A 22-year-old Specialist assigned to 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, New York, died in a PMV-4 mishap 18 August 2018 in McKinley County, New Mexico, at 2245 local. The Soldier was operating a rented vehicle on the interstate when it struck the rear of a pickup towing a fifth-wheel trailer. Excessive speed and driver inattentiveness are suspected as contributing factors. The Soldier was reportedly not wearing a seat belt.
- According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there were 37,461 traffic fatalities in 2016. Among them, 10,111 (27 percent) were in crashes where at least one driver was speeding.
- In fatal crashes, 50 percent of speeding passenger vehicle drivers were unrestrained at the time of the crash, compared to 21 percent of non-speeding passenger vehicle drivers.
- Young male drivers were the most likely to be speeding at the time of the fatal crash. Nearly one-third (32 percent) of male drivers in the 15- to 20-year-old age group involved in fatal crashes were speeding at the time of the crash, compared to 22 percent for female drivers in the same age group.
- Drivers who were speeding when involved in fatal crashes were more likely to have been drinking - and drinking more - than those drivers who were not speeding.