Does driving faster save lives? According to statistics, in 1995 when the speed limit was increase from 55 miles per hour to 65 miles per hour, fewer people actually died in automobile accidents in the state of California. Is another speed limit increase in the making? After all, that is a positive fact.
Just two years after upping the speed limit from 55 mph to 65 mph, the federal government reported that the death rate on the nation’s roads fell to a record low, as well as California reaching a record low too.
In fact, Virginia is currently in the process of increasing the 65 mph limits in rural areas to 70 mph, thanks to the state’s new governor, Bob McDonnell. In addition to Virginia, Illinois is in the middle of a similar vote. Illinois senator, Dale Risinger, believes that a 70 mph limit on the state’s rural highways could potentially save fuel and lower the number of accident-related fatalities.
To support this statement from Senator Risinger, a 2005 study by political scientist Robert Yowell of the Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas shows just that. From 1968 through 1991, the fatality rate per 100 million miles decreased by 63%. You can attribute this to a few things. According to Yowell, “automobile safety features and enforcement emerge as important factors in increasing highway safety,” he stated. “Speed limits are far less important.”
You’re probably thinking that if we increase the speed limits, people will continue to driver over them, right? No necessarily. Utah has experimented with increasing their state speed limits and asked that very question. In “2008, the state legislature granted UDOT [the Utah Department of Transportation] permission to test higher limits on rural sections of the road. Using crash histories, engineering studies, UDOT carefully selected the areas that it believed would best handle the increased limit. The department then conducted before and after surveys of speeds and traffic volume on the three sections where the limit was changed. Although the signs permitted another 5 MPH in speed, the results showed that drivers did not ‘take advantage’ of the new limit to drive significantly faster.”
However, not everyone is in favor of increasing the speed limit. A press release from AAA states that, “Illinois roads are not designed to travel at 70 mph speeds…[they] are currently designed for speeds ranging from 60-70 mph”. That makes sense. It is also said that speed limits are set lower intentionally due to poor conditions that do not always warrant higher speeds. So, while Illinois roads are designed for a maximum of 70 mph, that’s under the impression that the speed limit is set lower.
There are always going to be conflicting arguments. At the end of the day, everyone has their own opinions. So, what do you think? Should states increase their speed limits, or is this a bad idea? Leave your comments below.
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