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I don't know. My guess would be that it probably has something to do with cars becoming MUCH safer. (BTW, please cite your sources.)
The IIHS states that the top two reasons for MVAs are speeding and alcohol. So if speeding isn't number one, it's a close second.
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Again, speed is listed as a factor in every rear end accident, regardless of actual speed. And again, the numbers don't lie. 97% of drivers don't get into accidents of any sort, yet around 80% speed on the highways. So speed really isn't causing many accidents, even if it's a factor in the accidents that do happen.
Peruse this document for the latest in crash data:
And I was wrong, it's not 1% of all crashes are fatalities, it's .5% as noted in Chapter 1: Trends.
Some other tidbits:
Midnight to 3a.m. and 6p.m. to 9p.m. on Saturdays proved to be the deadliest 3-hour periods throughout 2016, with 1,015 and 1,001 fatal crashes, respectively.
Fifty-eight percent of fatal crashes involved only one vehicle.
Considering how many alcohol related crashes there were, it becomes obvious that what's most dangerous is leaving the bar on Friday or Saturday while cocked.
Look at Chapter 3, table 33, which won't reproduce here...
Interesting about that is that 73.3% of fatal accidents happened at under 60 mph.
Looking at the total numbers, there were ~11,000 fatalities on high speed highways. Out of 200 million drivers that's a very small percentage that are dying from driving fast. Less than .00001% in fact. The roads are not running red in blood due to raising the speed limits on the interstates, nor are they running red with blood from people driving over the speed limit on the interstates. Now, we can't tell how many of those are due to alcohol, but we can assume that about 50% are, due to the alcohol crash stats carrying over.
What all this means is that you're pretty safe out there on the interstates even at elevated speeds, so long as you aren't drunk and are paying even a bit of attention.
Again, speed is listed as a factor in every rear end accident, regardless of actual speed. And again, the numbers don't lie. 97% of drivers don't get into accidents of any sort, yet around 80% speed on the highways. So speed really isn't causing many accidents, even if it's a factor in the accidents that do happen.
Peruse this document for the latest in crash data:
And I was wrong, it's not 1% of all crashes are fatalities, it's .5% as noted in Chapter 1: Trends.
Some other tidbits:
Midnight to 3a.m. and 6p.m. to 9p.m. on Saturdays proved to be the deadliest 3-hour periods throughout 2016, with 1,015 and 1,001 fatal crashes, respectively.
Fifty-eight percent of fatal crashes involved only one vehicle.
Considering how many alcohol related crashes there were, it becomes obvious that what's most dangerous is leaving the bar on Friday or Saturday while cocked.
Look at Chapter 3, table 33, which won't reproduce here...
Interesting about that is that 73.3% of fatal accidents happened at under 60 mph.
Looking at the total numbers, there were ~11,000 fatalities on high speed highways. Out of 200 million drivers that's a very small percentage that are dying from driving fast. Less than .00001% in fact. The roads are not running red in blood due to raising the speed limits on the interstates, nor are they running red with blood from people driving over the speed limit on the interstates. Now, we can't tell how many of those are due to alcohol, but we can assume that about 50% are, due to the alcohol crash stats carrying over.
What all this means is that you're pretty safe out there on the interstates even at elevated speeds, so long as you aren't drunk and are paying even a bit of attention.
Kudos. This is the kind of fact-based rational discourse that this topic deserves.
yeah, I'm sorry, I've driven interstate enough to know that there is definitely practical, and then there is crazy. When I'm on the road, would certainly rather slow down some, then to chance hurting someone else....
there is in fact, an old saying, everything within moderation....yes, I've done some speeding, but I won't chance driving like some manic, I don't need to, as always seem to enjoy the ride...and I'm certainly not a slow driver....if higher speeds were practical, they'd up the speed limit signs...but they know if they'd do that, there are drivers out there who would drive even faster, so, that's the reason why they don't.
Rules are there for a reason, I chose to follow them.
If Your doing 5 - 10 miles over the speed limit, there is no reason to go faster....you then become a risk and hazard to everyone else on the road.
Most of us were stating that's how fast we go. The OP however states no one should go even one mile over, that the posted limit is the maximum and everyone should blindly obey it.
The vast majority of people go 5-10 over, with my guess is 20% faster and 20% slower.
I do go faster if I am passing someone, because IMO passing should be done quickly and efficiently, and if you're passing someone who's going 69 and you're going 71, that is going to keep you in the left lane too long and mess up the flow of traffic. I get past, put about 10 lengths in between us (cause I have a pet peeve of people passing and getting back in 2 feet in front of me while they're driving close to the speed I am driving, requiring me to then pass them to have appropriate space, then they think I'm mad cause they passed me and playing games, which is not the case).
Everyone has to be in a hurry, have to be in a rush, rush. In the morning, try getting up out of bed a little earlier, instead of going 75+ and weaving in and out of traffic, endangering others peoples lives, just so you can get to work on time. Slow down and enjoy the journey, smell the roses. Nope, ran over them at 75 and crushed them!
I love that you simply just know the reason why people happen to drive faster than the speed limit.
Personally, I'd prefer that people pick up the pace, rather than "slow down" and "smell the roses". That's not what you're supposed to be doing behind the wheel.
I love that you simply just know the reason why people happen to drive faster than the speed limit.
Personally, I'd prefer that people pick up the pace, rather than "slow down" and "smell the roses". That's not what you're supposed to be doing behind the wheel.
Right?
Few things are more frustrating to me as a driver than people who appear to be driving as if they had no reason to have left the house.
Again, speed is listed as a factor in every rear end accident, regardless of actual speed. And again, the numbers don't lie. 97% of drivers don't get into accidents of any sort, yet around 80% speed on the highways. So speed really isn't causing many accidents, even if it's a factor in the accidents that do happen.....
....Looking at the total numbers, there were ~11,000 fatalities on high speed highways. Out of 200 million drivers that's a very small percentage that are dying from driving fast. Less than .00001% in fact. The roads are not running red in blood due to raising the speed limits on the interstates, nor are they running red with blood from people driving over the speed limit on the interstates....
Good post. Although, I wasn't speaking specifically to fatalities. I was speaking to all MVAs. And I wasn't speaking specifically to highway MVAs, I was speaking to highway and non-highway MVAs (which I guess was off-topic, because the thread does say "interstate").
But I'm not convinced by your argument. Specifically, I didn't say it was highway speeds that were causing the MVAs. I said it was excessive speed that was the factor. You see excessive speeds on and off the highway. Indeed, in the NHTSA Traffic Safety Facts 2016 document you cite, table 121 lists 82% of the "speeding-related traffic fatalities" were in "non-interstate" situations. (And table 121 also says that 26% of all traffic fatalities were "speeding-related.")
So to say, "So speed really isn't causing many accidents, even if it's a factor in the accidents that do happen..." kind of blithely ignores those numbers. You can't cite the document and then dismiss one of the key findings.
A couple of cop buddies of mine (and admittedly, this is anecdotal) tell me time and time again: Speeding causes accidents. It doesn't have to be on the interstate. It can be in your own neighborhood.
A couple of cop buddies of mine (and admittedly, this is anecdotal) tell me time and time again: Speeding causes accidents. It doesn't have to be on the interstate. It can be in your own neighborhood.
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They are trained to say that. It is drummed into them to the point where they don't question it, no matter what the facts say.
Excessive speed and speeding is done by 80% of drivers on the highways. That's borne out by average speeds on highways increasing everywhere (some highways climbing to nearly 100 mph averages, like I 90 east of Seattle), yet 80% of drivers are NOT getting into accidents, which is borne out by actual accident numbers (only about 3% of drivers get into any sort of accident at all, half of which are property damage only, and not injury accidents).
This is telling us, reading that report I linked to, that overall driving is pretty damn safe, even at elevated speeds. And to be honest, it's extremely easy to be in the 97% of drivers that don't get into accidents. Or part of the 98.5% that at worst have a bit of property damage.
Let's use an analogy. If there are 100 marbles on a table, 80 of which are blue, and 3 roll off the table, all of them blue, it does not mean that being blue is the reason they fell off the table, even if the fact they are blue is true.
We know from reports like I linked to that most accidents occur within 5 miles of home. Does that mean you should only travel long distances so you can avoid accidents? No it just means most people don't drive very far from home anyhow, so of course if they are going to get in an accident it will be close to home.
We know from those same reports that most accidents occur below 60 mph. How fast should you drive to statistically avoid an accident? Rhetorical question. Most trips are done below 60 mph as most driving is done on secondary roads and city streets, so of course most crashes occur below 60 mph.
We know from reporting that speed is listed as a factor in virtually every crash, no matter how slow it happened as (and ironically speed is listed a factor when someone is driving too SLOW for conditions, as well, like getting in an accident at 30 mph on an interstate marked at 70). So like the blue marble analogy, can we reliably say that speed causes crashes? If speed caused crashes, more people would be having crashes. And instead, only 3% of drivers are having crashes (and many of those involved in crashes are not at fault either, reducing the number of causes and increasing the total number of people involved. A question for you: if I'm doing 60 in a 50 and go through a green light and you T bone me while running a red light at the speed limit, speed will be a factor, but was it my speed or your running the red light that was the cause of the crash?).
Yes, losing control on a curve or rear ending someone in the rain because you were going too fast for conditions is decidedly a cause. There are definitely people who have run out of skill while driving fast. But the numbers and trends say that that is factually a very small percentage of drivers.
This is all getting off the interstate speed limit issue, but the report I linked to is for all crashes, not just fatalities, and not just on interstates. It's interesting to read because it's not possibilities and probabilities, but just the numbers and trends.
None of this is to say you can just drive willy nilly and be ok and that there should just be anarchy on the roads. Just that driving as it stands right now is pretty safe for the vast majority of people and speed on the interstates ranks way down the list of things to worry about. Distracted and drunk driving are still MUCH more important things to cure.
A couple of cop buddies of mine (and admittedly, this is anecdotal) tell me time and time again: Speeding causes accidents. It doesn't have to be on the interstate. It can be in your own neighborhood.
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Driving at speeds below the posted speed limit also causes accidents.
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