Speeding is dangerous. It causes car accidents, reduces reaction times and increases the severity of injuries when accidents happen. There’s a reason speed limits are set and enforced.
Even so, you see people break the speed limit every day. Have you ever wondered what excuse these chronic speeders give when the police pull them over?
The most common excuse is simple: The driver just didn’t see the sign. One report found that 20.4 percent of drivers used that excuse, which was larger than any other single group. Drivers just claimed they didn’t know they were breaking the law in the first place. Had they seen the sign, they never would have done it.
While the driver may be telling the truth, that doesn’t necessarily excuse it. Drivers have an obligation to look for the signs, know the limits and follow them.
If you’re wondering about the other common excuses, here is the rest of the top five:
- The driver is lost or hasn’t driven down that road before.
- The driver simply did not know he or she was breaking the limit — slightly different but similar to the No. 1 reason.
- All the other drivers were speeding. The driver was just following the crowd.
- There’s an emergency in the vehicle. For instance, a parent could be rushing an injured child to the hospital or a woman could be going into labor.
Some of these excuses are very understandable, especially when there’s an emergency, but that doesn’t change the fact that speeding drivers may be at fault if their actions do lead to a car accident. Those who are injured must know their legal rights after the crash.
Source: Consumer Reports, “Top 10 excuses for speeding,” Jeff Bartlett, accessed Oct. 09, 2017