AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy -- For an Aviano couple, one morning began like any other typical day. They were driving to the base on a wet road caused by the rain.
As the vehicle approached a roundabout for an exit, the vehicle hydroplaned, completed a 180 degree turn and flipped their vehicle into a ditch, landing on its side before coming to a complete stop.
They were speeding.
Luckily, they were wearing their seatbelts. No one was seriously injured in this mishap.
But is speeding worth having an accident, losing your car, paying hundreds in fines, killing someone else or worst, yourself?
During fiscal 2009, the Aviano community had 426 vehicle mishaps. One-hundred-six were caused speeding.
According to the 31st Fighter Wing Safety Office, the average distance from an off-base residence to the installation is approximately seven miles.
"When members make the poor decision to speed, they may arrive to their destinations three minutes faster, some will never arrive at all," said Staff Sgt. Jason Smith, 31st FW Ground Safety. "The speeder may also subject themselves to unforeseen factors, such as weather conditions and traffic, ultimately endangering their lives along with the lives of others on the roadways."
Speeding in Italy has serious consequences to exclude mishaps and loss of life. If caught speeding, one may be required to pay fines or lose driving privileges. The following are the range of speeding and their corresponding fines:
Speeding from 1 to 10 KPH over: 36 to 148 Euro fine
Speeding from 11 to 39 KPH over: 180 Euro fine
Speeding from 40 to 59 KPH over: 370 to 1458 Euro fine and loss of driving privileges for one to three months
Speeding from 60 or more KPH over: 500 to 2000 Euro fine, loss of driving privileges for 6 to 12 months. All fines are paid on the spot or the vehicle will be impounded
"Ultimately, speeding has multiple consequences, fines, loss of driving privileges and possibility losing your life," said Sergeant Smith. "Everyone balks when they get to Aviano and see the cost of insurance, but then they speed, get in a mishap and are part of the problem."
For more information call the Ground Safety Office at 632-3439.