Despite the fact that speeding leads to many catastrophic motor vehicle accidents each year on Connecticut roads, people continue to drive above the speed limit. Between 2012 and 2021, the percentage of fatal traffic accidents that involved speeding bounced between 25.4% and 29.9%. Even when pandemic-related concerns meant that people were driving fewer miles overall, the number of deadly accidents in which speeding was a factor continued to increase.
Demographics and fatal speeding accidents
However, not every demographic or type of vehicle is equally likely to be involved in speeding-related car accidents. For example, young male drivers are the group most likely to be drivers in fatal speeding accidents. Larger numbers of passenger cars are involved in more deadly crashes, but a look at the total number of fatal crashes for every type of vehicle reveals that motorcycles have the highest percentage of speeding-related deadly accidents.
The role of time
There are also certain times when fatal crashes involving speed tend to happen, such as the months of May through September. Speeding-related fatalities have been on the rise during holidays over the past ten years, and they are more common on weekends than on weekdays.
Fatal speeding crashes and other vehicles
In terms of sheer numbers, more fatal single-vehicle speeding-related motor vehicle accidents happen than any other kind. However, a higher percentage of fatal accidents involving three or more vehicles are speeding-related than is the case for single or two-vehicle crashes.
Possible remedies
In 2021, over 11,000 of the 39,508 deadly motor vehicle accidents involved speeding. In Connecticut in 2020, there were a total of 776 crashes in which speeding was a factor. Safety advocates concerned about year-over-year increases in both fatal and nonfatal motor vehicle accidents have recommended a number of different remedies, including increased law enforcement, stricter laws, greater driver education and better safety technology in vehicles. More public awareness about the dangers and consequences of speeding may also help to reduce the number of accidents across all demographics, vehicle types and situations.
