Slow down!

Drivers who indulge in high speeds are endangering the lives of pedestrians, especially those of children playing on the street in residential areas. Even if they know this already, speeding is a hard habit to break for a lot of drivers.

If you are a chronic speeder, here are some statistics that might give you a different perspective on your habit: roughly half of the injuries caused by road accidents happen in towns and on residential streets. Speeding is the cause of 12 percent of accidents and 30 percent of fatal accidents. The correlation between speed and injury is clear: only 5 percent of pedestrians hit by a car traveling at less than 18 mph die due to the accident, but 85 percent of those hit by vehicles over 40 mph die.

The principle is simple: the faster a vehicle is going, the less time the driver has to react to an unexpected obstacle or dangerous situation. Conversely, pedestrians and children in the path of a speeding vehicle have less time to get out of the way. Moreover, a vehicle traveling at high speed requires a much greater distance to come to a complete stop.

Posted speed limits are nothing to shrug off for convenience’s sake. They take into account the type of road and its surroundings. Respecting speed limits is the first step in making roads and sidewalks safe for all people. So, the next time your drive around your neighborhood, please slow down.