Consumer Reports magazine published an article this month
about a study prepared by the Governors Highway Safety Associated (GHSA), which
concluded that speed related car accident fatalities have been on the rise the
past seven years. Despite substantial decreased in alcohol related fatalities
(down 24% since 1985) and traffic fatalities due to not wearing a seat belt
(down 57% since 1985), traffic fatalities due to excessive speeding has been on
the rise since 2005. According to the study there have been 12,000 traffic fatalities due to speeding over the last 10 years.
This is an area of
traffic safety that I have not discussed on this blog very much in the past.
The main focus by the government (and this blog) over the past few years has
been on distracted driving and state and federal bans on texting and driving.
Has the government dropped the ball on the dangers of excessive speeding. In
Illinois, I would have to say not entirely. It is important to point out that
starting in 2011 in Illinois if a driver plead guilty or was convicted for
speeding 30 miles per hour over the speed limit, it was considered a
misdemeanor and Court supervision was not allowed. These tickets are often
amended to make them supervision eligible, but regardless, Illinois has made
some steps to curb excessive and dangerous speeding.
What does the GHSA
recommend to decrease speeding related traffic fatalities? Below is a
list of recommendations:
States should:
- Look into speed concerns through aggressive driving
enforcement, since the public believes it’s a more serious threat to
safety. - Target speed enforcement in school and work zones, as
this has higher public support and viewed as less controversial.
NHTSA should:
- Sponsor a national high-visibility enforcement campaign
and support public awareness efforts to address speeding and aggressive
driving. - Promote best practices in automated enforcement
strategies. Only 14 states allow automated speed enforcement and only two
allow it everywhere in the state. - Sponsor a National Forum on Speeding and Aggressive
Driving to bring experts together to develop a plan and share information.