GPS Trackit’s Fleet Management Solutions include Speeding Alerts that notify fleet managers and dispatchers, and even drivers, when a driver exceeds a posted speed limit.
The Race Car: an Automobile Constructed or Adjusted for Racing at High Speeds
Race cars, as well as racecourses, are specially designed to be used at high speeds. However, the fact is, people more often than not use common roads, highways and standard vehicles to drive faster than posted or recommended speeds. Most cars are not designed for extremely high speeds, and frankly, most people are not properly trained to handle vehicles while speeding. Speeding is as wasteful as it is dangerous.
Speeding also greatly heightens the possibility of being issued an expensive moving violation ticket.
Speeding is Illegal
Speeding is not just against the law, but speeding tickets can be a serious financial inconvenience for anyone living on a tight budget.
The U.S. Census Bureau has estimated that 100,000 people are issued speeding tickets each day. Speeding tickets per state can cost anywhere from $150 to as high as $1,000. Tickets costing the minimum $150, therefore, generate about $15 million a day; obviously more for higher fines.
Statistics have determined that U.S. citizens on average have paid up to $6 billion in speeding tickets. Speeding tickets, and accidents involving speed, cost the nation over $40 billion every year.
Who Got the First Speeding Ticket?
The first speeding offense in the United States was committed by Jacob German, a New York City taxi driver operating an electric car on May 20 1899.
The posted speed limit was 8 mph, and German was speeding at a blazing 12mph. A New York City police officer on a bicycle arrested him and placed him in a jail cell at the East 22nd Street station house. Information courtesy of Daven Hiskey of todayifoundout.com
Beyond court fines, speeding tickets and related accidents usually increase a driver’s insurance premiums, as well. License suspension is another possible result of a speed violation. One can lose their license for as little as 5 days, to as long as 2 years. In some cases, drivers can even serve jail time. Depending on the state, a driver can serve 5 days to 12 months for speeding.
Speeding is Wasteful
A vehicle consumes more gasoline while accelerating. When a car or truck is being accelerated, the engine is required to put forth more effort as well as burn more fuel to provide the increased power.
Speeding also increases wind resistance on a vehicle. More energy is required to take on the increased resistance, therefore causing the engine to use more fuel.
When driving over 50 MPH, gas mileage drops quickly. Studies show that roughly every 5 MPH over 50 MPH, a driver is paying an additional $0.24 per gallon.
If gas costs $3.65 per gallon, and a driver is speeding at 85 MPH (20 MPH over the posted speed limit), the driver then will be paying about $4.61 per gallon.
Say a driver is filling up a 15-gallon tank. Without speeding the driver will be paying $54.75. If the driver is speeding the cost of a full tank will rise to $69.15.
Over the course of a year, depending on total miles driven, the excessive fuel usage can add up to hundreds of dollars per vehicle.
Check out the “Speeding and Your Vehicle’s Mileage” at the California Consumer Energy Center to get the math on how much money is wasted on gasoline while speeding, and how speeding tickets add even more to the cost.
Speeding is Dangerous
Fuel costs and ticketing are minor when compared to the life-changing consequences of accidents caused by speeding.
Speeding is defined as exceeding the posted speed limit or driving too fast for the conditions of the road.
“A recent study by the insurance institute for Highway Safety found that when states raised their speed limits automobile fatalities increased significantly on interstate highways within those states.
“Excessive speed not only reduces the amount of reaction time but also decreases the ability to control the vehicle, and increases the chance for fatalities.
“The force of an impact doubles with every 10 miles per hour increase in speeds above 50 miles per hour.”
-Foran Law
Many factors on the road can cause speeding-related accidents:
- Mistakes by other drivers.
- Potholes and other rough pavement conditions.
- Sharp curves, dips or humps.
- Pedestrians crossing the road.
- Bicyclists veering into traffic.
- Loss of steering control by the driver.
Statistics show that up to 33% of all accidents involve speed and that speeding is the third outstanding cause of traffic accidents. Roughly 13,000 to over 33,000 traffic fatalities are speeding-related – every year. Drivers who speed are often driving without seat belts, as well, and are often under the influence of alcohol.
Driving within the Speed Limit is Safer, Cheaper, and Greener
Driving at the posted speed limit is essential for reducing greenhouse gases, saving money, and reducing the risk of losing one’s own, or taking another’s life. Driving at the speed limit also reduces the risk of crashes and increases the likelihood of arriving at a destination safely.
