Speed Management — Safety Is in Your Hands

Speed-related crashes cause more than 10,000 deaths a year, which is nearly a third of all crash-related fatalities in this country. Your speed of travel is one of the key items fully under your control. Do not drive faster than the speed limit, even if other drivers are exceeding it.

See also: What is a safe following distance on the road?

Driving at higher speeds can result in:

• An increase in likelihood of a crash.

• A decrease in the odds of surviving one.
  

Higher speeds result in more crashes and are more likely to be fatal.

• A vehicle at a high speed travels a longer distance in the split second it takes to react to an emergency.

• The faster the vehicle is going, the farther it will travel before coming to a stop after you apply the brakes.

• At high speeds, crashes are deadlier because the energy involved in stopping increases as speed rises.

• At high speeds, the vehicle’s structure may not hold up, and airbags and seat belts may not be able to do their job.