At a recent Traffic & Mobility Commission meeting, the Carlsbad Police Department shared preliminary traffic safety data from February. The report is just a snapshot of one month, but it highlights why it’s so important to drive safely, slow down and remove distractions.

The most common cause of collisions in February was unsafe speed. “Unsafe speed” is not necessarily the same thing as “speeding.” Many things can impact what speed is considered safe, including the speed traffic is traveling around you. For instance, if the speed limit is 45 mph but traffic is heavy and most cars are moving closer to 30 mph, it’s not safe to drive 45.

The consequences of driving too fast can be serious:

• It’s easier to lose control of your vehicle
• Stopping distance increases
• Collisions become more severe, leading to more serious injuries
• Your car uses more gas at higher speeds, meaning you’ll pay more at the pump
• You could receive a citation and pay a fine, and your insurance rates could increase

Slowing down can go a long way toward preventing collisions and injuries. The city has a number of projects in the works to reduce speeding by installing speed feedback signs, adding speed humps or raised crosswalks to neighborhood streets or narrowing lane width (you wouldn’t drive the same speed through a small alley that you would on a wide freeway).

There were 51 total collisions in February that resulted in an injury – that's an average of more than one each day. Of those collisions, most were between more than one car.

More information

Safer Streets Together
Reducing speeding in neighborhoods
Traffic safety data
Traffic safety tips