Drive And Speed Up, Triple Your Odds

Try to look back at your driving history. How many times did you go over the speed limit just because you wanted to do so? How many times did you go over the limit all because you were hurrying to make it to your meeting on time? How many times did you go over the speed limit because you were so excited to see your family?

Speeding does pay off. But in different ways, though. There is that part which allows you to bask in the positive effects of driving – you are able to get to your destination in record time. But there is also that part which we totally forget about – the negative side?

Did you know that when you do speed up you are actually tripling your chances of meeting accidents? This is not just any kind of hearsay of any sort. You see, this is actually a fact given out by the American Automobile Association's (AAA) Foundation For Traffic Safety Arm. This group actually did conduct a study and their data showed that, indeed, you are very much increasing your chances of getting yourself hurt. That would be very bad especially if you were just so glad to show off the new Ford truck parts your grandpa bought you for Christmas. You just did not remember that speeding could also equate to accidents.

Peter Kissinger is the president and chief head honcho of the AAA Foundation and he does share, “Unfortunately, many drivers choose to drive and behave in ways that increase their risk of crashing. It is our desire to reduce the number of crashes this holiday season by educating all drivers about specific behaviors that increase their crash risk. Although you may have driven too fast or while fatigued in the past and haven't crashed yet, these risks are real and thus will eventually catch up with you if you continue to drive in this manner.”

All of the data that the AAA analyzed were actually those statistics that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (or the NHTSA) has compiled during its 100-Car Naturalistic Driving Study.

Tracy is a 29 year old researcher and writer from Dallas, Texas with extensive experience in writing auto-related articles and covering automotive related events. She is currently a contributing writer for a leading automotive e-zine.