CONCORD, New Hampshire – The New Hampshire Office of Highway Safety (NHOHS) announces it is teaming up with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to remind drivers to stop speeding and to help put an end to the risky driving behavior. Beginning today, law enforcement officers across New Hampshire will be on higher alert for speeding vehicles as part of the 2023 Speed Prevention Campaign.

Speeding is a dangerous and aggressive behavior that accounts for more than one-quarter of all traffic-related fatalities nationally.

• In New Hampshire, from 2017-2021, speeding was a factor in the deaths of 241 people.
• In 2020, there were 11,258 people killed in speeding-related traffic crashes across the United States, according to NHTSA. This loss of life represented a dramatic increase (17%) in speeding-related crash fatalities from 2019-2020, with another projected 5% increase from 2020 to 2021.
• Alcohol increases the likelihood of a crash while speeding. Throughout the U.S. in 2020, 37% of the drivers involved in fatal crashes were speeding and had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher, compared to 17% of non-speeding drivers, according to NHTSA data.
• Local roads are more dangerous than highways for speeders: In 2020, 87% of all speeding-related traffic fatalities on American roads occurred on non-interstate roadways, according to NHTSA data.

Speed limits aren’t a suggestion, they are the law. Obeying posted speed limits keep drivers and passengers safe.

“Take your time on New Hampshire roads, for rushing only leads to regrets,” said New Hampshire State Police Lt. Christopher Storm.

During the current federal fiscal year, the NHOHS has provided funding to 92 New Hampshire law enforcement agencies at the state, county and local level to conduct speed enforcement patrols.  Additionally, some law enforcement agencies are continuing to utilize NHOHS funds to conduct speed enforcement saturation patrols on high crash corridors, such as Route 125.

For more information, visit www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/speeding.

###

SOURCE: NHTSA. “Traffic Safety Facts, New Hampshire, 2017-2021.” State Traffic Safety Information (STSI), FARS 2017 – 2020 Final and FARS 2021 ARF. Accessed 7 July 2023.