes had an invalid license at the time of the crash, compared with 9 percent of nonspeeding drivers.

Speeding was a factor in 29 percent of the fatal crashes that occurred on dry roads in 1996 and in 32 percent of those that occurred on wet roads. Speeding was a factor in 47 percent of the fatal crashes that occurred when there was snow or slush on the road and in 54 percent of those that occurred on icy roads.

Speeding was involved in more than one-third of the fatal crashes that occurred in construction/maintenance zones in 1996.

In 1996, 87 percent of speeding-related fatalities occurred on roads that were not Interstate highways.

Table 2. Speeding-Related Traffic Fatalities and Costs by Road Type and Speed Limit, 1996

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