This summer, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is teaming up with the Ocean City Police Department to keep drivers and passengers safe by raising awareness about the dangers of speeding and urging drivers to obey speed limits.
From July 10 to July 31, law enforcement officers in Ocean City will be on higher alert for speeding vehicles while participating in the “Speeding Slows You Down” campaign. If you’re pulled over for speeding, you will be issued a ticket for breaking the law.
Not only is speeding illegal, it’s deadly. In 2020, speeding killed 11,258 people, accounting for more than one-quarter of all crash fatalities, according to nationwide statistics cited in an Ocean City news release.
Tragically, there was a dramatic increase (17 percent) in speeding-related crash fatalities from 2019-2020, with a projected 5 percent increase from 2020-2021. NHTSA and the Ocean City Police Department want to remind drivers that, no matter how seasoned you are as a driver, ultimately, “Speeding Slows You Down.”
“Speed limit signs are not suggestions, they are the law,” Ocea City Police Chief Jay Prettyman said in the release. “They are posted for the safety of the driver and others in that particular area. Unfortunately, we see people speeding every day. If you’re killed in a crash, or if you kill someone else, that’s it – there’s no second chance. Speeding just isn’t worth the risk.”
Much like impaired driving, speeding is a selfish choice that can have deadly consequences for the driver, vehicle passenger, and pedestrians, the release states.
Speeding reduces a driver’s ability to steer safely around another vehicle, a hazardous object, or an unexpected curve. Even the safest cars with the newest technologies are limited in how much they can help reduce the odds of a crash.
According to NHTSA, local roads are more dangerous than highways for speeders: In 2020, 87 percent of all speeding-related traffic fatalities on U.S. roads occurred on non-interstate roadways.
Summertime drivers in Ocean City should be especially aware of this campaign and their speed — with so many pedestrians, bicycles, e-bikes, low-speed vehicles and others sharing the roads.
Young people are especially susceptible to high speeds, and they represent the largest demographic involved in speeding-related vehicle crashes. In 2020, 27 percent of males ages 18-44 and 17 percent of female drivers ages 18-34 involved in fatal crashes in 2020 were speeding.
Alcohol and weather also increase the likelihood of a crash while speeding. In 2020, 37 percent of the drivers involved in fatal crashes were speeding and had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher, compared to 17 percent of non-speeding drivers. And the chances of a vehicle crash on wet roads increase drastically when a vehicle is speeding.
“We are asking our community to please slow down,” Chief Prettyman said. “Our goal is to save lives, and we’re putting all drivers on alert — the posted speed limit is the law. No excuses.”
For more information, please visit www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/speeding.
