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Speeding is not just about ignoring rules but is instead shaped by social pressure, poor road design and weak enforcement systems, according to a new research from nine countries, including India, across different income settings.
Published in the medical journal BMJ Injury Prevention, the study conducted by George Institute for Global Health-India shows that speeding is more than recklessness.
“The study provides insights into the behavioural factors around why (or why not) people speed,” Pratishtha Singh, research officer with The George Institute for Global Health and lead author, told The Indian Express.
Each year, an estimated 1.3 million people die in road traffic crashes (RTCs), while an additional 20–50 million people sustain non-fatal injuries, including those that result in permanent disability. Among individuals aged 5–29 years, road crashes are a primary cause of mortality in the majority of countries. One prominent contributing factor to RTCs is excessive speeding, which is responsible for 15–35 per cent of reported fatalities.
Researchers identified 5,103 records from electronic databases (2000 onwards)and finally included 14 studies that met the eligibility criteria. They assessed records from India, Australia, the United States, England, Spain, Nepal, Iran, Vietnam and Cambodia.
Despite the existence of evidence and legal mandates, ensuring appropriate road user compliance with speed limits remains a challenge. While some studies have examined factors associated with speeding, there has been no qualitative synthesis of evidence to understand the enabling and obstructive factors to speeding.
According to Singh, speeding is not just an individual choice; it is shaped by culture, road design and the credibility of enforcement. “If we want to save lives, we need to create systems where safe driving is the easier choice, not the harder one,” she said.
The majority of the studies had participants aged 25 years or younger (adolescents, students, or novice drivers), while four studies included only experienced drivers or experienced drivers along with youth, and three studies included stakeholders such as parents, bus drivers, and truck drivers. One study focused exclusively on truck drivers.
Overall, participants expressed a relatively low level of fear regarding the dangers of speeding. According to the study, the predominant belief was that since everyone speeds casually, it is a normalised and relatively safe action.
Study researchers pointed out that these insights are highly relevant for India, which continues to record the highest number of road crash deaths worldwide. In 2023 alone, there were over 4,80,000 crashes and 1.72,000 deaths – roughly 55 crashes and 20 deaths every hour. Aligning with the United Nations Second Decade of Action for Road Safety (2021–2030), the study notes the urgent need for smarter, stronger speed management strategies to halve deaths and injuries by 2030.
Global evidence shows that every 10 km/h reduction in average vehicle speed reduces the risk of a fatal crash by up to 40%, making speed management one of the most powerful tools for saving lives. Singh, along with other researchers, Dr Soumyadeep Bhaumik, Dr. Jagnoor Jagnoor, and Dr. Julie Brown from The George Institute for Global Health, also said that simply telling people that it is dangerous to speed is not sufficient.
Effective interventions must address peer pressure, challenge dangerous cultural norms linking speeding to masculinity, and design roads that naturally slow down traffic.
