Understanding the Speeding Dashboard

The NC Vision Zero Speeding Dashboard provides a comprehensive view of speed-involved crashes across North Carolina. It allows you to explore where, when, and how speeding contributes to roadway fatalities and injuries. This interactive tool is designed for community members, policymakers, researchers, and advocates seeking to reduce speed-related crashes through data-driven insights.

The dashboard is organized into five tabs, each focusing on a different aspect of speeding-related crashes:

• Speeding Dashboard – View statewide totals and explore monthly, yearly, and hourly patterns in speed-related crashes and fatalities. Filter by geography, injury severity, and other categories.
• Crash Characteristics – Examine the conditions and events involved in speed-influenced crashes, including harmful event types, road features, weather, and emphasis areas like alcohol or distraction.
• Person Characteristics – Analyze the age, ethnicity, vehicle position, and restraint use of individuals involved in speeding-related crashes.
• Vehicle Characteristics – Explore vehicle types, maneuvers, crash sequences, and registration states to understand how different vehicles are represented in speed-related incidents.
• Emphasis Area Definitions – Reference the criteria used to define key crash types across the dashboard, such as alcohol-involved, drugged, distracted, and unbelted crashes.

Use the filters, visualizations, and definitions to focus on specific crash patterns, geographic areas, or contributing factors. This dashboard is a tool to support safer roads through better understanding of speeding and its consequences.

Speeding Dashboard tab (you start on this one when the page loads)

This interactive dashboard provides a focused look at crashes where speeding was a contributing factor. It is designed to help you explore patterns in speed-involved crashes and fatalities.

You can:

• View statewide totals of crashes and fatalities where speeding was involved
• Filter by year, injury severity, region, county, and more to refine results
• Examine monthly and yearly trends in speed-related crashes and deaths
• Analyze crash timing by day of week and time of day using the heatmap
• See which roadways most commonly experience speed-involved fatalities

Use the visualizations and filters to explore specific communities or crash conditions. Hover over graphs and charts for detailed values.

Crash Characteristics tab

This dashboard tab focuses on the types of crashes that involve speeding. It helps you analyze how different crash characteristics—such as the most harmful event, weather conditions, and road features—relate to speed-involved incidents. The tab offers a detailed look at what happens when speeding contributes to a crash.

You can:

• Identify the most harmful crash events associated with speed (e.g., fixed-object collisions, rollovers)
• Explore crash conditions including weather, road features, and intersection types
• Analyze emphasis areas like alcohol involvement, distraction, and drowsiness in speed-related crashes
• Compare average vehicle speeds by posted speed limit
• See how many vehicles exceeded speed limits under different crash scenarios

Use this section to understand how speeding contributes to the nature and severity of crashes.

Person Characteristics tab

This section of the dashboard highlights who is affected in speed-related crashes. It provides a breakdown of the demographic and behavioral characteristics of the people involved, giving you insight into age, ethnicity, seating position, and seat belt use in these incidents.

You can:

• Explore crash involvement by age group and ethnicity to understand demographic patterns
• Compare roles of persons involved, such as drivers versus passengers
• Analyze vehicle occupancy in speed-involved crashes (e.g., single vs. multi-occupant scenarios)
• Examine seating positions to see where unbelted occupants were located
• Review seat belt usage by position to identify risk factors

This tab helps you assess who is most at risk in speeding-related crashes.

Vehicle Characteristics tab

This dashboard tab highlights the types and behaviors of vehicles involved in crashes where speeding was a factor. It provides insight into vehicle movements, crash sequences, and vehicle types. This information helps identify what vehicles are involved and how they behave in speed-related crashes.

You can:

• See the most common vehicle maneuvers during crashes involving speed
• Explore sequences of events that occurred leading up to or during the crash
• Compare vehicle types involved, including passenger cars, pickups, and motorcycles
• View vehicle registration state to understand local vs. out-of-state involvement
• Analyze vehicle occupancy across different crash scenarios

Emphasis Area Definitions tab

This section defines the key emphasis areas used across the Speeding Dashboard. These definitions help you understand how certain crash types—such as those involving alcohol, drugs, distraction, or intersections—are categorized and visualized. Each emphasis area is based on specific crash codes and data fields used in North Carolina traffic crash reports. It shows exactly how data categories are constructed and thus allows you to better interpret trends and apply consistent criteria when analyzing speed-related crash patterns.