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Speeding continues to injure and take the lives of Florida residents and visitors. The Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) reported that nearly 1,700 people tragically died in Florida crashes already this year, including the tragic deaths of five teens in one accident.

"No one is invincible, no matter what your age,” said Lieutenant Greg Bueno of FHP, “if you’re a 16-year-old or if you’re a 30-year-old or 40 or what have you.” Lieutenant Bueno said reckless driving on our local roadways has gotten extreme. “We’re seeing distracted drivers; we’re seeing impairment; we’re seeing people making bad choices such as hitting speed limits in upwards of 50 mph over the speed limits.”

The FHP partnered with Southwest Florida agencies to enforce “Southern Slow Down” week.

Cape Coral recently released the results of its 2023 “Southern Slowdown” operation. On two separate dates, July 18, 2023, and July 20, 2023, the Cape Coral Police Department (CCPD) specifically targeted speed and aggressive driving citywide from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.  

• July 18 – CCPD conducted 69 total traffic stops, issued 34 speeding citations, and made one arrest.
• July 20 – CCPD conducted 143 traffic stops, and issued 133 total citations, including 63 for speeding.

Why is speeding so dangerous?

Typical vehicles are not designed to be stable at higher speeds. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), speeding significantly contributes to a crash occurring because it:

• Greatly increases the risk of losing vehicle control, especially in inclement weather.
• Reduces a driver’s ability to react to an unexpected hazard.
• Diminishes the ability to safely steer around curves or other obstacles.
• Reduces the effectiveness of safety features, like airbags or seatbelts.
• Increases the stopping distance when drivers must respond to an emergency.

The Institute for Road Safety Research examined the relationship between speed and crashes. In summary, “The exact relation between speed and crashes depends on many factors. However, in a general sense the relation is very clear: if on a road the driven speeds become higher, the crash rate will also increase. The crash rate is also higher for an individual vehicle that drives at a higher speed than the other traffic on that road. As speeds get higher, crashes also result in more serious injury, for the driver who caused the crash as well as for the crash opponent. The injury severity of the vehicle occupants in a crash, for example, is not only determined by the collision speed but also by the mass difference between the vehicles and by the vulnerability of the vehicles/road users who are involved. In a crash between a light vehicle and a heavier one, the occupants of the lighter vehicle generally are considerably worse off than the occupants of the heavier vehicle. Even more so, this is the case for pedestrians, cyclists, and moped riders in crashes with (much) heavier motor vehicles.”

How to determine whether speed contributed to an accident?

The National Safety Council (NSC) reported that speeding contributed to 29 percent of all fatal traffic accidents in 2021. This calculates to approximately 30 tragic deaths per day in the United States.

To determine whether speed contributed to an accident several pieces of information may be required, including, but not limited to:

• Police reports
• Traffic or dash cam video footage
• Damages to the involved vehicles
• Credible witness accounts
• Data from an at-fault driver’s on-board electronic device
• Black box recorders
• Expert opinions

Florida Speeding Accident Lawyer assists injured accident victims.

Should you or a loved one be injured in an accident because of the negligence of another, please contact Spivey Law Firm, Personal Injury Attorneys, P.A. after seeking medical attention. Florida Speeding Accident Lawyer Randall Spivey and his team have the experience of representing accident victims throughout the state of Florida. Please contact us 24/7 at 239.337.7483, toll-free at 1.888.477.4839, or online at SpiveyLaw.com.