Some drivers can accomplish this without the assistance of unlawful behavior, but many of us are willing to break a few rules if it means getting to our destination faster. Before breaking those rules though, consider that there were over five million vehicular collisions in 2020 despite COVID-19 putting the brakes on many people’s annual mileage. This number is down by over 1.5 million of the average of the previous three years, which goes to show just how dangerous driving can be.
It goes without saying that preparation is often the greatest tool we have against the need to rush. Waking up earlier, planning our days better, and dispensing with potential distractions. It’s often assumed that minor traffic violations are of the least concern. After all, who hasn’t gotten a speeding ticket before. They’re so ubiquitous that it’s easy to write them off as insignificant. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case. The most common traffic violations are the ones responsible for the greatest loss of life across US roadways.
Motivations
People break laws for a wide range of reasons. Most of the time, this negligence isn’t malicious. Most often, drivers don’t intend to cause harm by engaging in risky behavior. They also tend not to recognize the potential impact of that behavior until it’s too late. Becoming too comfortable behind the wheel of a car is a gateway to speeding and lane splitting, particularly in areas where high police presence isn’t expected. The same is true for being behind schedule. Lateness and the rush to be on time is a huge contributor to the most common traffic violations.
Speeding
As it happens, speeding tickets are the most common traffic violation, accounting for over [research?] percent of all citations. Speeding is also a mitigating factor in [research] percent of all car accidents that involve a fatality, and [research] percent of accidents overall. There are understandable reasons for why a driver might decide to drive over the legal limit. The most common is the most sensible: driving faster will get a driver to their destination faster. This makes sense intuitively but rarely works out that way in the real world. Traffic control devices and vehicular traffic are ever-present. Traffic control prevents any driver from maintaining a consistent speed and drivers ahead of you limit your maximum speed to their comfort level. At the end of the day, {speeding only yields reasonable time saved over long drives}.
Improper Lane Change
This is an offense that has as close association with speeding since they are both typically committed by drivers in a rush to reach their destination. While there isn’t exactly a concrete determination one can make about what constitutes an improper lane change—unlike speeding where the limits are posted on every road—you shouldn’t be surprised to get pulled over if you’re quickly moving between lanes to cut in front of traffic or not yielding to other motorists. There are other acts that could constitute improper lane change, but those two cover the general scope of the issue. Even if you are in a rush to get somewhere, it’s always important to keep the safety of others in mind. Just because you fancy yourself an expert driver doesn’t mean that every other motorist on the road is. Even if they are the ones who aren’t attentive to your aggressive driving, you can still be held liable.
Following Too Closely
To close out the triumvirate of common violations for those in a rush is following too closely. This violation is fairly self-explanatory, but most drivers don’t receive citations just for being too close to another vehicle. More often than not, that closeness results in a collision, and the responding officer will issue a ticket for following too closely as a result. Many drivers who tailgate (another term for following too closely) do so with the hopes that the leading car will speed up to avoid collision. Unfortunately, it’s not outside the realm of possibility for the leading car to brake check and report to the officer that they needed to slow down on account of an obstacle out of the tailgating driver’s vision. In this case, without conflicting evidence, liability is likely to fall on the driver who followed too closely.
The Dangers
Although less than 1% of all car crashes in 2020 were fatal, 30% involved an injury for which medical costs may have been incurred and nearly all of them involved some extent of property damage. The time wasted waiting for the police to arrive negates any time saved that aggressive driving may have accrued. Then, the financial burden of paying off citations and paying for repairs kicks in. Consider that the next time you’re in a rush. Over five percent of accidents are on record as involving speeding, meaning there are likely many more. Improper lane change and following too closely are likely also significant contributors to vehicular accidents. To save a few minutes of time is never worth the cost of a collision.
