As you drive around the roads you’ll notice that the speed limits vary. You can go faster on some sections of road than others and must travel slower on some stretches than others.
The reason behind this is safety. Drivers who ignore those limits increase the threat to themselves and others. But what is it about speed that does this? Why does sticking below a particular number make you a safer driver?
An experiment to see the effect of speed
Here’s a little experiment to explain the effect of speed in a collision:
- Walk slowly toward a wall: When you reach it you might feel a slight bump, but provided you walk slow enough, you should not suffer any injury. If at any point in your progress toward the wall you had needed to stop, you could have done it easily without ever arriving at the wall. If you were unsure about whether you needed to stop or not, you would have time to think about it and still stop in time.
- Now imagine you were running toward the wall at full speed: You can imagine how much it would hurt were you to hit it and you might well suffer an injury. If you suddenly needed to stop running before you reached the wall it would have taken you a few paces to do so and you may still have hit the wall anyway, as you might not have had enough time to come to a stop. If you also had to think about whether or not you needed to stop, that would have lessened the chances of you stopping in time even more
Driving generally takes place at much higher speeds than you can run so the margins between stopping in time and hitting something are even less. The time available to make a decision is also much less.
If a driver injures you in a crash, it is important to consider their speed. Even if they were within the speed limit, they might not have been traveling at an appropriate speed for the conditions. Showing this could help you prove that they (or their insurer) should compensate you for your injuries.
