Although laws prohibiting such negligent behaviors as texting or using a cell phone behind the wheel may be more recent, a recent article reminds us that even good old-fashioned speeding limits serve an important safety purpose. Driving with excessive speed can create a safety issue even for trained professionals.
According to a recent article, around 20 percent of firefighter fatalities nationwide in the last decade did not occur on the scene of the fire emergency, but rather en route or returning from a call. Said another way, traffic accidents result in more firefighter fatalities than smoke or flames.
Unfortunately, data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration indicates that speeding is a problem for more than just firefighters responding to an emergency. According to the NHTSA’s research, around twenty percent of drivers admit to speeding to arrive at their destinations as fast as possible.
Interestingly, over ninety percent of the drivers surveyed in the NHTSA’s polls agreed that speed limit laws should be obeyed. Yet when someone is running late, the temptation to speed may be too hard to resist. The cost of that choice, however, is in the numbers: one-third of all motor vehicle accident fatalities are speed-related.
A permissive attitude toward speeding may be hard to understand given the serious injuries that result from such behavior every year. When tragedy strikes, a personal injury law firm can work to hold the negligent driver accountable. Our attorneys will work to obtain the financial compensation that a crash victim may need to cover medical bills, lost wages and pain and suffering.
Source: Washington Post, “A leading killer of firefighters: crashing the truck on the way to a call,” Bill Turque, Nov. 12, 2015