This U.S. State Has the Speediest Drivers, According to a Report

If you’re going on a road trip this summer, you need to be prepared. That usually starts with getting your car tuned up, maybe even detailed, packing all the right road trip accessories, and plotting out your adventure. But while you’re checking out the map, you may want to consider how safe each place is to drive through. Now, a new study by Munley Law has named the states with the most notorious speeding areas, with South Carolina at the top.

In early July, the group of personal injury attorneys released their study that looked at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s 2021 state traffic data to determine the total number of fatalities related to speeding across every state in the U.S. The team used this figure and divided it across the population of each state to determine the total number of speeding fatalities per 100,000 citizens.

After looking at the data, the team named South Carolina as the most “notorious speeding area in America,” with 9.2 people per 100,000 residents on average being involved in speeding fatalities each year. “It also saw the third-highest occurrence of speeding fatalities on minor arterial roads nationally (roads that interconnect rural centers to one another),” the findings added. 

Right behind South Carolina is New Mexico, which the findings stated sees “a rate of 8.8 speeding fatalities per 100,000 residents.” The findings also pointed to the New Mexico Department of Transportation data, which stated that as of 2021, “driver inattention is the highest contributing factor to crash-related fatalities.” 

Other states toward the top of the list are Wyoming in third with a rate of 7.74 speeding fatalities per 100,000 residents, followed by Montana with a speeding fatality rate of 7.66 per 100,000. Rounding out the top five speediest states is Missouri, with a rate of 6.54 speeding fatalities per 100,000 residents. 

“These findings serve as a critical reminder of the need for drivers to respect speed limits and drive cautiously to protect themselves and others on the road,” a spokesperson for the law firm commented on the findings. “This study emphasizes the ongoing challenge of addressing speeding-related fatalities nationwide. While each state faces unique conditions, the common thread is the undeniable impact of responsible driving behavior on road safety.”