On Memorial Day, in a nearby neighborhood of Apex, North Carolina, a 10-year old boy died when hit by a car. The boy was riding on his scooter by his home and perhaps the driver of the car was going too fast - the cause of the accident is still under investigation. The NHTSA.gov reports that in 2021 speeding killed 12,330 people in the United States.
This morning I was reminded of this accident while walking our dog on the sidewalk and a car came speeding past me. The street in our neighborhood is narrow with parked cars on one side of the road. As the speeding car flew by just a few feet away from me, I guess going at least 40 mph in the 25 mph speed limit, I waved my arm to slow down. The driver slowed and then stopped and backed up to see what happened. I asked, “do you know how fast your were going?” The driver replied no and said he was not paying attention. “You were going at least 40 mph and we have kids on scooters riding around here too.” The man apologized and I felt grateful he seemed receptive to my concerns and did not get angry.
The chart from NTSB shows that pedestrian fatalities increase with speed - just an increase from 20 mph to 30 mph increases deaths by 40% and getting hit by a car going 40 mph you only have a 15% chance of survival! Several years ago a friend of mine lost his wife- a school teacher and mother - when she got hit and run over in a supermarket parking lot — the car only traveled about 5 mph!
Our neighborhood obtained from the Apex Police Department a traffic speed monitor to remind drivers how fast they are traveling. The monitor functioned for about two weeks close to the location of the speeding car and then we recently requested moving it to a parallel street. Another neighbor mentioned the monitor slows most cars down but some of the teenage drivers like to test how fast they can cruise by the digital sign.
Another reason to slow down is the faster you drive the more money you’ll spend. Gas milage efficiency generally decreases rapidly at speeds above 50 mph. According to Fuel Economy.gov, you can assume that for each 5 mph you drive over 50 mph on the highway is like paying an additional $0.25 per gallon of gas. So on the many local highways with 70 mph speed limits, people are typically driving 80 mpg costing an extra $3.00 per gallon of gas.
Conserve your speed to save lives, money, and so much more!