National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has investigated 5,471 injury crashes that took place between July 3, 2005 and December 31, 2007. Unlike previous studies automatically generated from computerized data found in police reports, researchers in this effort were dispatched to accident scenes before they were cleared. This allowed a first-hand comparison of physical evidence with direct interviews of witnesses and others involved in the incident. NHTSA evaluated the data to determine the factors most responsible for the collision.

Overall, vehicles “traveling too fast for conditions” accounted for only 5% of the critical pre-crash events (page 23). More significant factors included driving off the edge of a road (22%), or people who drifted over the center dividing line (11%)

When driver error was the primary cause of a crash, researchers went further to identify the “critical reason” behind that error. Distraction and not paying attention to the road accounted for 41 percent of the errors. Ten percent of errors were attributed to drivers lacking proper driving skills and either freezing up or overcompensating behind the wheel. Eight percent were asleep, having a heart attack or otherwise incapacitated. A similar eight percent of errors were attributed to driving too fast for conditions and five percent driving too fast for a curve (page 25).

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You can clearly see the statistics give the story plain and simple. Showing this to a cop isn’t going to save you from a speeding ticket anytime soon, but these statistics, and similar studies from other state sources, can only go to help raise the speed limits on our streets and highways. As someone who travels long distances relatively regularly, this would be a welcome addition to my travels and save some time for sure. So, who’s going to be brave enough to start talking about state Autobahns in America?

Source: http://www.thenewspaper.com/rlc/docs/2008/us-crashcause.pdf