Palatine Police Join Illinois Speed Awareness Day Efforts

PALATINE, IL — Illinois Speed Awareness Day is Wednesday, July 24, and the Palatine Police Department is joining law enforcement agencies across the state to promote safety for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians through education and enforcement, according to a release from the department. According to the release, speed was the cause of 42 percent of all the fatal crashes in Illinois during 2017. That's 462 crashes that year, or one life every 19 hours, according to police.

Speeding in residential and urban areas can have these consequences, according to police:

• When a pedestrian is hit by a car traveling at 20 mph, there's a 10 percent likelihood of the pedestrian being killed, while a car traveling at a speed of 30 mph, the percentage increases to a 50 percent likelihood the pedestrian killed.
• The higher the speed upon impact, the more severe the injuries.
• 37.9 percent of speed-related crashes result in injuries.
• When speeding, there's a greater chance others on the road will misjudge how fast you are traveling.
• Speeding reduces a driver's ability to navigate safety around curves or objects in the road.
• Speeding extends the distance required to stop a vehicle in emergency situations.

If we are aware of our speed, obey speed limit signs at all times, and understand how speeding impacts a crash, lives can be saved, according to police.

More: illinoisspeedawarenessday.org