Forbes Advisor recently conducted a study throughout the United States to find out which states are safer than others. The report found New York state to have the 10th highest rate of speeding deaths since 2010. 

A police officer spoke on the issue, and what officials are doing to make roads safer.  

“Because it’s an everyday thing,” Phoenix police officer Chris Czolowski said. “People don’t drive defensively and don’t pay attention to what they’re doing."

Czolowski believes one of the reasons why New York state has so many speeding deaths is because of the COVID-19 shutdown.  

“A lot of traffic stops weren’t conducted [and] people learned bad habits,” he said. “They weren’t required to go to court in person.”

The report found that 36% of all car accident deaths in New York were due to speeding. On average, that’s 378 people a year. It also says New York has had an 8% increase. That is the third-highest increase of any state since 2010.

Czolowski says those numbers don’t surprise him because of the number of people on the road.  

“[Drivers should] go back to their roots,” he said. “Remember what they learned in driver ed, maintain a following distance, drive the proper posted speed.”

Czolowski says it’s frustrating because reckless drivers are putting all drivers at risk. 

Gov. Kathy Hochul passed two new laws last year to try to make streets safer. The first one allows municipalities to reduce speed limits from 30 miles per hour to 25. The second increases fines for a hit-and-run up to $1,000. 

Czolowski believes the way to decrease speeding deaths is through self-control.   

“You got to use a little self-restraint and drive the speed limit,” he said. “That’s why we have posted speed limits.”

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 23 states in the U.S. make drivers' education mandatory for drivers who are under 18. Czolowski says he believes it should be mandatory for all high school students across the United States.