Road Speed Limits Professor: Kanyo
08/03/2011
Mid-Michigan Community College

Abstract
Most of nations have their own road speed limits. This is also an argumentative problem in the modern society. A number of people think that it is necessary to use speed limits to protect people because they believe that lower speed limit can decrease fatalities, injuries and property damage. Others believe that we need to change this policy because it cannot correspond with the development of car quality. According to the data from many car manufactures, the technology of vehicles has changed a lot. I think we do not need to maintain the old standard. We should make new policy to accommodate new technology and new society. Lower speed do not means safer and not fast speed means dangers. I am the one who wish government can change this policy because I think that changing the speed limit cannot only save our time but also boost our economy.
Road Speed Limits
Most of countries have their own speed limit; it is used to regulate the speed of road vehicles. Speed limits may define maximum, minimum or no speed limit and are normally indicated using a traffic sign. Speed limits are commonly set by the legislative bodies of nations or provincial governments and enforced by national or regional police or judicial bodies. The first speed limit legislation was created in the United Kingdom with the Locomotive Acts. Drives are required to control at a safe speed for conditions. However, the present cannot compare with the past; the technology of vehicles has changed a lot. There are two different positions in this topic. Some people think we should have the road speed limit to protect people and the governments always strongly agree with this opinion. Other people think we should change the road speed limit or cancel it because the road speed limit is behind the times.
People who believe we should have road speed limits because it is effectiveness. The Synthesis of Safety Research Related to Speed and Speed Limits report sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration published in 1998 found that changing speed limits on low and moderate speed roads appeared to have no significant effect on traffic speed or the number of crashes, whilst on high speed roads such as freeways, increased speed limits generally resulted in higher traffic speeds and more crashes. It is also stated that there is limited evidence to suggest that speed limits have a positive effect on a system wide basis.
Some statistical data identified a number of places where speed limits had been increased and decreased in various countries and the observed changes in speeding, fatalities, injuries and property damage which followed these changes.
Results from lowering speed limits Country | Speed limit reduction | Reported change | Australia | 110km/h to 100km/h | Injury crashes declined by 19% | Denmark | 60km/h to 50km/h | Fatal crashes declined by 24%Injury crashes declined by 9% | Germany | 60 km/h to 50 km/h | Crashes declined by 20% | Sweden | 110 km/h to 90 km/h | Speeds declined by 14 km/h
Fatal crashes declined by 21% | Switzerland | 130km/h to 120km/h | Speeds declined by 5 km/h
Fatal crashes declined by 12% | UK | 100km/h to 80 km/h | Speeds declined by 4 km/h
Crashes declined by 14% | USA (22 states) | 8~32 km/h decreases | No significant changes |

Results from increasing speed limits Country | Speed limit increase | Reported change | Australia | 100km/h to 110km/h | Injury crashes increased by 25% | USA | 89km/h to 105km/h | Fatal crashes increased by 21%-22%Speeding increased by 48% | USA (40 States) | 89km/h to 105km/h | Fatalities increased by 15%Decrease or no effect in 12 States | USA (Lowa) | 89km/h to 105km/h | Fatal crashes increased by 36% | USA (Michigan) | 89km/h to 105km/h | Fatal and injury crashes increased significantly on rural freeways | USA (Michigan) | Various | No significant changes | USA (Ohio) | 89km/h to 105km/h | Injury and property damage increased but not fatal crashes. | USA (40 States) | 89km/h to 105km/h | Statewide fatality rates decreased 3-5% | USA (22 States) | 8km/h to 24km/h increase | No significant changes |
From these statistical data we can analysis that lower speed limit can decrease fatalities, injuries and property damage. Speed limits are set primarily to balance road traffic safety concerns with the effect on travel time and mobility. Speed limits are also sometimes used to reduce consumption of fuel or in response to environmental concerns.
In China, at beginning we do not have those much good cars so road speed limit is less than 120km/h. We can handle that and most people can understand it. In China, people cannot get driver’s licenses unless 18 years old. Different kinds of vehicles have different kind of driver’s licenses. For example, 4 door normal cars; pick-ups; bus; etc. we have totally 15 different kinds of licenses. You cannot drive a pick-up while you using your normal car’s driver license because different cars have their own different motor principle. We also have two different parts of test, each part of test has their own class and you have to take the class before you take the test. You cannot take the test without taking the class. For writing test, you need to learn traffic rules and principle of machinery. Principle of machinery is teaching you about cars’ machinery and how to fix some normal problems. In the road test part, you need to get a professional driver to teach you how to drive. You cannot only know how to start the car; you also need to know how to across some very rough road and you need to know how to decline the damage when you cannot dodge an accident. This is really useful because most people do not know how to stop a car while there is full of snow.
I think get Chinese’s driver license is much more helpful. Compare with American’s driver license there are too many kind of ways I cannot understand and I even think that is absurdness. For example, you cannot changing your line by looking back while you driving on highway, if everyone changing line by looking back why we need to build rearview mirror? There are much more ridiculous things. I will explain more will am talking about the second part.
Traffic engineers maintain that speed limits should be established according to the 85th percentile of free flowing traffic. This means the limit should be set at a level at or under which 85 percent of people are driving. Numerous studies have shown that the 85th percentile is the safest possible level at which to set a speed limit. I got another statistical data by U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration shows about the effects of raising and lowering the speed limit. I think I can use this data because it is creditable because it is comes from federal government. It gives us how to calculate the speed limit and how defined. 1. A review of the before and after speed data at each site revealed that differences in mean speeds, standard deviations of speeds, 85th percentile speeds, and other percentile speeds were generally less than 2 mi/h (3.2 km/h) and were not related to the amount the posted speed limit was changed. 2. When sites were grouped by the amount of speed limit change, the differences in percentile speeds for each group were less than 1.5 mi/h (2.4 km/h), irrespective of whether the speed limit was lowered or raised or the amount that the limit was changed. The average change in percentile speeds at sites where limits were lowered and at sites where speed limits were raised was less than 1 mi/h (1.6 km/h). 3. The small differences in before and after speeds were statistically significant due primarily to the large sample size collected. 4. At 34 locations, existing speed limits were posted within 5 mi/h (8 km/h) of the 85th percentile speeds. When speed limits at these sites were lowered more than 5 mi/h (8 km/h) below the 85th percentile speed, the mean difference in percentile speeds was less than 1 mi/h (1.6 km/h). [In other words, lowering the speed limit does not mean traffic will slow down.] 5. At 21 other locations, existing speed limits were posted more than 5 mi/h (8 km/h) below the 85th percentile speeds. When the agencies raised the limits to within 5 mi/h (8 km/h) of the 85th percentile speeds at these sites, the mean difference in percentile speeds was less than 1 mi/h (1.6 km/h) [In other words, raising the speed limit does not mean traffic will speed up.] 6. By defining driver compliance as the number or percentage of drivers that travel at or below the posted speed limit, major changes in compliance occurred when speed limits were raised or lowered. However, as reflected in small changes in vehicle speeds, driver behavior did not change, but the standard for measuring compliance, i.e., posted speed limit, changed. [Higher limits mean a greater number of drivers traveling at the limit instead of over it.] 7. Based on the free-flow speed date collected for a 24-h period at the experimental and comparison sites in 22 states, posted speed limits were set, on average, at the 45th percentile speed or below the average speed of traffic. [This means that, on average, only 45 percent of us abide by present speed limits.] 8. Only minor changes in vehicles following at headways of less than 2 s were found at the experimental sites with similar before and after traffic volumes. [People don't follow any closer when the limits are raised.] 9. The indirect effects of speed limit changes on a sample of five contiguous and adjacent roadways were found to be small and insignificant. [Changing a speed limit on one road does not mean that speeds on all roads nearby will change as well.] 10. There is not sufficient evidence, in this dataset, to reject the hypothesis that total crashes changed when posted speed limits were lowered more than 5 mi/h (8 km/h) below the 85th percentile speeds. 11. There is not sufficient evidence, in this dataset, to reject the hypothesis that total crashes changed when posted speed limits were raised more than 5 mi/h (8 km/h) below the 85th percentile speeds.
Lower speed limit does not mean it should as low as possible, federal and state studies have consistently shown that the drivers most likely to get into accidents in traffic are those traveling significantly below the average speed. According to research, those driving 10 mph slower than the prevailing speed are more likely to be involved in an accident. That means that if the average speed on an interstate is 70 mph, the person traveling at 60 mph is more likely to be involved in an accident than someone going 70 or even 80 mph. Moreover, lower speed limits do not mean saving gas, believe or not research has shown that the 55-mph National Maximum Speed Limit, which was enacted specifically to save gas, had practically no impact on fuel consumption. This is partly because people do not obey artificially lower speed limits. It is also because the differences in travel speeds that result from unreasonable limits waste gas. Most fuel is used to accelerate to a given speed. Speed limits based on actual travel speeds promote better traffic flow, which reduces the amount of braking and accelerating on our roads. This has a positive effect on fuel consumption. So, speed is very scientific and safe for people.
However, not all the people think speed limit is necessary. All the countries want to limit the speed only because they want their people and drivers save. When higher speed limits do not 100% cause more accidents and traffic fatalities then it is becoming much more useless. If a speed limit is raised to actually reflect real travel speeds, the new higher limit will make the roads safer. When the majority of traffic is traveling at the same speed, traffic flow improves, and there are fewer accidents. Speed alone is rarely the cause of accidents. Differences in speed are the main problem. Reasonable speed limits help traffic to flow at a safer, more uniform pace.
As I said at the beginning the present cannot compare with the past; the technology of vehicles has changed a lot. Vehicles’ power, braking, control, safeties (both people in a car or off a car) are all improve a lot.
Here is a data about braking Model | Past: 100-0km/h (m) | Present: 100-0km/h (m) | BMW | 41.2 | 36.8 | Audi | 43.1 | 37.2 | Mercedes-Benz | 42.7 | 38.4 | VW | 42.7 | 38.9 | Nissan | 46.5 | 39.1 | Volvo | 44.4 | 37.6 |
While you using this table to compare, you can see that it is changing a lot. This is only for high speed braking. For the low speed, the braking difference becoming huge a lot. However, the high speed did not change while the technology of vehicles has improved. It is becoming a problem. Right now, more and more vehicle can drive over 200km/h and most of cars have speedtronic 250km/h as we know which means most cars while you driving less than 250km/h with no problems.
Speed limit is also bad for super cars. For example, for Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini, and Bugatti; these cars are all super cars which most of them could drive over 300km/h, some of them can even drive over 400km/h. These cars should drive over 3000rpm; if they drive less than 3000rpm then their engine could not running well. Sooner their engine will become degradation. So, what should people who own those cars suppose to do? Just put their super cars in their house and look it just like an artwork? Some people think lower speed limits save more gas that is ridiculous. Research has shown that the 55-mph National Maximum Speed Limit, which was enacted specifically to save gas, had practically no impact on fuel consumption. This is partly because people do not obey artificially lower speed limits. It is also because the differences in travel speeds that result from unreasonable limits waste gas. Most fuel is used to accelerate to a given speed. Speed limits based on actual travel speeds promote better traffic flow, which reduces the amount of braking and accelerating on our roads. This has a positive effect on fuel consumption.
Another advantage for changing the speed limit is that it will boost economy. Mr. Hammond said: "We need to do this on a pretty rigorous cost-benefit analysis basis...at the moment there are a clear set of criteria for making these decisions. Perhaps we ought to ask if we are using the right set of criteria." He suggested that in some towns speed limits could be reduced from 30mph to 20mph, on both environmental and safety grounds. The Transport Secretary's comments came as a report from the RAC Foundation found that the number of traffic lights in the UK had risen by 30 per cent between 2000 and 2008, with the number in London increasing by 23 per cent to more than 6,000. For me, I also agree with changing the speed limit because I think it is really necessary. The first time I got a speed ticket because I drive 70/55. That was a vacation; there do not have that much car on the road. I do not know about the speed limit at that time. Then I just drive normally while am in China. Then a cop stopped me and gave me a ticket. I do not think I should get that ticket because there do not have that much cars on the road. When driver was driving a car in a limit speed for several hours, I though most of the drivers would feel asleep. The second time I got a ticket was the first time I finished my car service. I got that ticket because I was driving 100/70. I told the cop who caught me I just finished my car service, I need to drive in a high speed for several minutes, it is good for my car’s engine. While he did not understand what am doing and told me that is not a good reason. My brother is a car engineer, he told me when I finished my car service each time I should drove on a high speed for several minutes. That is real, if you do not think so you can try. If you drove your car in a low speed for a long time, then it is becoming slowly. For example, if your car can use 6 seconds from 0-60mph, but you always driving your car in a low speed, soon you will find you cannot drive your car in 6 second, probably over 7 seconds. My mother is a good example, she always driving her car in a low speed, so I strongly disagree with my father buy a sport car for her because she even do not know how to protect it and drive it. When you drive on the road you will see that most people do not followed the rule. For example, the road speed limit is 70; however, most people driving 75-78 because most people think 70 are really low. This is problem, I think if there do not have cops on the road, and most people will drive a higher speed that they can control. Higher speed does not equal more accidents, because when you driving a higher speed, you need to focus more than you are driving 70. In China, we also have speed limit, but if you driving on high way and out of country. You can drive as fast as you can, nobody will catch you down. Most people when they finish their service, they go and find a perfect high way which is safety to test their car. I do not why Americans do not do that, maybe they do not have a good driving ability. And that is also true, like 1/4 miles race. Just see who driving faster. I do not think that need drivers have a really high driving ability.
I think we should have a special driver’s license for drivers who pass a professional driving test. People who got this kind of driver’s license can drive faster or no speed limit control and also they need a professional car to match. As we know, normal cars cannot taking fierce drive because the engine, braking, suspension, tires and most of the parts do not except fierce drive. However, if you built your car in a professional way then you can drive it, it will also boost their countries’ economy. The only problem is we need a special law for these and a new department to control it.
Most people believe higher speed limits cause more accidents and traffic fatalities. However, it is not true if a speed limit is raised to actually reflect real travel speeds, the new higher limit will make the roads safer. When the majority of traffic is traveling at the same speed, traffic flow improves, and there are fewer accidents. Speed alone is rarely the cause of accidents. Differences in speed are the main problem. Reasonable speed limits help traffic to flow at a safer, more uniform pace. Another misunderstanding is people believe most traffic accidents caused by speeding. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) claims that 30 percent of all fatal accidents are "speed related," but even this is misleading. This means that in less than a third of the cases, one of the drivers involved in the accident was "assumed" to be exceeding the posted limit. It does not mean that speeding caused the accident. Research conducted by the Florida Department of Transportation showed that the percentage of accidents actually caused by speeding is very low, 2.2 percent.
If everyone driving well and can control your car perfectly then there will not have that much accidents. As I said at the front, I think the United States and other countries that got a lot of traffic accident could study Chinese’s driving test. In China, people cannot get driver’s licenses unless 18 years old. Different kinds of vehicles have different kind of driver’s licenses. For example, 4 door normal cars; pick-ups; bus; etc. we have totally 15 different kinds of licenses. You cannot drive a pick-up while you using your normal car’s driver license because different cars have their own different motor principle. We also have two different parts of test, each part of test has their own class and you have to take the class before you take the test. You cannot take the test without taking the class. For writing test, you need to learn traffic rules and principle of machinery. Principle of machinery is teaching you about cars’ machinery and how to fix some normal problems. In the road test part, you need to get a professional driver to teach you how to drive. You cannot only know how to start the car; you also need to know how to across some very rough road and you need to know how to decline the damage when you cannot dodge an accident. This is really useful because most people do not know how to stop a car while there is full of snow. Compare with other countries, most of them do not have a professional school to study how to drive. Most of them studied how to drive by their parents, which is not a good way. If their parents also have a bad driving behavior, their children will also study their driving behavior. A professional school could teach which the best and safety way to drive is. I took safe drive class once in Lansing, and I thought that was totally useless. I had to waste my time for 4 hours. I said that it was waste of my time because I already took that in China during the writing test. All the information I already got and I also learned more than that. One thing the teacher did not teach us is when you got an accident that you cannot avoid you just slow down your car as soon as possible and chose a soft thing. My driving teacher told us, when you got an accident that you cannot avoid it, try to use your handbrake which means you could steering your wheel to the right or left than use your handbrake, then the car will drift to one side, if there do not have any passenger, you could let that side to collided it. You will not get that much damage to yourself or you even might avoid that accident. I found that most Americans when they found an accident they always use their klaxon, you guys should know, a klaxon cannot help you stop the car. You should use your wheel or your brake to stop the car. This kind of driving style or driving model, can only use in professional racer. If you use that on the highway, cops might catch you and think you are driving reckless. What I mean is, we really can improve your speed limit, and if everyone can take professional driving class then I can be worked. It is not just good for our cars but also good for people. There will not that much accident and it can save a lot of times. If you can keep safe then try to improve the speed of the cars you can really save a lot of times. For example, the first time I drive to Chicago from Mt. Pleasant, I do not know about the speed limit and I only use about 3 hours to get there, while I driving back I my father’s friend told me about cops on the highway. I followed the speed limit; it took me over 4.5 hours to go back. You can see how it works and save our times. In conclusion, with the development of the society, the present cannot compare with the past; the technology of vehicles has changed a lot. We should think about the speed limit on the road, we should set our speed limit in a new way. Most people think that lower speed always safer; higher speed limits cause more accidents and traffic fatalities; most traffic accidents caused by speeding; lower speed limits save gas and something like that. It is changed, the technologies have been changed, and the speed limit did not fit in this society already. Changing the speed limit cannot only save our time but also boost our economy. Then, why do the governments do not think about it? I believe some day the speed limit will change sooner or later.

Work Cited
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