Should Speed Limits Be Lowered

Should Speed Limits Be Lowered

  • Submitted By: lakeishafair
  • Date Submitted: 10/29/2008 8:19 PM
  • Category: English
  • Words: 1588
  • Page: 7
  • Views: 1

Should Speed Limits Be Lowered
Lakeisha Fair
Axia College of University of Phoenix

In 2000, nearly 42,000 people were killed in traffic crashes and almost 3.2 million more were injured, at a cost of over $150 billion. Speed - defined as exceeding the posted speed limit or driving too fast for conditions - is a factor in nearly one third of all fatal crashes. Research by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that when speed limits were raised by many states in 2000, travel speeds increased and motor vehicle fatalities went up significantly on Interstate highways in those states.
Speed reduces the amount of available time needed to avoid a crash, increases the likelihood of crashing and increases the severity of a crash once it occurs. The public needs to be made more aware of the dangers of speeding. If we are to combat this dangerous, life-threatening behavior, we must devote increased resources to better enforcement, including more law enforcement officers to patrol the highways, and we must support technological advances, such as video cameras, to target aggressive, speeding drivers.
Whenever you are driving a vehicle and your attention is not on the road, you are putting yourself, your passengers, other vehicles, and pedestrians in danger. High speeds can cause drivers not to be in control of their vehicle. When driving at a higher speed limit many have found that some drivers are very careless. One will say often, how can you drive at 70 mph and carry a conversation on your cell phone? After interviewing other drivers some state it is very difficult driving only at 40 mph while conversing on their cell phones and trying to stay focus on the highway yet alone driving at 70 mph. While driving at a higher speed drivers often have less time to react to a possible collision that could be avoided if potential drivers were driving at a lower speed limit.

Can high speed limits cause a driver to be out of control while driving? A study was done by...

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