Speeding accidents happen all the time, all across America’s roadways. You might witness one happening right in front of you or beside you. A speeding car might ram into you, or you may see a vehicle speeding and know they’re making things dangerous for everyone around them.
We’ll talk about speeding a bit more in the following article. You should understand some speeding basics so you’ll know why you should avoid this particular behavior.
It’s Harder to Avoid a Wreck When You Speed
Speeding seems like fun if you do it sometimes. You can see how fast your car goes. You might try to push it up to its top speed if you’re looking for thrills and an adrenaline rush.
However, speeding accidents killed 9,378 people in 2018 in the US, and that’s about the same number they kill each year. That’s a sobering fact, and it should get your attention. You can’t ignore that number, or you just might add to it.
If you speed, it’s not as easy to adjust if something transpires on the road ahead of you. Maybe you’re speeding, and something runs out into the street, like a person or animal. You can stop much easier if you’re not going very fast.
Driving at the posted speed limit or below it makes stopping in time or swerving out of the way more likely if something happens, and you need to adjust quickly. If you speed, you’re more likely to cause an accident.
Alcohol or Drug Use Can Cause Speeding Accidents
If you consume alcohol or drugs before you hop behind the wheel, you might drive slowly and more cautiously because you don’t want to attract the police. You might also speed up, though, because you want to get where you’re going faster, and you feel reckless because of the substances you ingested.
If you cause a wreck while speeding, and the police can prove that, you’re liable to get a large fine, or a judge might suspend your license. If they determine you ingested drugs or alcohol as well, though, things will go a lot worse for you.
A prosecutor might recommend jail time if you caused an accident while speeding and had substances in your system. You can mess up your life very seriously by combining speeding and substances.
Speeding Can Wreck Your Driving Record
If you speed and get a lot of tickets for it, that can impact your driving record negatively. You won’t just have to pay the fines from your tickets. You will also get points on your license. Eventually, that can lead to a suspension, or a judge might even take away your license permanently if it’s clear that you won’t learn this lesson.
You can easily imagine how tough your life becomes when you don’t have a driver’s license anymore and you can no longer drive yourself to places you need to go. For instance, you can’t drive to and from work, and you might have to use public transportation instead. Going from driving your own car to taking a bus or train everywhere isn’t much fun.
You might like your car very much, and now, you can no longer drive it. You don’t have it to go to the grocery store or doctor appointments. You won’t have it to visit friends or family members.
You can use public transportation, but maybe you live somewhere that doesn’t exist. You’ll need to ask family members or friends for rides everywhere. That will embarrass you, and you’ll feel sorry you kept speeding when you could have stopped at any time.
You Might Need to Face a Lawsuit if You Speed and Hit Someone
You might also hit another vehicle while speeding, or you might hit a jogger or cyclist. You could run up onto the sidewalk and hit a pedestrian if you’re in a residential neighborhood and you lose control of the vehicle.
If you speed and hit someone, your insurance might help with that, but the person can still sue you. Maybe you cripple them, and they can never walk again. Perhaps you cause whiplash or a traumatic brain injury. You might cause broke bones that never heal properly.
You’ve impacted this person’s life in a way that you can never take back. You will probably feel very sorry about that, but sorry won’t cover the damages. This person might go after you for every dollar you have, and a jury might find in their favor if it’s clear you acted recklessly.
You may end up bankrupt, or the court’s decision might garnish your salary for years to come. You may end up paying for your reckless actions for the rest of your life.
You Endanger Anyone in the Vehicle with You
If you speed, you might feel like you are only risking your own life. Obviously, that isn’t true. You risk other lives when you think about drivers, cyclists, pedestrians, and so forth.
However, if you like to speed and you often have friends or family members in the car, you risk their lives as well. Maybe you’ll get away with speeding and won’t harm yourself or others outside the vehicle. However, what if you hit another vehicle or an inanimate object, and you injure or kill someone in the car with you? Maybe you’ll kill or severely harm your partner, spouse, child, or someone else you love.
If that happens, you’ll likely never forgive yourself. All you had to do was drive slower, and you didn’t bother to do it. You might lose someone close to you, and guilt will pursue you wherever you go. You might experience depression for the rest of your days because your speeding took a life.
When you look at all these factors, you should realize that speeding doesn’t pay. You can avoid it easily enough, though. Just stick to the posted speed limit wherever you go, and you won’t deal with any of these issues.
