The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), a partnership among federal, state and local governments to address the problem of unsafe highways, recently released a survey on the problem of speeding and aggressive driving on the nation’s roads and highways. The survey reveals that, while traffic deaths have gone down overall, the number of traffic fatalities directly related to speeding is rising.

State laws requiring the use of seat belts and stronger limits on teen drivers have led to a drastic reduction in highway fatalities over the last several years but, according to the GHSA, the proportional number of speed related traffic fatalities has remained unchanged for the past 25 years. Figures from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) show that speeding is directly responsible for one-third of all highway deaths.

Speeding is a major problem on US roads because higher speeds reduce the time a driver has to react to an unexpected driving situation and it increases the crash forces that result from a collision.

The GHSA report lists several factors that have kept the death rate by speeders at a higher level and they have recommended actions that both the federal and state governments need to take to reduce the level of speeding on the roads. Some of the factors leading to the rate of speeding on America’s roads are:

• Public perception of speed - Driver attitude plays a major role in the perception of speed related to the dangers involved. A Purdue University survey of drivers in 2009 found that "21 percent thought it was safe to drive up to 5 mph over the speed limit, 43 percent thought it was safe to drive up to 10 mph over and 36 percent thought it was safe to drive up to 20 mph over the speed limit." The survey’s authors felt that this attitude might be due to the fact that some changes in speed limits seem to have more to do with political (for example: the repeal of the maximum federal speed limit in 1995) rather than safety concerns. A study by the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health showed that, in the ten years after the 1995 repeal of the federal maximum speed limit, there were approximately 12,500 more deaths that could be attributed to the increased speeds.


• Conflicted role of technology – Red light cameras and laser speed detectors are showing up more and more on America’s roads however, many states are reluctant to pass state-wide laws regarding their use and leave the regulation of such devices up to local cities and towns. Additionally, many states still allow drivers to use technology such as radar detectors to circumvent the devices and avoid detection.


• Other factors – "Over-involvement in speeding crashes is likely to involve the same type of driver—young, male and a resident of a rural area." This type of driver also engages in many other dangerous driving behav¬iors. At the same time, representatives of state highway safety offices report a reduction in law enforcement officers that are available to conduct speed enforcement activities.

The GHSA recommends the following actions:

• States should explore addressing speed concerns through aggres¬sive driving enforcement since the driving public believes that aggressive driving is a serious threat to their safety.


• Speed concerns can also be addressed through targeted enforce¬ment in school and work zones which are additional enforcement strategies supported by the public.


• NHTSA should sponsor a national high visibility enforcement campaign and support public awareness efforts to address the issues of speed and aggres¬sive driving.


• NHTSA should promote best practices in automated enforcement strategies.


• NHTSA should sponsor a National Forum on Speeding and Aggressive Driving, similar to efforts undertaken in 2005, to bring together experts to review and update effective tools and strategies states can employ to reduce speed and aggressive driving.

Labels: aggressive driving, dangers of speeding, driver safety, traffic deaths

You are having a discussion with a few of your friends on a variety of topics. It could be on the state of the economy, future family plans, or the just played Super Bowl game. All of a sudden, one of your friends starts griping about a speeding ticket he or she received a few days ago. Your friend states "it is those cops that are just out there for the sole purpose of giving out speeding tickets and are not really out there arresting the real criminals". Many drivers externalize (or "cop-out", no pun intended) their ticketed speeding violations by placing blame on extraneous factors. These include: "blame it on the cop", not enough speed limit signs on that road, insufficient visibility to notice the speed limit signs, and a few others. Consequently, this can become a habitual defense mechanism to hold themselves unaccountable ("not my fault") for their speeding violations and therefore not allowing them to analyze their speeding behaviors. This externalization process can impede the ticketed from realizing the dangers that speeding produces.

If you asked a group of people what the most disobeyed traffic sign is most of them would probably say the "Stop" sign or the "Yield" sign. In fact, the most disobeyed traffic sign on our roads, streets, and highways is the maximum "Speed Limit" sign.

Speed limits are most frequently set through statutes. Speed limits can usually be lowered, or sometimes raised, from the legislated speed limit through a process called speed zoning. Common factors included in speed zoning are: 85th percentile speed, design speed, road features, crash records, administrative judgment, engineering judgment, and political influence. Even though specific speed limits may have been established via legislation, state laws usually allow either state or local authorities to set highway speed limits above or below the statutory ones. Prior to taking such action on any portion of a highway, the law normally requires that governmental authorities conduct a study to determine the safe speed limit for that part of the highway. State laws may also allow such authorities to specify different speed limits on all or selected highways (or portions thereof) either for various times of the day or for various types of vehicles (e.g., trucks).

Governmental powers & law enforcement are diligent in setting the appropriate "speed limit" for our streets, roads, and highways. Speeding, which justifiably could be driving just one mile over the maximum speed limit, continues to be a prevalent factor contributing to traffic crashes. In 2008, speeding was a factor in 31 percent of all fatal crashes and more than 11,000 lives were lost in speeding-related crashes. Many of those lives lost were of children. Remember, our children depend on your driving.

Please be a responsible driver and be aware of the posted speed limit at all times. A 55 MPH speed limit on a highway means 55, not 65. Remember, the speed limit applies to all lanes- right, center, and yes, even the left lane. A 30 MPH speed limit sign in a residential street means 30, not 40, even when there are no other cars are around.

If you receive a speeding ticket points are assessed your drivers license and in some states requires a defensive driving course. In New York State, if you receive a speeding ticket from 11-20 MPH you receive 4 points on your license. When you complete the defensive driving course you'll remove those points from your NY driver record and be eligible for a mandatory insurance reduction for 3 years.

Let's not limit ourselves to obey that very imperative "Speed Limit" sign.

Labels: dangers of speeding, Speed Limit, speeding ticket, traffic sign

A new poll was released earlier in the week that was somewhat saddening but not at all surprising. The poll looked at the top 25 metropolitan centers in the US and judged them from worst to best based on the level of angry and aggressive drivers in those cities. The 2009 "In The Driver's Seat Road Rage Survey," commissioned by AutoVantage and conducted by Affinion Group Media listed New York as having the least courteous drivers in the nation. That is probably good news to Miami which led the nation in that category for the past three years.

What this survey shows is that it is not the quality of the roads or the number of cars but the behavior of individual drivers that make the roads so dangerous. According to the Affinion survey, when asked the major causes of road rage, the most frequent responses were:

• Bad/careless driving, such as cutting others off, speeding, tailgating, talking on cell phones, making obscene gestures and not using proper signals
• People who are angry, stressed, frustrated, tired or had a bad day
• People being in a hurry, impatient or running late
• Traffic problems, accidents, poor road conditions or construction
• Inconsiderate, disrespectful, selfish drivers who think they own the road

Notice that the great majority of the above comments have to do with behavior. Road delays certainly play a part in adding to the frustration level but it is the behavior of drivers that leads to the greatest frustration and often to road rage.

The survey went on to say that behaviors by other drivers that cause stress for commuters and can lead to road rage include:

• Drivers who talk on their cell phones (84 percent see this every day)
• Driving too fast (58 percent)
• Tailgating (53 percent)
• Drivers eating or drinking while driving (48 percent)
• Texting or e-mailing while driving (37 percent)
Drivers responding to the survey admitted that in response to the bad behaviors of others they:
• Honk their horn at the offending driver (43 percent admit doing this every month)
• Curse at the other driver (36 percent)
• Wave their fist or arms (13 percent)
• Make an obscene gesture (10 percent)
• Call the police to report the driver (7 percent)
• Slam into the car in front of them (1 percent)

Most of the other behaviors listed above won't serve to change the other driver's behavior and it may be enough to push him or her over the edge into a road rage situation. In this situation, a couple of old driving school principles come into play here. One is the FIDO principle which means "Forget It and Drive On". You can't change the other driver's behavior; you can only make him angrier. Forgetting about it isn’t easy to do but it is the safest thing to do when confronted with an aggressive driver. The second principle is the QTIP principle. QTIP stands for "Quit Taking It Personally". That aggressive driver probably didn't have you in mind when he hit the road; instead he is probably an equal opportunity aggressive driver who treats everyone the same way. Don't take his actions personally; just stay out of his way.

As cities grow and roads become more crowded, courtesy on the road is becoming more and more important. Being courteous to another driver, even if that courtesy isn't returned, may be just the thing that will keep the other driver from tipping over from an aggressive driver to someone trying to assault you in a road rage incident.

It is interesting to note that drivers in Portland Oregon, the city with the most courteous drivers, witness far less of the aggressive and distracting behaviors that are seen in New York and Atlanta. The cities where drivers pay attention to the road and exercise random acts of kindness encounter fewer angry drivers. There is another thing that traffic engineers know that fewer and fewer drivers seem to realize. Roads where drivers drive the speed limit and obey the traffic signs have the smoothest running traffic.

Labels: aggressive driving, dangers of speeding, driver courtesy, driver safety, forget it and drive on, road rage, speeding