NHTSA considers a crash to be speeding-related if any driver in the crash was charged with a speeding-related offence or if a police officer indicated that racing, driving too fast for conditions, or exceeding the posted speed limit was a contributing factor in the crash. In this fact sheet, information on 2015 speeding-related fatal crashes is presented in the following order: - Overview; - Driver Characteristics; - Alcohol; - Restraint Use; - Environmental Characteristics; and - Speeding-Related Fatalities by State. This fact sheet contains information on fatal motor vehicle crashes and fatalities based on data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). FARS is a census of fatal crashes in the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico is not included in U.S. totals). In 2015, there were 48,353 drivers involved in 32,166 fatal crashes, in which 35,092 people lost their lives. Eighteen percent of the drivers involved were speeding at the time of the crash, and 27 percent of those killed were in a crash involving at least one speeding driver. Table 1 shows the total number of traffic fatalities, and the number and percent of fatalities that were speeding-related, for the most recent 10 years of data. The number of speeding-related fatalities increased by 3 percent, from 9,283 in 2014 to 9,557 in 2015. Key Findings: • There were 35,092 traffic fatalities in 2015. Among them, 9,557 (27%) were in crashes where at least one driver was speeding. • The number of speeding-related fatalities in 2015 increased by 3 percent from 2014, from 9,283 to 9,557. • In 2015, 32 percent of 15- to 20-year-old and 21- to 24-yearold male drivers involved in fatal crashes were speeding, the highest among the age groups presented. • In 2015, 45 percent of all speeding drivers in fatal crashes had been drinking, compared to 20 percent of non-speeding drivers involved in fatal crashes. • In 2015, 33 percent of motorcycle riders involved in fatal crashes were speeding, more than drivers of any other vehicle type. • In fatal crashes in 2015, nearly half (46%) of motorcyclists and speeding passenger vehicle drivers were unrestrained at the time of crash, compared to 24 percent of non-speeding passenger vehicle and motorcycle drivers. • In 2015, 15 percent of speeding-related fatalities occurred on Interstate highways. (Author/publisher)
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