Speed-Related Crashes

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, or IIHS, more than 35,000 people were killed in car accidents in the United States in 2015.  9,557 people, or 27 percent of all of the people who were killed, died in crashes that involved at least one speeding driver.  That’s more than 26 people per day or more than one person every hour who is killed because of this driving mistake.  Clearly, speeding is an enormous problem across the country, and San Diego County is hardly immune to this public safety issue.  The San Diego car accident lawyers at Gomez Trial Attorneys want to bring about awareness to people in the area with regards to different types of car accidents.  If enough people simply decide to slow down when they drive, speed-related car accidents would be avoided and lives would be saved.  Consider the data below.

Speed-Related Crashes in San Diego County – 2015

According to data compiled by researchers at UC-Berkeley, a total of 4,189 speed-related crashes occurred in San Diego County in 2015.  This represents nearly one-third of all of the San Diego car accidents that occurred during that year.  This is also far more than any other primary cause for crashes.  The second-most common cause, improper turning, accounted for 17.1 percent of San Diego car accidents.  In terms of raw numbers, this is more than 1,800 fewer than those caused by traveling at an unsafe speed.  As stated above, speeding is an enormous problem in San Diego much like anywhere else.

In addition to being the most common cause for San Diego car accidents, traveling at an unsafe speed also inflicts a lot of damage on those involved in these crashes.  In 2015, nearly 6,000 people were either injured or killed in accidents involving a speeding driver.  That equates to more than 16 people per day or one person every 90 minutes.  While this rate is lower than the national average for speed-related crashes that cause fatalities, it remains extremely high.

Speed-Related Crashes – Types of Collisions

When someone is traveling at an unsafe speed, it opens up the possibilities for several different types of collisions.  That’s because the faster someone is going, the less time they have to correct mistakes.  However, the most likely point of impact for a driver who is traveling at an unsafe speed is the motorist in front of him or her.  That appears to be what happened more often than any other type of impact in speed-related San Diego car accidents in 2015.  Below are the leading types of collisions in which speed was recorded as a primary factor from that year:

• Rear-end collision – 72.6 percent of speed-related crashes
• Hit object – 8.8 percent of speed-related crashes
• Overturned – 5.9 percent of speed-related crashes
• Sideswipe collision – 3.6 percent of speed-related crashes
• Broadside collision – 2.6 percent of speed-related crashes
• Head-on collision – 2 percent of speed-related crashes

More than 3,000 speed-related crashes in San Diego County in 2015 involved rear-end collisions.

Speed-Related Crashes – Day of the Week

It should come as no surprise to many that speeding appears to be a mistake that people make during the week more often than they do on the weekends.  According to the data, the following percentage of speed-related crashes occurred on the corresponding days in 2015:

• Monday – 15.9 percent of speed-related crashes
• Tuesday – 16.4 percent of speed-related crashes
• Wednesday – 15.1 percent of speed-related crashes
• Thursday – 16 percent of speed-related crashes
• Friday – 16.3 percent of speed-related crashes
• Saturday – 10.6 percent of speed-related crashes
• Sunday – 9.7 percent of speed-related crashes

Those who see this information should consider exercising extra caution when driving during the week given how these percentages break down.

Speed-Related Crashes – Other Types of Travel

Speeding motorists don’t always collide with other motorists, as the data from 2015 reveal.  In that year alone, the following number of speed-related crashes occurred between a speeding motorist and people who were traveling in something other than a car, pickup truck or SUV:

• Pedestrian collision – 59 speed-related crashes
• Bicycle collision – 111 speed-related crashes
• Truck collision – 106 speed-related crashes
• Motorcycle collision – 456 speed-related crashes

A total of 732 accidents took place between speeding motorists and people who were driving large trucks, walking or riding bicycles or motorcycles at the time.  That’s a total of 17.4 percent of all speed-related crashes in 2015.

Speed-Related Crashes – 2013 and 2014 Comparative Statistics

Not only does speeding cause more San Diego car accidents than any other driving mistake, it’s also a problem that remains largely constant on a year-to-year basis.  Below you’ll find the statistics regarding speed-related crashes in San Diego County in 2013 and 2014:

2013

• Total number of crashes – 4,220
• Number of people injured or killed – 6,043
• Percentage of rear-end speed-related collisions – 72.9 percent

2014

• Total number of crashes -4,343
• Number of people injured or killed – 6,306
• Percentage of rear-end speed-related collisions – 75.2 percent

It seems that regular enforcement of the speeding laws by police officers is not reducing the number of people who are exceeding the speed limit.  There has been very little movement in either direction between 2013 and 2015 in terms of the statistics relating to speed-related crashes.

How a San Diego Car Accident Lawyer Can Help

People who are driving at unsafe speeds and who cause car accidents that leave people injured or worse need to be held accountable for the harm they have inflicted.  While some motorists can face criminal liability for their actions, they also need to be held accountable for the losses that they have forced others to endure.  This can be done by filing a California personal injury lawsuit in order to recover damages as compensation for those losses.

If you or someone you love has been harmed by a speeding driver, you need to seek the help of San Diego car accident attorneys who have been standing up for the rights of those wrongfully injured for more than a decade.  Contact Gomez Trial Attorneys as soon as possible to schedule a free initial consultation.