How often do you hear that old saw “speed kills” or “speed is the leading cause of car crashes” etc? The nannies all want us to slow down, “for our own safety.” As an example: about a year ago my home state of Washington lowered the speed limit on a long, straight section of I-5 I drive almost every day, from 70 down to 60 MPH. They did this in response to several horrific incidents where drivers crossed the median and went head-on into the opposite lanes. Every time one of these accidents happened there would be a State Patrol spokesperson on TV, or in the paper claiming that speed was the cause. So they added more speed patrols, handed out more speeding tickets, and eventually lowered the limit.
I never bought the idea that speed had ANYTHING to do with any of these accidents. Inattentive drivers was likely the cause in my mind. Inattentive, distracted, and poorly trained drivers. Talking on telephones. Watching DVDs(!) Talking on telephones. Spilling coffee. Talking on telephones. Did I mention talking on telephones? The State Patrolmen never did. All they ever talk about is speed.
Well, The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released a comprehensive study, the first one in almost 30 years, seeking to understand the ACTUAL causes of car accidents. Guess what came out on top? Speeding? Nope. 41.3% of accidents are caused by driver errors which have nothing to do with speed. Not seeing hazards (20.9%), being distracted by something inside the car (10.6%), being distracted by something outside the car (3.7%), and just plain old inattention (3.6%), Unknown error being the remaining 2.5%)
So where did the KILLER SPEED end up?
Single digits: 8.4% were “too fast for conditions” which means that some percentage of those were UNDER the posted speed limit. Another 4.9% were “too fast for curve” which means that some percentage of those were UNDER the posted speed limit. By the way, the combination of falling asleep at the wheel and having a heart attack while driving added up to 5.5% so Speed seems pretty benign and remote compared to yakking on your cell phone, or just plain old not paying attention!
But of course lack of attention ads NO REVENUE to state and local coffers through fines.
At no point does this study heap any serious blame on speed, and speed alone. So next time some moron tells you that driving fast is dangerous, ask them to prove it.
You can read the whole study here.
The cellphone thing is a big pet peeve of mine. You combine people who are mediocre drivers in the best of situations with a cell phone and the results are truly scary. I’m all for a ban not only on to-the-ear phones, but also “hands free” devices. Enough is enough. BAN THEM (during driving).
but if they didn’t fine you for speed Chuck think of where else they would have to tax you!! 🙂
Jerome
As an ex-professional driving instructor, I used to tell my ‘studenten’ that there are two main causes for accidents:
-Stupidity/lack of training;
-mechanical failure.
A correlative 3rd reason is:
-Stupidity, leading to mechanical failure.
Another ‘peeve’ of mine, shared with CG’s, is when you see snowy/icy conditions, or fog, where a 67-car pileup is reported. To a PERSON, all interviewed say, “…the ice/snow/fog caused my accident.”
No, brainiac, ice/snow/fog didn’t cause it: YOU caused it.
I’ll be this generous: Car No. 1 *might* have had a valid reason for spinning off into the puckerbrush; Cars 2 thru 67 had *NO* excuse whatsoever, except stupidity.
Mean ol’ bastid, ain’t I?
>;)
Whenever the case of banning mobile phone yakking while driving comes up, I recall a situation where I (on foot) had troubles maneuvering around a woman with a shopping cart who was yakking on her mobile phone. She just couldn’t figure out how to move the damn cart out of my way (kept unintentionally blocking my path). Finally, she put the phone down and moved her cart so I could get by.
If mobile phones can impede shopping cart traffic this badly, just imagine what could happen when moving at speed (ie driving).
9 times out of 10, whenever I see a driver weaving or impeding traffic they are talking on a cellphone when I pass them.
While I’m almost sure they are busy talking about solving world hunger and talking suicidal people down from bridges, I still get the nagging feeling that might only be talking to their friends about last night’s “Dancing With the Stars”.
Chuck, to append your comment I submit the following: if WSDOT and WSP’s position is that speed caused these terrible accidents, are they of the opinion that the totally inadequate cable barriers edging the freeway work just fine for cars traveling 60 but those traveling 70 can bust right through them? I’m sure that the WSDOT engineers would consider this an insult to good engineering practice as it pertains to factors of safety. Those cable barriers are an obvious joke. I like to contrast this treatment with that used in Italy, where a Herculean guardrail contraption is mounted at eye level literally at the fog line. Drift toward the road edge at your own risk over there…they will absolutely NOT put up with the slightest possibility of a head-on accident, at least one caused by a car breaking through TWO barriers and a huge median strip.