Slow down! The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that speeding accounts for more than 25% of all fatal motor vehicle accidents on US roadways. Speeding will greatly increase the risk for becoming involved in an accident and also the prospect of causing a fatal accident given the damage that results from a higher impact collision.

As parents, we become role models for our new teen drivers and if you engage in a course and conduct of speeding then it is more likely than not that your child will also speed. A newly licensed teen driver who speeds will greatly increase his or her chances of being involved in an accident by virtue of their inexperience, their inability to properly navigate a motor vehicle and being unfamiliar with how a vehicle will react in such a situation.

Speed limits are not suggestions but rather set forth how fast a person should travel in optimal conditions. If there is snow and ice, wet leaves, fog or heavy rain then you should reduce your speed below that of the posted limit. The faster a person operates a motor vehicle the more time the driver will need to respond to any type of unforeseen hazards. This could involve potholes in the roadway, children or animals darting out into the street, people walking, jogging or riding bicycles on blind hills or curves and a variety of other situations that would make stopping in time very difficult.

So what can you do to help reduce your habit of speeding or in reducing your speed when you are out on the roadway? Please consider the following:

Leave early. When you are running late you tend to drive a lot faster than you should be and you increase the likelihood that you will speed and become involved in an accident;

Speeding does little to save you time. In a great number of cases, speeding can cause traffic jams or may cause other drivers to respond in a way that can cause traffic to come to a crawl; and

Leave adequate room for all vehicles around you. You should be one car length behind the vehicle in front of you for every 10 miles an hour you are traveling. If you are traveling at 50 miles an hour then you should have five car lengths between you and the vehicle in front of you.

You could be doing everything to follow the rules of the road, including traveling at the proper speed limit, but you may be struggling to deal with others on the roadways that are speeding. You should consider the following tactics:

If the speeding individual is in a company truck then, when it is safe to do so, you should contact the employer and tell them about the time and place that you observed their vehicle speeding;

Get out of the way of a speeding vehicle. You should not attempt to block a speeding driver or get in the way of them so they cannot pass you because you might get involved in the situation that could become quite dangerous; and

Allow plenty of room for aggressive or speeding drivers so that you do not endanger yourself or others inside your own vehicle.

If you or someone you know has been involved in an accident, caused by a speeding driver, then it is important that you get the advice and counsel of experience Connecticut personal injury lawyer at the earliest possible moment. Please visit our website to download a free copy of our Connecticut accident and injury law book or call our toll-free number and speak to one of our Connecticut accident attorneys so you can find out what you should and should not be doing.

Above all, slow down, be safe and drive carefully!