If you are injured in a vehicle crash, one thing the police will look at is the speed of the various vehicles involved. If they find the other party was traveling at an inappropriate speed for the conditions, they may decide to prosecute them.
Separate from that, you may be able to use any evidence of another driver’s inappropriate speed to boost your compensation claim. Here is why:
Crash force increases with speed
A driver traveling over the speed limit will hit you with more force than one traveling within the speed limit (if all other factors are equal). Speed is one of the elements that directly affect the impact force in a collision and greater force tends to lead to more serious injuries. This could leave you with higher medical expenses than if the driver was traveling at a reasonable speed.
Speed reduces the time available to react
Let’s say a collision occurs as you are changing lanes. The other driver might claim you should have seen them and waited before moving over the lane line. That could reduce your argument for compensation as all drivers have a duty to check their mirrors. If, however, you can show that they approached from behind so fast that they were not in your mirrors when you looked, it may help to push the blame back onto them.
Speed reduces control
Some drivers are able to control their vehicles with precision at high speeds. Yet, most are not nearly as good as they think, hence why drivers often lose control when going too fast. They might even be within the speed limit, but, if the surface is slippery, even that could be too fast to retain total control on a corner and they might drift across the lane enough to clip you.
Learning more about how crash claims work gives you a better chance of getting the compensation you need.