Increased risk of an accident
Legal and financial consequences
Final word
Increased risk of an accident
Whenever you speed, you risk serious damage to your vehicle, serious injury, legal liability, death as well as the safety of other drivers and pedestrians. The statistics about speeding are proof that it is not worth driving above the speed limit in order to arrive at your destination a few minutes sooner. When you speed, it will take you longer to slow down and stop which increases the likelihood of a collision occurring. Speeding also increases the force with which you are traveling, so if you do get into an accident, it will be much more severe.
The following are some eye-opening statistics about speeding and how it impacts safety on the road:
- Almost one third of crash fatalities were from speed related accidents in 2020. – iihs.org
- Over three hundred thousand people were injured in speed related accidents in 2020. – NHTSA
- Speeding related fatalities increased 17% from 2019 to 2020 across the entire country. – NHTSA
- The difference in the distance that it will take you to stop between traveling 50 miles per hour and traveling 80 miles per hour is almost two and a half times as far. At 50 miles per hour your vehicles stopping distance would be just under 200 feet. At 80 miles per hour your car would take just under 440 feet to come to a stop. – Automotive Fleet
Legal and financial consequences
There are legal consequences when you speed whether you are involved in an accident as a result or if you are caught and pulled over by a police officer. Alaska is no exception to this. The laws regarding speeding in Alaska are strict and for good reason too.
If you are pulled over for speeding in Alaska these are the consequences depending on how fast you were going:
- Under 10 miles over the speed limit – You will be fined $8 for every mile over the speed limit.
- 10 to 19 miles over the speed limit – You will be fined $8 for every mile over the speed limit.
- 20 plus miles over the speed limit – You will be fined $12 for every mile over the speed limit
- “Driving faster than is reasonably prudent” – This is when you are driving at or under the posted speed limit in Alaska but you are driving too fast for inclement road conditions. For example, if the rain is very heavy and other vehicles are driving about 30 miles per hour in a 55 mile per hour zone and you are driving 52 miles per hour, you could receive this ticket if you are pulled over. The cost for this ticket is a flat $90.
So, if you are caught speeding 15 miles over the speed limit in Alaska, you will be fined $120. If you are caught driving 22 miles an hour above the speed limit in Alaska, you will be fined $264. These amounts do not include the applicable fees and taxes which can end up costing you an additional $100.
There are also very costly repercussions when it comes to your auto insurance when you are ticketed by the police for speeding in Alaska. On average, your car insurance rates will increase by 24% or just under $400 per year.
If you get a ticket for speeding and plead guilty or are convicted, you will inevitably receive points on your license. The point system for your driver’s license is a way of determining when someone’s driving infractions have reached a point where they should have their license suspended or even revoked. You can also even receive time in jail if you get a certain number of points in a certain time period.
The points that you will receive on your license if you are caught speeding in Alaska is as follows:
- If you are caught speeding between one and ten miles over the speed limit you will receive two points on your license.
- If you are caught speeding between ten and nineteen miles over the speed limit you will receive four points on your license.
- If you are caught speeding twenty or more miles over the speed limit you will receive six points on your license.
Finally, and most importantly, if you are involved in an accident and it is proven that you were speeding, you will very likely be held legally and civilly responsible for the damage you caused to any other vehicles or people involved in the crash. So, this means you or your insurance will need to cover the cost of the damage to the other cars and any other damaged property in addition to your own car. You can also be sued if you caused any injury in the accident. This can literally cost you millions of dollars. If you were deemed to be driving recklessly, then you could be convicted of a serious crime up to and including vehicular homicide or involuntary manslaughter if the crash resulted in someone else’s death.
Final word
When you make the decision to drive over the speed limit in Alaska, you are not just taking a risk yourself, you are selfishly putting everyone else on the road at risk. Someone could be seriously injured or even killed as a result of you speeding. Even if that is not the case, you face expensive consequences when you are inevitably caught and ticketed by the police which includes your annual insurance premiums increasing significantly.
