Speed Limit Drivers

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Pages: 3

An important ongoing debate continues as to whether or not lowering the speed limit reduces the risk of car accidents. In actuality, the question should more precisely be whether or not lowering the speed limit reduces the risk of personal injury and not car accidents per say.

Part of an accurate appraisal as to the above question is further asking the question: "Are we speaking of oranges or of apples?" Unfortunately, in a mad dash to correlate both scenarios, researchers have not only failed to come up with accurate appraisals, but more importantly, they have also failed to come up with viable solutions to the original question as well.

One Case In Point:

While states have basic speed regulations that limit drivers to operate their autos at speeds that are prudent under existing conditions, the ultimate responsibility of safe driving rests on the shoulders of the drivers themselves--not on the traffic, roadway infrastructure, weather conditions and other extenuating conditions.
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Further complicating matters, is the fact that research studies have varied widely from each other--depending on the agency that conducts the studies and in what state.

After the 1995 Congressional National Highway Designation Act that removed all federal speed limit control, states were allowed to raise or lower their own limits as individual state officials so determined.

Consequently, a 2009 follow-up study undertaken by the American Journal of Public Health analyzed findings of the 1995 legislation. Here were the findings: from 1995 to 2005, a 3.2 percent increase in road fatalities were reported on roadways and streets.

On rural interstates, there was a 9.1 percent jump in fatalities. As a result, an estimated 12,545 deaths were directly attributed to the increases in speed limits during that period.

One Common-Sense