Troop Talk
I’ve heard the stories, as I imagine you have, that the Fort Bliss military police are handing out tickets to anyone going one mile over the speed limit. That’s simply not the case. From Jan. 30 to the end of March, there were 73 tickets written for going from one to four miles over the limit. Those 73 represent just more than 3 percent of the more than 2,000 speeding tickets written in that time period. The majority of these were for going between five and 10 miles over the speed limit. Five hundred-twenty tickets were issued for going more than 10 miles above the limit.
I know it’s frustrating to get ticketed, but there is a reason for Fort Bliss’ no-tolerance speeding policy. The reason is safety. Team Bliss has experienced several tragic vehicle accidents this calendar year, resulting in the deaths and injuries of both Soldiers and civilians, and excessive speed was a factor in all. Simply put, speed kills.
Speeding shortens the time a driver has to react to hazards in the roadway and lengthens the distance needed to stop a vehicle, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Speeding dramatically increases the likelihood of death, injury and severe damage in a collision.
To illustrate this, consider the effect speed has on braking distance. A vehicle traveling at 30 miles per hour covers 44 feet per second. If that driver slammed on the brakes, it would take about 75 feet for the vehicle to stop, roughly the length of a tennis court. That includes the time a driver needs to notice a hazard, react and for the vehicle to respond. If that driver doubled their speed, the stopping distance would actually be four times as long. At 60 miles per hour, that driver could stop in 300 feet – nearly the length of a football field. Stopping a vehicle traveling 80 miles per hour takes about 480 feet. That’s equal to about the height of a 50-story building.
Poor road and weather conditions can lengthen that distance even further. On wet pavement, a driver going 30 miles per hour could stop in 120 feet. At 60 miles per hour, a driver can stop in about 360 feet, and at 80 miles per hour it would take about 720 feet to stop. That’s two football fields laid end to end.
Drivers are also more likely to collide with pedestrians at higher speeds, because they are less likely to see them and have time to react. Once a motorist drives faster than 25 miles per hour, he or she has a significantly more difficult time perceiving the speed that other objects are traveling at, according to the NHSTA. Additionally, if a pedestrian is struck at 15 miles per hour, there is a 3.5 percent chance he or she will be killed. At 30 miles per hour, that jumps to a nearly 40 percent chance of death. Keeping that in mind, think how many times you’ve seen someone driving 30 miles per hour through a school zone or a neighborhood. There’s a reason pedestrian areas on post have speed limits between 15 and 25 miles per hour. It’s all to protect our community and your families, and if the possibility of getting a ticket has caused drivers to slow down, it has been well worth it.
Speeding is also expensive in several ways. Did you know that for every 5 mph you drive over 60 mph, you get worse fuel economy? It’s the equivalent of paying an additional 20 cents per gallon, according to fueleconomy.gov. If you add that to the cost of fines and increased insurance premiums, speeding gets pricey.
Additionally, speeding just doesn’t save that much time, especially around town. If you drive for 10 miles going 40 mph, it will take about 15 minutes. If you drive 45 miles per hour for 10 miles, it will take you about 13.5 minutes. Saving that minute and a half is just not worth the added risk.
Keeping everyone on our installation safe is top on my list of priorities. When you climb behind the wheel, I would ask you to keep the safety of others in the forefront of your mind. If you don’t want to get a ticket, the answer is very simple. Drive safe and drive smart.
Maj. Gen. Howard B. Bromberg
Fort Bliss Commanding General