Attending the race track to watch skilled drivers push their skills and vehicles to the limit is what race enthusiasts love.
Sure, there are risks inherent in racing. Still, the risks are minimized by severely limiting danger to third parties (such as spectators). Risks are also limited by using technology used in constructing race cars.
Speeding in public is quite the opposite. There is a real risk of injury to innocent third parties, and vehicles are not constructed to cater to high-speed crashes to the same extent as race cars.
As of 8 March 2022, there have been 144 fatal car crashes in Illinois this year. Since speeding is the cause of approximately 35% of all fatal crashes, there have been 50 deaths caused just this year from speeding incidents.
In Illinois, {url=https://idot.illinois.gov/Assets/uploads/files/Transportation-System/Reports/Safety/HSP/2020 Annual Report.pdf}males aged between 16 and 34 make up the highest percentage for speed-related severe injuries and fatalities for 2014 to 2018 at 39.8 percent.
The bottom line is to ensure that we all avoid speeding on public roads. Let's appreciate the spectacle of speed at the race track but never indulge when driving on public roads.
Let's look at the effect of speeding on car accident personal injury claims in Illinois. Once you finish this article, visit this car accident lawyer's website to learn more about what to do after a car accident that wasn’t your fault.
Speed and Culpability
Speeding is dangerous and more likely to cause an accident for 2 main reasons.
Firstly, the faster a vehicle travels, the longer it takes to stop that vehicle. This means that excessive speed can be the cause of a collision. Trying to avoid an obstacle at speed is much more complex and is likely to lead to loss of control of the vehicle.
Secondly, faster speeds make it significantly less likely that the driver can react to avoid a collision.
The faster the vehicle is traveling at impact, the greater the force of the impact and the more likely that injuries will be severe.
In the law, speeding constitutes reckless driving. Any accident caused by speeding could render the driver liable for injuries caused to an accident victim and your driving privileges might be taken away. You may need to reinstate it by getting an SR 22 Insurance.
Would a Traffic Ticket Issued at an Accident Scene Affect a Personal Injury Claim?
Imagine that a traffic officer issued one driver with a speeding ticket at the scene of an accident and issued the other driver no ticket at all.
You would assume that you could introduce this as evidence of fault in the personal injury claim, right?
This is not necessarily the case. This evidence would only be allowed if the ticket holder either pleaded guilty to the charge or paid the ticket as an admission of guilt. If the other driver defended the case by pleading not guilty, the traffic ticket would not be admissible in the personal injury matter.
In a case in which the ticket holder pleaded not guilty, was found guilty and fined for the offense, this evidence would not be allowed in the personal injury matter.
In Summary
Speeding is a serious offense and causes more deaths from traffic accidents than even driving under the influence.
Speeding places others at risk and results in much more severe injuries in an accident.
You could be prejudiced in a personal injury claim if you have pleaded guilty to the traffic offense of speeding.
