Some of the most deadly car and truck accidents Florida car accident attorney Joseph Lipsky have seen over the past 25 years happened when excessive speed was involved. In fact, decades of research confirm that primarily due to the ever increasing legal speed limits on our highways, including I-95, the Florida Turnpike and SR 826, otherwise known as the Palmetto Expressway, that the number of high speed car accidents resulting in a wrongful deaths have steadily, and unnecessarily, risen.
In fact, according to law enforcement, speed is a factor in over thirty percent of all traffic deaths; meaning it is only behind alcohol, as a contributing cause in deadly crashes. In addition to wrongful deaths, vehicle speed is also responsible for over 700,000 injuries, including:
While most motorists believe that excessive speed refers to a driver traveling over the speed limit, often excess speed actually involves a driver traveling too fast for road and weather conditions, and even when traveling at or below the posted speed limit. What most drivers do not appreciate is that the force of an impact in a car accident doubles with every additional 10 mph in excess of 50 mph. Such accident force results in an equivalent amount of damage and personal injuries to the vehicle’s occupants.
A driver may be traveling below the speed limit, yet still considered to be traveling too fast given weather conditions, including rain or fog. Weather can cause limited visibility and loss of traction, making a faster traveling vehicle more difficult to safely control. Additionally, road conditions such as a lack of medians or potholes may also require a driver to travel below the speed limit, so as to avoid putting themselves and other motorists at risk of a deadly crash.
Not surprisingly, drivers under the age of 30 are more prone to driving at an unsafe speed, with young men the most frequent offenders. Research indicates that nearly forty percent of drivers who had been drinking were involved in deadly crashes versus less than fifteen percent of drivers who were sober.
The most obvious reason speed results in more deadly accidents, is that the speeding driver has less time to react to surprise situations on the roadway. Ever since 1987, when Congress allowed states to set their own highway speed limits in excess of 55 mph limit, the number of deadly highway car accidents have steadily increased. Most people do not know that speeds were allowed to increase; despite the absence of an safety studies showing increased speeds were safe. Rather, speed limits were allowed to rise when gas became less expensive in the 1980s. As justification for speed limit increases, proponents said most drivers exceeded the speed limit anyway. However, as everyone knows, drivers routinely exceed the posted speed limit, whatever it may be.
Sadly research has proven that more than thirty thousand lives have been lost over the last 20 years, due to increased speed limits. Annually more than 9,000 people die in car accidents in which an investigating police officer felt speed was a factor. Research proves that even a 5 m.p.h. rise in speed, results in a nearly 10 percent rise in traffic accident deaths.
Deadly car accidents result in the victims’ surviving family suffering inexplicable mental pain and suffering, and also result in devastating financial losses including:
Those losses are considered damages under Florida’s Wrongful Death Act, which entitle the survivors to compensation. Given the complexities involved in helping injured victims and surviving family members of those killed in high speed car accidents, it is imperative to hire an experienced personal injury attorney with a proven track record of success in helping clients recover every dollar to which they are entitled. For over 24 years, this is precisely what Florida personal injury attorney Joseph Lipsky has done for hundreds of victims of high speed accidents.
If you or a loved one were injured due in a car accident due to the carelessness of speeding driver, we urge you to CONTACT the Law Offices of Joseph I. Lipsky, P.A., either ONLINE or by CALLING us:
(888) FLA-LAW8 – Toll Free
(954) 693-0073 – Fort Lauderdale
(305) 821-7333 – Miami-Dade
(561) 514-3535 – Palm Beaches
(305) 296-6300 – Florida Keys
To arrange for your FREE NO OBLIGATION CONSULTATION. The call and personal injury consultation are FREE, so do not delay in calling to find out about your legal rights.