High-Speed Crashes: Montana Tops List According To New Study

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - A new study has identified the most dangerous states for fatal crashes at high speeds. The study was conducted by personal injury attorneys serving Louisiana Laborde Earles Injury Lawyers.

They utilized the latest available data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on vehicles involved in fatal crashes between 2017 and 2021 where speed was recorded. It calculated the percentage of vehicles that were traveling at speeds exceeding 80 miles per hour to discover the states with the highest rates. 

Surprise, surprise... Montana emerged as the state with the most significant proportion of high-speed fatal crashes, where 30.37% of vehicles were traveling at speeds of 80 MPH or more, equating to 65 out of 214 vehicles involved in such crashes whose speed was recorded.  

According to the study, Montana also had the highest percentage of vehicles recorded as traveling at more than 100 MPH before a fatal crash. In total, 25 vehicles were found to be going faster than 100 MPH, which is 11.68%. 

READ MORE: Montana Ranked Second in the US for Fatal Crashes

Digger Earles from Laborde Earles Injury Lawyers said, “The dangers of speeding are clear for all to see, but this study highlights that many drivers are unable to resist the temptation to go way above the speed limit. At the national level, more than 108,000 vehicles were in fatal crashes where their speed was recorded, and nearly 8,000 were found to be traveling faster than 80 miles per hour, while more than 2,000 were above 100 miles per hour.”