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Need for speed: Higher speed limits have led to more highway deaths, a new study shows.
RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—Speed kills, and it injures many people on the highway, too. A recent study published in the American Journal of Public Health estimates that between 1995 and 2005, about 12,500 people died as a result of the repeal of the National Maximum Speed Law. As if the bumped-up death rate isn’t bad enough, higher speed limits are also blamed for increased emissions that add to global warming. “The financial benefit from higher travel speeds is, at best, limited to an immediate return for a segment of U.S. commerce. But that ignores the long-term and comprehensive costs from higher gas consumption, increased air pollutants, more lives lost, and the burden of lost years of productivity,” explains study author Lee Friedman, PhD, research assistant professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at University of Illinois-Chicago. “A prudent speed policy can have a direct impact on our growing dependence on foreign oil and climate change, in addition to saving lives.” Furthermore, he adds, America functioned perfectly fine for the 20 years under the National Maximum Speed Law with excellent economic growth.
THE DETAILS: Researchers looked at the number of deaths and injuries in fatal vehicle crashes between 1995 and 2005 to see if the 1995 repeal of federal speed limit controls increased fatalities. They looked at crashes on rural interstates, where all U.S. states have raised speed limits since the repeal, as well as city interstates and other roads where many but not all states have increased the speed limits. “In the 10 states that essentially did not change their posted speed limits, we observed a substantial decline in fatalities and injuries in fatal crashes,” says Friedman. However, they found a 9 percent increase in road fatalities on rural interstates, and a 3.2 percent overall increase. “There is a general accepted risk and callousness towards fatalities in motor-vehicle crashes,” says Friedman. “ However, our study clearly shows that policy can directly result in more deaths. The inverse is true as well—a well-guided policy can lead to reduction in deaths on roads.”
Friedman says managing travel speeds on U.S. highways should be a top priority of the Department of Transportation, and adds that a national speed-management policy should put maximum speed limits back to 55 mph. To catch those with a heavy foot, he suggests installing a widespread network of speed cameras. “The long-term and comprehensive benefits from lowering the national speed limit uniformly to 55 mph will be lower gas consumption, fewer air pollutants, more lives saved, and fewer lost years of productivity resulting from severe injuries and deaths.”
WHAT IT MEANS: A faster speed limit may have saved time, but it’s also cost lives and polluted the environment. Friedman is lobbying for a government-adopted focus on speed management, topping it at 55 mph. However, he also believes that mandatory seat belt use, mandatory air bags, improved car and road designs, and cellphone restrictions can also help keep people safe on our nation’s highways.
Until the Department of Transportation reduces maximum speed limits, use these tips to protect yourself on the highway:
Yes, speed kills and I saw
Yes, speed kills and I saw this not only once. Last week I saw Saab car parts on the road and I knew that again an accident caused by speed took place. It is sad that people are not aware of this: a faster speed limit may have saved time, but it’s also cost lives.
I think that human drivers
I think that human drivers should be more careful when they are on the road.I had a friend who used to work at a used trucks West Palm Beach park and he was witness at a car crash where 8 people died.It sad to hear that people die in car crashes because they are not very careful.
Your article here about
Your article here about highway safety when driving a car offers quite useful information. I notice that you know a lot about cars and I was wondering if you could tell me how to donate a car. Can you help me with some information on that?
I totally agree that a faster
I totally agree that a faster speed limit may have saved time, but it’s also cost lives. I prefer not to rush when I am on the highway and always trying to be calm if there is a lot of traffic, but sometimes you can have an accident and your fault to be 0. In this case it is better to have a New Orleans auto accident lawyer who will protect your rights.
Security
Speed is crucial for the auto transportation system and lowering the maximum speed limit is not the best option. Why not increase the fines for speed breaking and invest that money to sustain the Eco-movement if they say higher speed limits increase air pollutants? I recently bought a motorhome from Winnebago Motorhomes and I don`t want to drive for two hours when I travel now this distance in 1.5 hours. I never saw some statistics "normalized on a per mile basis", the results could be very interesting.
I would also add allowing plenty
I would also add allowing plenty of travel time in the list as a part of driving safely. If you know you have lots of time to get to your destination your likelihood of speeding is none. The driver can relax while getting to his/her destination safely. In many places, those with higher value cars such as Ferraris, SUVs and those with personalised number plates tend to speed.
I’ll like to add that regardless
I’ll like to add that regardless of Type A or Type T types of drivers, you can almost make a demographic of those likely to speed or drive too fast by the cars they drive. Mid range Ford, GMs and even Hondas tend to be driven by Type As and Type Ts. In my years working in a BMW Garage Chelmsford these drivers, although driving much bigger and powerful cars, do stick to the speed limits and go with the flow of the traffic. This can be due to a matter of ‘car pride’ and the joy of driving, even cruising, in an BMW where the journey is as enjoyable as getting to the destination itself.
great article
We need this info so that our careless drivers will know how important it is to have these policies because of the reckless drivers many lives are taken we should also check our auto parts if they are in good shape
Speeding
I live in Southern CA and see this type of behavior all the time. I see people speeding and not paying attention to upcoming traffic and have to brake. Lets not forget passing a big rig with not enough space to make sure the truck would not hit them. I drive a small car and know that if there was a contest that I would be hit the truck who always win. Another thing I see are cars that do a pass and slow down as they pass. That is why when I do a lane change I speed up and try to match their speed so not to cause an accident. Also I see slow moving traffic in the far left lane backing up cars that want to go faster. I try to stay out of that lane unless traffic is heavy or I need to pass a car. I do tend to go over 5 miles the speed limit and have never had a speeding ticket. I do not like tailgaters and have been rear ended due to this since the other person was not paying attention. I do not use my cell phone hands free and prefer to pull over to take or call back because it is safer.
Fatalaties per mile travelled?
When it isn't specified I always wonder if stats like these are normalized on a per mile basis. For instance, if there was a 9 percent increase in road fatalities as a raw number, but the miles traveled increased by 20% over, that is actually a decrease in fatalities per mile.
And is the decline in fatalities and injuries in fatal crashes due to fewer crashes or safer cars?