During the COVID-19 pandemic, law enforcement agencies around the nation – and in Louisville, Kentucky – have noticed a frightening increase in speeding and reckless driving. As personal injury and wrongful death attorneys, we at DeCamillis & Mattingly find this particularly disturbing because speed really does kill. The problem is, while speedsters don’t plan on having a car wreck, they do – because there is a direct correlation between speed, stopping distance, and control (as seen in this document on stopping distance) . There is also a direct correlation between speed and crash severity. The human body simply cannot withstand the acceleration/deceleration forces of high speed collisions. The result of more speeding and reckless driving is a devastating increase of serious injuries and fatalities.
The speeding trend on the near-empty streets has escalated to drag racing, and the problem has become so serious that Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer stepped in with a threat to seize any cars involved in drag racing, as this Courier-Journal story reports. Mayor Fischer is quoted as stating, “If we see drag racing going on, we will take steps to seize your cars.” He added, “I will not hesitate to take any action to get that done.”
The same trend – an increase in speeding, reckless driving, and corresponding injuries and fatalities – is seen at the national level. This Forbes article reports that expressway speeds are increasingly clocked at more than 100 mph, and authorities are reminding citizens this is not a time to be filling hospital beds with car wreck victims. This FOX News feature reports that in New York, 25,000 speeding tickets were issued in one day, and crashes and fatalities have doubled in Minnesota.
There is no question about the reality of this disturbing trend. It is as bad locally as it is nationally. The question is, what are we going to do about it? The human toll of speeding is never worth the thrill of the moment. . . and, you are never in that big of a hurry. When it comes down to your life or the life of someone else, it is not even a close call. SLOW DOWN! Please take it from us at DeCamillis & Mattingly and share it with friends and family: Speed limits exist for a reason. The faster you drive, the higher your risk of serious injury or death. Even though the attorneys of DeCamillis & Mattingly are always here to help car accident victims, we’d much rather prevent than represent. Slow down, stay safe, and better yet … stay home.
