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On Speeding

September 16, 2015 Hastings and Hastings

Everyone speeds. I speed, you speed, Grandma speeds, Grandpa speeds, officers speed, judges speed, even popes or presidents if they ever had to drive themselves would probably speed. Speeding tickets are by far the most common type of ticket handed out in the United States. It can be very frustrating to receive a speeding ticket, but they are given out for good reason.

So what are the reasons people speed? People speed because they are late for work, or late for a meeting. They speed because they are impatient, or because there is an emergency or simply because they want to save a minute or two. People speed for practical and impractical reasons, but the officer writing your ticket likely isn’t going to care. If you are speeding, you are going to get a ticket.

Did you know that there is actually more than one type of law regarding speeding? And you thought it was simple. Speeding was just speeding – going 70 in a 65. It isn’t always so black and white. Many states, including Arizona have laws about “reasonable and prudent speed.” This means that you have to think about a few things while you are driving. Is it raining out? Is it foggy (probably not)? Are you driving in a sandstorm? In these conditions it is probably “reasonable and prudent” to be driving cautiously, maybe even below the speed limit.

So why do all these speeding laws exists? Isspeeding really all that dangerous? The answer simply is yes. In 2012, there were 33,561 total driving related deaths, 10,219 of these deaths were the direct result of speeding. That is almost 30 percent! Just think, eliminating speeding could save over 10,000 lives a year. That is 10,000 brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers that could have been saved. Next time you speed, think about the possible consequences. Ask yourself, “do I really need to be speeding?”