If the average American were asked to recite the speed limits that are imposed on the various types of roads e.g., freeways, side streets, residential streets, etc. one would perhaps be surprised to discover an inability to answer this seemingly simple question. The same could easily be said of many other rules of the road for instance, far too many drivers in this country would be hard pressed to provide the exact blood alcohol content (BAC) under which it is permissible to drive. In general, it seems safe to assume that most licensed drivers, including those who have never been involved with an accident as well as those who have never received a ticket for a driving violation, would find it very difficult to give an accurate and exhaustive account of the rules of the road.
Given the amount of time that the average American spends driving during his lifetime, this is not only a surprising phenomenon, but also a disconcerting one. And while this phenomenon extends to a number of different ways in which drivers neglect their own safety and that of others while on the road, I would like to discuss the specific dangers associated with speeding in this essay. This is not only because speeding is one of the leading causes of accidents, second perhaps only to driver inattention, but also because it is a habit that seems ingrained in so many drivers, often without them being aware of it. Ask a relatively experienced driver whether he has ever applied make-up, eaten, used a cell phone or sent text messages while driving, and he might easily be able to deny having done any of these things while behind the wheel. On the other hand, ask the same driver if he has ever driven above the speed limit, and the response might be quite different. For this reason, and for others that I will explore in this essay, it seems especially important to examine the dangers of vehicle speeding in an effort to curb this hazardous tendency.
One of the most obvious dangers...