| I was reading, cannot remember where ATM, about the popularly quoted statistic that 30% of serious accidents are caused by speeding. It was alleged that a more precise examination of the circumstances shows that this 30% is where excessive speed is a factor - i.e. speed greater than that appropriate for the conditions.
If you look again at these serious accidents, the percentage of cases where there were no other factors other than speed in excess of the posted speed limit the ratio is actually under ten percent.
To illustrate the point of all this, an accident may occur on the motorway at 50mph - under the 70mph limit, but the speed could be said to be excessive because, say, thick fog was present. However, the accident still falls under the category of "speeding". It is here that we see the the popular correlation between "speeding" and serious accidents falls apart, i.e one in ten serious accidents is caused by speeding, not one in three.
I found the article interesting. |