Speeding Lyft Drivers Are a Serious Roadway Hazard?

Published on Jul 7, 2022 at 3:25 pm in Lyft Accidents.

Speeding is something we literally see on the roadway every single day. Sometimes because we see something frequently, we normalize it. When we are in the back of a Lyft rideshare, we may be paying even less attention to whether the driver is going the speed limit or not. Speeding Lyft drivers are a serious roadway hazard. If a driver causes an accident and you suffer injuries, reach out to a Lyft accident attorney in the San Diego area right away,

Why Speeding Is So Deadly?

Speeding is illegal, yes, but more than that, it is robbing our society of so much:

• Speeding is bad for the economy due to all the speeding-related property damage and injuries.
• Speeding increases the likelihood of losing control of your car, which leads to far more serious accidents such as roll-overs. 
• Speeding raises the chances of a collision being serious, with worse injuries, and more tragic deaths.
• Going over the speed limit means your vehicle’s stopping distance is going to be greater than another car in the same traffic conditions with the same roadway.
• Speeding uses more gas, and, ultimately, is worse for the planet and environment. 
• Speeding limits the effectiveness of things like seatbelts, airbags, and anti-lock brakes 

Roadways have actually gotten more dangerous since the rise of rideshare apps. One study compared data from Lyft and Uber with data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Researchers concluded that after a rideshare app was launched in a new city, gas use, the number of cars registered, distances driven, time spent sitting in traffic, and fatal traffic collisions all increased.

Speeding Statistics

Clearly, everyone is aware that speeding is a serious public health threat and something we should all be concerned about. Here are a few statistics to really drive home the dangers and reality of speeding:

• One-third of all traffic fatalities in 2020 have speeding to blame. 
• 11,258 people were killed in 2020 by speeding…that’s 30+ people daily.
• Speeding and driving while intoxicated do appear to go hand-in-hand. A quarter of speeding drivers under twenty-one that were in lethal crashes were driving impaired.

Speeding Deaths Were on the Way Down Until COVID-19

In 2020, an ongoing trend in reduced speeding fatalities was reversed. Deaths caused by exceeding the speed limit jumped up 17%, according to the National Safety Council. This is the most speeding-related death in over ten years, sadly. At the present moment,  speeding deaths make up 29% of all car accident fatalities, which is unfortunately up from 26% in 2019.

How Uber vs. Lyft Has Tackled Driver Speeding

Uber created a feature in their app that tracks whether a driver is speeding or not. Since the app already has GPS tracking, that seems pretty reasonable. Lyft, however, based on research available, has no such feature and does not track driver speeding. The Reddit Rideshare Driver forum says that speeding Lyft drivers might get a warning notification if they arrive at a destination too early, but that is all the data available online.

Injured in a Speeding Lyft? Contact a San Diego Lyft Accident Attorney

If your Lyft driver was breaking the speed limit when your accident occurred, RideApp Law Group can help. We are a Southern California-based law firm handling rideshare-based injury claims exclusively. Contact us today for a free consultation.