Most Americans don’t think of themselves as criminals, but quite a few of them habitually break at least some laws. There are state and federal statutes that are so obscure that people don’t realize they’re violating them. Then there are laws that people break knowingly without thinking they’re doing any harm.
Speeding is a perfect example of a crime that no one hesitates to admit they’ve committed. In fact, quite a few people treat speeding like the expectation on public roads. Those who do the speed limit or dare to drive at a rate slower than the posted limit will likely face rage and abuse from others nearby.
Despite the social pressure to treat speeding like a normal part of life, it is actually incredibly dangerous. Not only does speeding increase your risk of a crash, but it would potentially leave you liable for the consequences of a crash as well.
Speeding costs thousands of lives each year
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration engages in long-term studies and Analysis of data in order to come out power at the federal level that keeps people safe on the road. Their data reports make it abundantly clear that a significant portion of fatal crashes in any given year stem directly from exceeding the posted speed limit or driving too fast for road conditions during inclement weather.
On average, in any given year, roughly a third of all crashes that claim someone’s life will stem from speeding. Thousands of people will wind up hurt or dealing with the frustration of a damaged vehicle because someone chose to exceed the safe and reasonable speed limit.
Speeding breaks the law, which produces liability for drivers
There are crashes that occur that involve fault from both people involved, and law enforcement officers investigating a collision will typically try to be fair and how they apportion responsibility for the crash.
However, when one person clearly breaks the law, such as by speeding, the police may use that as a reason to assign blame to that individual for the crash. You are safer at the wheel when you choose to obey the speed limit and also less at risk of getting blamed if you do get into a crash.