Many drivers these days would probably agree that there’s a “need for speed” on roadways everywhere. There’s always people running late for appointments, rebellious teen drivers, and fast sports cars who think they have the right to go faster than what the law prohibits. It’s not until they’re caught that they realize they’re no more important than the rest of the drivers on the road. Speeding is a very customary way for drivers to break the law. Breaking any law usually leads to unpleasant consequences, but breaking a law speeding can lead to many consequences.
Speeding can cause a driver to receive a ticket, go to court, attend traffic school, and on top of that, make their insurance rates rise. Not only does speeding affect just you, it affects others as well. If a roads speed limit is 45, people will expect you to go around that speed. Say someone is traveling at 100 miles per hour down this road. A driver sees them down the road and they think they have enough time to pull out in front of them. But they were wrong because the other guy was doing 100 down the road and they collided. Other drivers expect people to obey the speed limit and so that way they know what to expect.
They know how much distance they need to pull out in front of another car. If someone speeds and the other driver doesn’t notice, it could cause a serious accident. Speeding also affects how much gasoline you use. While each vehicle reaches its optimal fuel economy at a different speed (or range of speeds), gas mileage usually decreases rapidly speeds above 55 miles per hour. Just slowing down from 65 mph to 55 mph can increase your miles per gallon by as much as 15 percent. According to the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE), as a rule of thumb, you can assume that each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph is like paying an additional $0. 1 per gallon for gas. Don’t be an aggressive driver. The freeway is not a NASCAR race. Speeding, quick lane changes, fast acceleration, and rapid braking all waste gas – and curb mileage by as much as 33 percent at highway speeds, according to the DOE. Instead, keep a steady, constant speed. Use the cruise control where appropriate and safe. If those are not good enough reasons for not speeding, consider this, you may live longer if you don’t speed. Speeding is a factor in 31 percent of all fatal crashes, killing an average of 1,000 Americans every month, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
The NHTSA estimates the cost to society of speed-related crashes to be more than $40 billion each year. Traveling over the speed limit can be especially dangerous in bad weather conditions. Speeding was a factor in 53 percent of fatal crashes that occurred when there was snow or slush on the road and in 60 percent of those that happened in icy roads. So in my opinion, it is safer and more economical to simply obey the speed limit. You get to live another day and you save some money in the process.
