The increased risk of an accident when speeding
Speed limits in Puerto Rico
Wrapping up
The increased risk of an accident when speeding
Speeding is incredibly dangerous, and it is unfortunately a common issue in Puerto Rico. When you drive over the speed limit, you are at a considerably higher risk of getting into an accident because you will have less time to react, and it will simultaneously take you more time to come to a complete stop or slow down. It is no wonder why speeding is responsible for so many accidents and against the law.
The numbers about speeding do not lie. More people died in speeding related crashes in Puerto Rico in 2019 than any other traffic related cause. That includes deaths caused by drunk driving or by not wearing a seat belt. Speeding also accounted for nearly a third of all traffic related fatalities that year. In 2019, there were almost twenty-five thousand speeding tickets issued in Puerto Rico and that is with the infamous lenient traffic enforcement in Puerto Rico.
In fact, the lenient traffic enforcement can possibly be seen as contributing to the continued prevalence of speeding in Puerto Rico. In a survey, forty nine percent of people said it was “highly unlikely” that they would get a ticket if speeding in Puerto Rico whereas only thirty seven percent had ever even heard of anyone even getting a speeding ticket in Puerto Rico.
Speed limits in Puerto Rico
Obviously, you should always obey the speed limit no matter where you are driving However, that is especially true in Puerto Rico. In Puerto Rico, the speed limits are typically twenty-five miles per hour on city streets, forty-five miles per hour on country roads and sixty-five miles per hour on the highways. Watch out for school zones as the speed limit will only be fifteen miles per hour on school days while school is in session.
As we mentioned above, police in Puerto Rico are not very strict in terms of enforcing the speed limits. This means you will likely have a ten to fifteen mile per hour buffer. So, in the city roads like San Juan, you may be able to drive forty miles per hour without being ticketed, even if the police see you driving that fast. However, that is not guaranteed and, much more importantly, puts you and the cars around you at a great risk of getting into an accident. For example, the distance you need to brake when you are driving a hundred miles per hour versus only seventy is doubled.
Wrapping up
Speeding is incredibly irresponsible and puts you, your passengers, your car and anyone else on the road at risk of being involved in a serious accident. Speeding causes a lot of fatalities each and every year. In Puerto Rico, speeding happens more frequently and with more impunity with most places because police do not enforce speed limits as strictly as they do in other places such as the US. Always obey the speed limit in Puerto Rico, no matter where you are driving.
