**SPEEDING PLANNER**

**SOCIAL NORMING VERSION**

**FACT SHEET & TALKING POINTS**

***Stop Speeding Before it Stops You***

-   According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
    (NHTSA), more than 13,000 lives were lost across America in
    speeding-related traffic crashes in 2005. Of those, **\[number\]**
    occurred in **\[State or City/Community Name\]**.

-   NHTSA considers a crash to be speeding-related if the driver was
    charged with a speeding-related offense, or if the responding
    officer indicated the driver was driving too fast for conditions at
    the time, or was exceeding the posted speed limit.

-   In 2005, speeding was a contributing factor in 30 percent of all
    fatal crashes nationally.

-   Crash data since 1995 shows a continuous increase in the number of
    deaths and injuries attributed to speed. Despite gains in vehicle
    safety and passenger protection, thousands of Americans still die
    each year in speed-related crashes.

-   According to NHTSA, a crash on a road with a speed limit of 65 mph
    or greater is more than twice as likely to result in a fatality than
    a crash on a road with a speed limit of 45 or 50 mph and nearly five
    times as likely as a crash on a road with a speed limit of 40 mph or
    below.

-   Speeding is usually defined as driving in excess of the posted speed
    limit or driving too fast for conditions and can have dangerous
    consequences including:

    -   Reducing a driver's ability to negotiate curves or maneuver
        around obstacles in the roadway;

    -   Extending the distance traveled before a vehicle can stop;

    -   Increasing the distance a vehicle travels while the driver
        reacts to a hazard;

    -   Increasing the risk of crashes and injuries because other
        vehicles and pedestrians may not be able to judge distance
        accurately.

-   Nationally in 2005, 86 percent of all speeding-related traffic
    fatalities occurred on non-Interstate roadways \-- where the posted
    speed limits were 55 miles per hour or less. Only 14 percent of the
    nation's speeding-related fatalities occurred on Interstate highways
    that year.

-   In 2005, speeding was involved in more than one-fourth (27%) of the
    fatal crashes in construction or maintenance zones.

-   In 2005, speeding was a factor in 28 percent of all fatal crashes on
    dry roads, and in 33 percent on wet roads. **\[Optional:** In wintry
    conditions, the numbers were even worse \-- with speeding a factor
    in 51 percent of the fatal crashes when there was snow or slush on
    the road, and in 58 percent of the fatal crashes that occurred on
    icy roads.**\]**

-more-

**Young Males and Motorcyclists Most Often in Speeding-Related Crashes**

-   Among drivers involved in fatal crashes, young males are the most
    likely to have been found speeding. In 2005, 38 percent of the males
    age 15-20 who were involved in fatal crashes were speeding at the
    time of the crash.

-   Drivers of all ages may exceed posted speed limits, but the relative
    proportion of speeding-related crashes to all crashes decreases with
    increasing driver age.

-   Speeding motorcyclists are also over represented in crashes. In
    2005, 34 percent of all motorcyclists involved in fatal crashes were
    speeding at the time, compared with 22 percent for passenger car
    drivers, 18 percent for light-truck drivers and 7 percent for
    large-truck drivers.

**Speeding and Impaired Driving: A Deadly Combination**

-   Driving impaired and speeding are a deadly combination.

-   Between midnight and 3 a.m., 75 percent of speeding drivers involved
    in fatal crashes had been drinking.

[]{.mark}

-   In 2005, 40 percent of the drivers involved in fatal crashes were
    speeding and had a blood alcohol concentration of .08 or higher,
    compared with 14 percent of the drivers with a BAC of .00 involved
    in fatal crashes.

-   In 2005, 25 percent of speeding drivers under age 21 who were
    involved in fatal crashes had a BAC of .08 or higher. In contrast,
    only 11 percent of [non-speeding]{.underline} drivers under age 21
    involved in fatal crashes had a BAC of .08 or higher.

-   For drivers between the ages of 21 and 24 who were speeding and
    involved in fatal crashes in 2005, 50 percent of them had a BAC of
    .08 or higher, compared with only 24 percent of non-speeding
    drivers.

**Help Save Lives by Obeying Posted Speed Limits**

-   Our goal is to save lives. Please join us in reminding all drivers
    to be alert, watch for speed limit signs and obey those signs,
    especially in school zones, in residential neighborhoods and on
    secondary roads.

-   Drivers need to remember that there is a [reason]{.underline} for
    posted speed limits. The roadways are a dangerous place and the
    speed limits are designed to protect everyone -- drivers,
    passengers, pedestrians -- everyone!

-   Please remember, *Stop Speeding Before it Stops You.*

-   For more information, visit <http://trafficsafetymarketing.gov/>.

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