Speed... Not Only Thrills But Also Kills!

Generally most people love to drive. Man has always exhibited a passion for driving. We could even call it a craze. Many people derive great pleasure from driving. Usually more men than women take to driving for pleasure and fun. Racing is a much fancied sport the world over. International car rallies are another popular sport. The drag racing and stunt shows are other events that generate immense spectator interest.


Pressing on the accelerator pedal gives thrill to many a driver. Perhaps gaining instant velocity is an experience most drivers enjoy. Though it is purely a mechanical arrangement most drivers try to give the impression that it is an exhibition of their driving skill. They seem to be oblivious of the fact that the same acceleration can be achieved even by a kid or old man or woman, for all it needs is to press a lever. The drivers want to maintain speed and more speed for an extended time and distance without having to cut the speed. We may call it crazy. But it is very much true of many motorists both young and old, whether man or woman.

“It’s the ‘zing’ thing”, “0 to 60 Km in 10 seconds”, “it’s time to take the pole position” , “Living on the edge” are some of the advertisements that are put up by car and motorcycle manufactures to attract peoples imagination. They look very much forward to exploiting man’s love for speed, power, ruggedness, spirit of adventure and thrill. All these visuals and commercials unconsciously influence a man’s disposition to driving. And fast cars add to the fun, thrill and danger all the more.


The inexperienced drivers are keen to experiment with high speeds. Young drivers also do not understand risk and they have no fear of death. Timing a journey for purposes of comparison, rushing to make up for lost time, driving at break neck speeds for just the heck of it, peer pressure, urgency, pushing the vehicle to its limits are all factors that result in accidents.


The enormous difference in fatality rates across different parts of the world even though vehicles may be built to approximately similar standards, which, according to the theory, is explained by myriad behavioral adjustments in response to perceived increases in the threat of traffic. People would take advantage of improvements in automobiles or infrastructure to drive ever more recklessly in the interests of speed until deaths rose to a socially unacceptable level, at which point, safety would become more important, and recklessness less tolerated.


The faster the speed of a vehicle, the greater is the risk of an accident. The forces experienced by the human body in a collision increase exponentially as the speed increases. Most people agree that driving at 100 mph is foolhardy and will lead to disaster. The problem is that exceeding the speed limit by only 5 mph in the wrong place can be just as dangerous.


Traffic engineers and regulatory authorities have fixed the maximum speed limits permissible for safe travel on the nation's roadways. It is essential for drivers to follow them religiously. Speeding is a deliberate and calculated behavior. The drivers know the risk and yet ignore the danger fully. 90% of all licensed drivers speed at some point in their driving career; 75% admit to committing this offense regularly.


People speed for many reasons. Some are in a hurry. Some are running late all the time. Others enjoy the thrill of speeding, of evading the radar guns. Many have forgotten what limit means. Others are comfortable going the “acceptable” speed of 5 or 10 miles over the limit. The drivers do not want to give pass to any other vehicle. And if the drivers hit someone or some vehicle they are not inclined to apologize.


Recent studies show that 80% of the people that have caused serious over speeding accidents believe that the other driver could have done something to prevent the mishap. They tend to be egoistic and would not apologize even if they knew that it was their mistake. Their pride would not permit them to be humane and realistic.


Accident as we all know is an unexpected and undesirable event, a mishap unforeseen and without apparent cause. Strictly speaking, most accidents are not accidents at all, they are collisions that could and should have been avoided. Motorists may blame roadway design for accidents, but it's rarely the cause. Civil engineers, local governments, and law enforcement agencies also contribute to the design of safe road layouts and traffic management systems. State and federal governments provide guidelines to their construction, with design flexibility to suit local conditions.


Over-speeding is considered as a major cause for more road accidents. It is possible to classify the different types of drivers who drive fast as young, middle-aged, and old, men and women, they drive luxury cars, sports cars, and family cars. Almost every qualified driver admits to some type of risky driving behavior, most commonly speeding. High Speed Car Collisions had claimed several lives. It will continue to cause tragic accidents, especially to young drivers if motorists would not be cautious enough. The usage of words or terms such as “speeding, “fast driving” “driving at high speeds” to describe situations where drivers had been found to travel beyond stipulated or prescribed speed limits on most stretches of the road or any defined environment.


Indeed speeding itself is a traffic offence punishable by law and happens when a driver exceeds the mandatory or stipulated speed limit on the road. Most speeding accidents occur because there is not enough breaking space in case of a sudden reaction on the part of the driver. If a pedestrian appears in front of a car riding with more than the legal limit chances are that the driver will not be able to stop the car in due time to prevent injuring the person.


Speeding accidents have some of the most terrible consequences that you can imagine for the driver, the passengers and the other people involved in traffic. Furthermore, besides the human casualties, the material loss can rise out to thousands of dollars. Speeding suggests that a driver is driving at a rate that is too fast for three main factors that play a major role in causing road accidents. These are the human or driver factor, vehicle and equipment factor and the road and environment factor.


Such as slippery road surfaces, poor design, curves and where weather conditions impair a driver’s vision, lack of road signs or properly labeled road markings lead to accidents. Over speeding beyond the stipulated speed limits where a vehicle cannot be pulled to a stop or avoid a potential accident in most jurisdictions is an offence punishable by law.


Roads are designed in a manner that would reduce the spate of accidents by providing dual carriage ways, properly guided contra-flow ways, segregated traffic flow, road warning signs and the type of road surfaces that are suitable for highway driving. Because of over speeding, motorists not only cause damage to themselves also to the external environment causing physical damages, property damages etc.


If poor road conditions are cited as a major cause for traffic accidents on city roads, the improvements to the national and state highways does not seem to have made life easy. More and more accidents on the highways resulted from over-speeding. The improved road conditions acted as an incentive for the drivers to exceed the speed limit, in the process losing control of the vehicles.


The trend was a cause of concern. It could be curbed only through self-compliance of the road safety norms by the drivers, a process in which the transporters associations have a role to play in this concern. There are also intoxicated drivers who speed up as their judgments are failing and are no longer capable of making good decisions. These drunk drivers must never over estimate their skills as a driver as alcohol and other prohibited drugs will affect their vision and decision-making while driving.


Passengers are sometimes influenced drivers to over-speed with inexcusable reason that they wanted to get to their destinations on time to do one thing or the other. Inappropriate traffic speed is considered to be a contributor in around 30% of the accidents on the roads says report. Over speeding road accidents also arise out of poor lighting and haphazard parking of vehicles on the roadside.


Ill planned speed-breakers and hoardings also add to conditions that enhance accident possibilities. Speed gives less time to react to emergencies. Vehicles at high speeds also take a greater distance to stop putting other road users in a fix. The crash risk associated with speeding is extremely frightening. India is estimated to have the second highest number of road accidents in a year, according to World Road Statistics (WRS) 2007. About 130,000 people perish each year owing to road accidents in India in recent times.


As far as our government is concerned, it should come up with better enforcement of traffic laws and avoid myopic policies on the part of our politicians because these road accidents not only costs human lives but also affect approximately three per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) of India. Speedy medical assistance is also required to minimize the death toll. Measures taken by the government is simply inefficient and inadequate. Traffic laws need to be enforced strictly without prejudice and complacency.