Many of us would be stretching the truth if we said we never drive above the posted speed limit. It's particularly easy to do when we're on the interstate, where traffic always goes a bit faster, or when we're late for work or an important event. For some, speeding is an occasional oversight; for others, it's a habit. But for anyone, speeding can be dangerous if it leads to a loss of control behind the wheel.

A fatal car accident in Newton Township, Ohio, this week demonstrated what can happen when cars go too fast. The late-morning accident on Monday killed two passengers and seriously injured the driver. The three people in the car, all of whom were in their 20s, were headed north when the car veered off the west side of the road and struck a tree on the passenger side.

One passenger was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, while another died at a hospital. The driver was also taken to a hospital and listed in critical condition. The crash was apparently so severe that authorities had to use the Jaws of Life to extricate the passengers and driver from the car.

A preliminary investigation found that the car was going faster than the posted speed limit of 45 mph and that speeding may have been the cause of the crash.

Although exceeding the speed limit may seem harmless most of the time, doing so can quickly lead to an accident like this one. Drivers carrying passengers need to remember that others are relying on them to travel safely and obey the rules of the road. The driver in this crash will never be able to undo the mistake of driving too fast, which led to the deaths of both of his passengers and forever changed the lives of their families.

Source: TribToday.com, "Car crash kills two," Feb. 14, 2012