Speeding remains an alarmingly high factor in crashes resulting in fatalities and serious injuries and is also under reported within crash reports. A crash is speeding-related if any driver in the crash was charged with a speeding-related offense or if a police officer indicated that racing, driving too fast for conditions, or exceeding the posted speed limit was a contributing factor in the crash.
Most crashes involve the element of speed, but there are many reasons why a determination of speeding may not be indicated in a crash report. Other factors and the level of investigation into causes in a crash, including possible impairment, distraction, or weather conditions are often the focus of crash reports.
While often not involving injuries, we see many minor crashes on a regular basis - with spikes during rainy or snowy weather - many related to people driving too fast or not slowing down in times of reduced visibility and poor traction.
In Rhode Island, in the past two years with data available (2024-2025), speed was a likely factor in approximately 59 percent of all automobile traffic fatalities. That's a sharp contrast compared with the national average of 28 percent.
In 2025, the cities of Providence, Warwick, and West Warwick had the highest numbers of speeding crashes among Rhode Island communities.
When looking deeper into the numbers for 2024-2025, we found a high percentage of speeding as a contributing factor in crashes occurring on non-highway roads; that is, roads with speed limits of 30 mph or less or 50 mph or less.
We have partnerships with local community groups, safety organizations and law enforcement agencies that are all working together to educate motorists and enforce speeding laws to change behaviors. This partnership is using a data-driven approach to identify high-incident speeding locations so media outreach and law enforcement efforts can target these areas accordingly.
Although we know speeding is a widespread concern, we ask that law enforcement take a deeper dive into their local data to find these areas of concern. This provides an opportunity for a pre- and post-evaluation of high- incident speeding areas in efforts to gauge the effectiveness of their attempt to change behaviors within their community.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and RIDOT's Office on Highway Safety recently launched a new advertising campaign called "Speeding Catches Up With You," which is a year-round social norming campaign focusing on encouraging drivers to drive at the speed limit as well as to educate others of the consequences of speeding such as increased degree of crash severity and severe injury, as well as a much higher likelihood of dying in a crash at excessive speeds.
Rhode Island has a high percentage of fatal crashes with speeding as a contributing factor. Know the Limits - obey all posted limits and reduce your speed as appropriate in times of adverse weather, in work zones and when passing emergency services help with a crash or disabled vehicle.