Slow down, safety director says, lives depend on it

Dear Editor,

You don’t need a radar speed gun to confirm that many drivers on our highways are exceeding the speed limit. All you have to do is drive at the speed limit on an interstate and watch as vehicles zip past you.

We got a hint of the extent of speeding in 2006 when the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development conducted a spot speed study on various highways in different parts of the state. The study found that 79 percent of vehicles on the interstate highways on which surveys were performed were exceeding speed limits. On U.S. highways 81 percent of vehicles were speeding and 80 percent were speeding on state routes. The spot study clocked vehicles traveling as fast as 93 mph.

Apparently, many speeding drivers believe it is safe to do so, even though it is illegal and risky for those in the vehicle as well as others sharing the road. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that speeding is a factor in almost one-third of all highway crash deaths. In Louisiana, aggressive driving, which includes speeding, is a factor in more than half of all fatal crashes.

Speeding reduces a driver’s ability to steer safely around curves or objects in the roadway, extends the distance necessary to stop a vehicle, and increases the distance a vehicle travels while the driver reacts to a dangerous situation. It takes a driver traveling 60 mph about twice as long to stop a vehicle as one traveling 40 mph under the same conditions.

NHTSA research indicates that young, male drivers are more likely to speed than their older counterparts. A driver who’s prone to speeding is also more likely than others to engage in a variety of risky driving behaviors, such as driving while intoxicated and not wearing seat belts, according to NHTSA. In a 2008 study, NHTSA reported that 41 percent of drivers who were legally intoxicated and involved in fatal crashes were also speeding, compared with only 15 percent of drivers who had not been drinking and were involved in fatal crashes.

The number of people killed in Louisiana crashes in 2011 was about one-third lower than in 2007, when highway deaths peaked. Preliminary data for 2012 indicates that our highway deaths increased modestly after declines in 2008-2011. Most fatal crashes could be avoided if all motorists obeyed the laws designed to make it safer for them to travel. As we get into the heavy summer driving season, the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission urges all drivers to avoid speeding, don’t drink and drive, make sure they and all passengers are buckled up and adhere to all other traffic laws.

Lt. Col. John LeBlanc,

Executive Director, Louisiana Highway Safety Commission