Disturbing fatal crash study shows NJ has a big speeding problem

We know speed kills. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand the concept that the faster an object is moving before impact the more intense the damage will be.

In a recent study done by Laborde Earles Injury Lawyers https://onmyside.com using the latest data available from National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Montana showed up in first place for largest proportion of high-speed fatal crashes.

It makes sense. Montana is a lot of open highway without a ton of a traffic and an 80 mph speed limit. That combination tempts pushing the boundaries of speed.

But what about a place like New Jersey? The most congested spot in the country with a ton of traffic and jams that could make a nun lose patience. Could we be that high on the list?

We are. We’re number eight.

High-speed crashes kill eighth most often in New Jersey. In other words, despite crowded roads and lower speed limits and constant traffic jams we manage to have a huge speeding problem in the Garden State.

The study examined vehicles involved in fatal crashes from 2017 to 2021 when the speed was known. Then it looked at the percentage of vehicles that were traveling in excess of 80 mph. Montana’s was 30.37%. Again, not a shocker.

8th place New Jersey had 13.45% of fatal crashes that were above 80 mph.

"The dangers of speeding are clear for all to see, but this study highlights that many drivers are unable to resist the temptation to go way above the speed limit. At the national level more than 108,000 vehicles were in fatal crashes where their speed was recorded, and nearly 8,000 were found to be traveling faster than 80 miles per hour, while more than 2,000 were above 100 miles per hour,” commented Digger Earles from the law firm.

Washington had the least at 1.12%. The national average is 7.31% of fatal crashes where the speed was in excess of 80 mph. So New Jersey was nearly double the national average.

It gets even worse. When looking at percentage of fatal crashes that were going in excess of 100 mph, New Jersey shot up to third place. Only Montana and Rhode Island were worse at 11.68% and 7.89% respectively. New Jersey was 6.6%.

What’s it going to take? Speeding tickets and license suspensions don’t seem to work. Just imagine how much worse we would be without so many things getting in our way.

The top ten states with the highest percentages of fatal crashes above 80 mph:

1️⃣ Montana 30.37%

2️⃣ Alaska 22.22%

3️⃣ Illinois 16.27%

4️⃣ Connecticut 15.62%

5️⃣ Wyoming 14.11%

6️⃣ Texas 13.96%

7️⃣ Rhode Island 13.82%

8️⃣ New Jersey 13.45% (in bold)

9️⃣ South Dakota 13.06%

🔟 Massachusetts 12.22%

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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