Regional Law Enforcement Effort To Curb Speeding

Montlick & Associates, Attorneys At Law Discuss Regional Law Enforcement Effort To Curb Speeding

The Georgia State Patrol announced that law enforcement officers in the state of Georgia in cooperation with law enforcement officers in Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, and South Carolina began an initiative to identify drivers operating at speeds greater than the posted limit. The week-long initiative has been dubbed, "Operation Southern Shield." The focus of Southern Shield is to apprehend speeding motorists in an effort to reduce the number of traffic deaths or prevent a traffic death. If you or someone you love has been injured by a speeding motorist in Georgia or the surrounding states, Montlick & Associates has the knowledge and experience you need to maximize your chance of financial recovery.

Recent trends dictate the necessity of instituting an aggressive speeder apprehension program. Traffic deaths increased last year for the second consecutive year. The total fatalities reached 1,561 in 2016. The Macon Telegraph reports that law enforcement officers believe that Operation Southern Shield is a worthwhile program designed to place greater emphasis on educating speeders on the dangers of driving too fast. Operation Southern Shield will feature 16 law enforcement units on speed patrol across Georgia. They will work hand-in-hand with law enforcement officers from the bordering states participating in the program. Law enforcement officers publicized the speeding crackdown because they want to encourage people to slow down and drive safely. 

According to the Macon Telegraph, citing statistics generated by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), that speed was the primary factor in approximately 27% of all fatal accidents nationwide in 2015. 2015 was a deadly year on America's roads. According to the NHTSA, 9,553 people died in car accidents in the United States in 2015. The percentage was slightly lower for Georiga in 2015. During that year, 19%, or 268, of the total fatal accidents were speed related. However, 2015 saw a substantial increase from 2012 in which 15% or 180 of all traffic deaths in Georgia were caused by speeding.

Higher speeds increase the risk of death or suffering serious bodily injury should a crash occur. Just going over the speed limit by ten miles per hour significantly increases the chances of a crash. Driving at faster speeds increases the time required to stop in an emergency. Accordingly, the driver has less time to react to dangerous situations while exceeding the speed limit. Driving at slower rates of speed allows time to react to unpredictable situations, such as a distracted driver crossing a line, a tire blowout that causes a driver to lose control, or a simply a defect in the road.

Statistical analysis has identified trends in speed related crashes. Younger male drivers aged 15-24 are more likely to speed and are more likely to die in speed related crashes. In 2015, 22% of the people killed in Georgia car accidents were from that demographic. Young men operating motorcycles who perished in a crash were speeding 27% of the time. By contrast, 18% of light trucks, such as pickups, SUVs, and minivans were speeding when the fatal accident occurred.

The monetary cost of speed induced crashes in astounding. Estimates indicate that $40.4 billion is lost annually due to accidents caused by speeders across the United States.

It is important, therefore, to obey all speed limits. Additionally, drivers should try to identify speeding vehicles and avoid them because of the greater chance they will cause an accident.

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If you have been injured in any type of accident caused by someone else's negligence, call Montlick & Associates, Attorneys at Law for your free consultation today. Montlick & Associates has been representing those who suffer serious injuries throughout all of Georgia and in the Southeast for over 39 years, including but not limited to Albany, Athens, Atlanta, Augusta, Columbus, Gainesville, Macon, Marietta, Rome, Roswell, Savannah, Smyrna, Valdosta, Warner Robins and all smaller cities and rural areas in the state.

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Sources: Cited within and http://www.gahighwaysafety.org/research/speed-statistics/