Resolve To Slow Down This New Year And Avoid A New Haven Auto Accident

When the calendar still read 2023 there was a woman who was arrested for driving 125 MPH on one of Connecticut’s roads. Believe it or not she was one of the lucky ones who will see consequences for her actions, but she did not get into an accident. Being arrested, may have quite literally saved her life.

Now that we have turned the calendar to 2024 it is incumbent upon all of us to make sure that we are making better choices when we get behind the wheel. Excessive speed when you are driving a car or truck is one of the deadliest activities you can get yourself into and in the event that you get into a New Haven auto accident while driving at high speeds you will make the accident significantly worse and cause yourself greater injury or even death.

Let us resolve today and every day in the coming year and beyond that we will all drive at the speed limit to reduce the severity of all accidents that occur in the state of Connecticut. While we cannot prevent accidents entirely we can do small things, like obeying the speed limit to help improve our chances of surviving accidents. If you resolve today to slow down, you will be able to keep yourself and your loved ones who may be traveling with you safe from harm.

Not convinced? Here are a few more reasons why excessive speed is so dangerous and how you can keep yourself safe by avoiding this type of behavior when driving.

1.) Longer stopping distance. When you are driving above the speed limit you are making it more difficult to stop when faced with a situation that you are not expecting. Under normal circumstances when you are driving without anyone in front of you or around you, you may be able to control when you hit the brakes and how long you have to come to a complete stop, but on a road that is congested with many cars surrounding you things can get very unpredictable very fast. If you’re driving over the speed limit, especially well over the speed limit you may be putting yourself in a position where you won’t have enough time to stop to avoid the car in front of you or to the side of you.

2.) Limiting your reaction time. When you’re driving at speeds that exceed the speed limit you will be giving yourself less time to react to the cars around you. This might be OK if the road is free of other vehicles, but that is generally not how you experience driving conditions. If you are sharing the road with any other vehicles you will be faced with unpredictable situations that will require you to react quickly and effectively. When you are driving at an excessive speed your ability to react and adjust your driving to the situations that develop in front of you will be reduced. When this happens you are far more likely to get into an accident.

3.) Loss of control. When you are traveling at a high rate of speed and you cannot react in time to the cars around you, you will be more likely to have to hit your brakes hard and unexpectedly. If this is the case your car is much more likely to get out of control and you will be much less likely to be able to control the vehicle when this happens. This loss of control will not only happen when you hit the brakes either, if you’re traveling at a high rate of speed you are more likely to hit a pot hole or a bend in the road just right that will throw your ability to control your car off and you will not be able to recover in time to avoid an accident. If this is the case, you could find yourself seriously injured or worse.

The new year is a perfect opportunity to look at some of our bad behaviors and try to correct them. What better bad behavior to look at then one that could very easily cause you serious injury or death. If you like to drive fast, we understand, but maybe find a controlled race track to do that on and not on roads you share with other drivers. Excessive speed on our roads can lead to a New Haven auto accident and a severe one at that.

If you haven’t quite been able to lay off the speed just yet and you wind up in an accident you may need to speak with someone who has experience handling situations like the one you find yourself in. Contact our office and one of our experienced attorneys will speak with you and work on how you may be able to protect your long-term interests.