Jeff,
You're probably right in saying the police have nothing to gain by saying "high rate of speed", although, I have seen cases wherein there existed a known road defect/hazard/lack of warning/etc. that was the responsibility of the state/county/city to maintain or correct (but didn't) and because of the obvious "exposure" following a severe accident, well, let's just say it took a little digging to uncover the real (or contributing) cause.
