By Jeffrey Jackson

Owatonna People’s Press

Let’s say you’re traveling from Owatonna to Blooming Prairie and back. If you go the speed limit on Highway 218, the round trip will take 42 minutes.

But let’s say you really need to hustle, so you hit the gas a little harder than most and go 75 mph. You arrive in Owatonna, satisfied that you cut some time off an onerous trip.

But all you saved was about 12 minutes, according to the AAA. In exchange for that you have passed more cars — most folks don’t go 75 on Highway 218 — increasing exponentially your chance of being in a head-on collision. You’ll now also have to fill up your gas tank sooner; our roads are engineered for travel at around 55 mph, and that speed has long been established as the most gas-efficient at which to travel for most sedans. And if you’re distracted in the least bit and sway off the road, over compensating on the driving wheel at that rate of speed could send you right into the oncoming traffic lane or into a rollover.

Last but not least, you will have broken the law. From now until July 26, extra patrols in Steele County will be looking for drivers like you.

According to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, illegal or unsafe speed is the leading contributing factor in fatal crashes. On average, between June and August, 28 people are killed due to unsafe speeds in Minnesota.

From 2011 to 2013, 63 percent of those speed-related fatal crashes have occurred in rural areas.

And the number of deaths on Minnesota highways is increasing. Last year, 361 people died on Minnesota roads, the lowest number of fatalities since 1944. Authorities attributed last year’s decline to safer cars, improved road design and other factors.

This year is another story. As of last weekend, 198 people had lost their lives in fatal traffic crashes so far this year, a 21-percent increase over the same period in 2014. That number has since increased to 200.

Officials said the Department of Public Safety is still analyzing this year’s data to determine exactly what is fueling the trend. But there’s little doubt that speed is a contributing factor.

There isn’t anything so urgent, so far away or so important that it is worth more than your life or the lives of your passengers. And the math shows you’re not saving that much time, anyway. Take it easy on the gas pedal and use the drive to lower your blood pressure, not raise it.