US DOT Report Confirms Speed Not Major Accident Cause

theNewspaper.com ^ | Dec. 15, 2008 | Unknown

[decimon]

US Department of Transportation study finds only five percent of crashes caused by excessive speed.

As lawmakers around the country continue to consider speed limit enforcement as the primary traffic safety measure, the most comprehensive examination of accident causation in thirty years suggests this focus on speed may be misplaced.

[Slapshot68]

I thought it was SUVs. /s off

[mewzilla]

How about fatalities...?

[the invisib1e hand]

I think people stopped using speed in the ‘80’s didn’t they?

[brytlea]

More significant factors included 22 percent driving off the edge of a road, or 11 percent who drifted over the center dividing line.

Hmmmm...distracted drivers?

[mewzilla]

The critical pre-crash event refers to the action or the event that puts a vehicle on the course that makes the collision unavoidable, given reasonable driving skills and vehicle handling of the driver.

Wow, there are a lot of assumptions being made there.

[massgopguy]

It’s the sudden stops! b’doom boom

[djf]

Ping. Health science/social related.

[mewzilla]

I got C’s in statistics and physics, so I’m obviously not the brightest bulb in the lamp, but something about this study still seems fishy to me...

[dblshot]

Enforcement of speed laws is a revenue generator for local government.

[ClearCase_guy]

Overall, vehicles "traveling too fast for conditions" accounted for only five percent of the critical pre-crash events (page 23).

Snip

... eight percent of errors were attributed to driving too fast for conditions and five percent driving too fast for a curve (page 25).

Journalism is like throwing a hand grenade -- getting close is good enough.

[Myrddin]

Drugs, alcohol, insufficient sleep and other distractions inside the car are significant factors. Some people are just plain unskilled drivers. Speed simply magnifies the deficits.

[rfp1234]

the most comprehensive examination of accident causation in thirty years suggests this focus on speed may be misplaced.

Shhhh...don't let facts get in the way of the Kalifornia Revenue Enhancement Program (er, I mean Highway Patrol).

[decimon]

...something about this study still seems fishy to me...

Don't just carp; what's fishy?

[BenLurkin]

Most traffic collisions DO involve speed which is too fast for the conditions — and that speed can easily be less than the posted speed limit.

Inattention, failure to stay in your lane, failure to yield, etc may all be the Primary Collision Factor, but excessive speed is almost always involved.

[TexGuy]

Not fair! You read past the headline and correlated two separate sentences. Go to the back of the line!

[savedbygrace]

Less than 14%.

(Clarifying - ‘Speed too fast’ accounted for 13.7% of all fatal crashes.)

[absolootezer0]

13.7% for “speed too fast” and that’s less than for alcohol related (which is another bogus statistic)

“speed too fast” doesn’t seem to make a distinction between exceding the speed limit and merely driving too fast for conditions.

[2001convSVT]

Lowering the speed limit is more about generating revenue than keeping us safe! Durn those political blood suckers, stop the freebies and balance your budgets.

[mewzilla]

LOL. C's remember? If I could figger out what's bugging me about it, I'd've probably done better in class.

But it just seems like the study's making a lot of assumptions. Like studying accidents on highways that weren't designed for the traffic and speeds on them. That speeding wouldn't affect reaction time. That everyone knows what constitutes "unavoidable" and "reasonable". Just stuff like that. Seems like there's an awful lot of room for interpretation.