In a Christmas day accident in Coral Springs, two men were killed, according to CBS Miami. Officials are ruling speed a main factor in this accident.
It happened just before 5:30 a.m. along the 11900 block of Lake View Drive. Officers arrived on scene to find the car wrapped around a tree. They believe that it happened as the two were heading eastbound and lost control rounding a curve. Both 22-year-old men were pronounced dead at the scene.
Our car accident attorneys in Coral Springs understand that the economic cost to US society of speed-related crashes is estimated at more than $27 billion per year. It continues to be a factor in about a third of all fatal traffic accidents. Crash forces on impact double with every 10 mile per hour increase in speed above 50 miles per hour. As crash forces increase, so does one’s chances of being killed or seriously injured in a motor vehicle collision.
Factors Affecting Speeders:
-Driver-related factors (age, gender, alcohol level, number of people in the vehicle);
-Those relating to the road and the vehicle (road layout, surface quality, vehicle power, maximum speed);
-Traffic- and environment-related (traffic density and composition, prevailing speed, weather conditions).
Surveys find that although people name speeding as a threat to their safety when other drivers around them are speeding, the majority say they also speed when driving. There are many reasons why people speed.
Why Drivers Speed:
-They’re running late.
-They’re not paying attention behind the wheel.
-They don’t think that the law applies to them.
-They think that they can do it without getting caught.
Each and every year, we lose close to 15,000 people in speed-related traffic accidents. In the U.S., it costs society more than $75,000 for every minute you gain by speeding.
Speeding is a problem not only on freeways, but also on local streets. Many commuters opt to take surface streets, thinking they can more efficiently escape traffic and avoid congestion.
Driving within the speed limit allows you more time to react to unexpected variables such as the actions of other road users around you (vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists), and changes to the road environment itself (such as pot holes and obstacles). It is impossible to control the actions of other road users, and it is impossible to predict changes to the road environment that may require you to slow down to avoid a hazard. Speeding also increases the amount of force released in an accident. The more force that’s released, the more serious the accident becomes. When speed increases from 40 mph to 60 mph, the energy released in a crash more than doubles.
It’s important to remember just how dangerous speeding is. A few minutes isn’t going to change your life. For the sake of your own safety and the safety of others, you should obey all posted speed limits and drive in accordance with weather conditions.
If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident, contact Freeman Injury Law for a free and confidential consultation to discuss your rights. Call 1-800-561-7777.
More Blog Entries:
Florida’s Fight for Booster Seat Laws, South Florida Injury Lawyers Blog, November 28, 2013
Time Change Increases Nighttime Driving Accidents in Broward, South Florida Injury Lawyers Blog, November 3, 2013