During Illinois Speed Awareness Day this July 27th, Illinois State Police District 19 is taking a proactive approach to promote safety for motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians through both education and enforcement. In Illinois during 2014, speed was the reason for 32.4% of all traffic fatalities. That’s 348 deaths for the year, or one life every 25 hours. These lives can be easily saved by being aware of our speed and understanding how speeding impacts a crash.
In residential areas, speeding can have the following consequences:
· When a pedestrian is hit by a car at 20 MPH there is a 10% likelihood of being killed, at a speed of 30 MPH the percentage increases to a 50% likelihood of being killed.
· Approximately 16% of the speed-related fatalities in Illinois were comprised of pedestrians and cyclists.
· The higher the speed at impact, the more severe the injuries sustained.
· 37.4% of the speed-related crashes result in injuries.
· When speeding, there is a greater chance that other road users will misjudge how fast you are traveling.
· Speeding extends the distance required to stop a vehicle in emergency situations.
· 87% of the speed-related fatalities occur on local roadways.
· Speeding reduces a driver’s ability to navigate safely around curves or objects in the roadway.
Let’s all do our part by taking a proactive approach to prevent fatalities and reduce injuries on the roadways by being aware of our speed and obeying the speed limit signs ALL the time. If you would like more information about Illinois Speed Awareness Day, please visit www.illinoisspeedawarenessday.org.
