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Does a higher speed limit equate to more car-related injuries and deaths? According to one recent study, the answer is a resounding yes–and the solution is to reduce the speed limit nationally.
Researchers at the Division of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences in the School of Public Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago say that 12,545 deaths and 36,582 injuries could be attributed to higher speed limits implemented between the years of 1995 and 2005. The U.S. repealed the 55-mile-per-hour speed limit in 1995.
The lead researcher of the study, Lee S. Friedman, says the study “clearly shows that policy can directly result in more deaths as well as reducing deaths on our country’s roads.”
The researchers found a 3.2 percent increase in deaths on all types of roads – with a 9.1 percent increase on rural interstates and a 4 percent increase on urban interstates – due to higher speed limits. The study focused on those two types of roads because “these roads were the main focus of raised speed limits,” the researchers noted. States raised speed limits from 55 mph to 65, 70 or 75 mph depending on the state.
Why do higher speed limits result in more deaths?
“When travel speeds increase, the energy transferred to the occupants of a vehicle during a crash increases, which increases the risk and severity of injury,” said Friedman. He supports a national reversal to the 55 mph speed limit. “Researchers have demonstrated that lower travel speeds and death tolls usually follow lowering of speed limits, and higher travel speeds and death tolls follow increases in speed limits.”
“Reduced speed limits would save lives. They would also reduce gas consumptions, cut emissions of air pollutants, save valuable years of productivity and reduce the societal cost of motor vehicle crashes,” he said.
Others disagree that a national lowering of the speed limit would be the best solution to the problem. For one, lowering speed limits could possibly save a few lives, but would almost definitely cause headaches for millions of commuters who have places to go.
To counteract any increase in deaths or injuries attributable to speed limit increases, roads could be designed to be more accommodating for vehicle crashes. For example, shoulders could be added to roads the don’t currently have them or widened where they are too narrow; unforgiving objects like trees could be set farther back from roads; and speed limits could be more flexible, adjusting based on driving conditions or traffic congestion.
The results of the study can be read in their entirety in the July 16 edition of American Journal of Public Health.
Source: U.S. News
The Autobahn is regulated in some stretches and during certain times. General driving habits are also different; the left lane is much more respected for passing. The high speed does come with one big drawback: accidents are cleaned up with a hose.
Lowering the speed limit is going to do nothing but CAUSE accidents from slower moving traffic and congestion.The autobahn is the safest motorway in the world and their is no speed limit.