WHAT did the Patrol “forget” to mention? The long-overdue 70-mph speed limit. Rural interstates only account for 5% of Ohio’s traffic deaths, and have the best fatality rate among rural roads. Posting reasonable speed limits lets officers focus on dangerous behaviors and locations instead of just playing (speedo)meter-readers on the safest roads.
Interstates offer a “triple win”: improved travel times, safety and fuel-efficiency by minimizing the common causes of crashes and delays. That’s why we build interstates and give ’em the highest speeds!
Higher speed limits have long been studied: For example in Ohio “fatal accident rates on rural Interstate highways [were] not significantly changed after the implementation of the 65-mph speed limit”. In Indiana a Purdue researcher said “If going from 65 to 70 doesn’t have a significant effect on the severity of accidents, you have to ask yourself, what about 70 to 75?”
Data sources:
Federal Highway Administration “Highway Statistics”, 2011, Tables FI-10 and FI-30
Federal Highway Administration brochure: “Speeding Counts On All Roads”, Nov 2000
“Effects of the 65-mph speed limit on Traffic Accidents In Ohio” (Transportation Research Board) Pant, Adhami, and Niehaus; 1992.
NOTE: During World War II — with a national 35-mph speed limit plus gas-and-tire rationing — Ohio had 1,331 traffic deaths. The best year for the regrettable 55-mph speed limit, 1983, saw 1,585 deaths.
WHAT did the Patrol “forget” to mention? The long-overdue 70-mph speed limit. Rural interstates only account for 5% of Ohio’s traffic deaths, and have the best fatality rate among rural roads. Posting reasonable speed limits lets officers focus on dangerous behaviors and locations instead of just playing (speedo)meter-readers on the safest roads.
Interstates offer a “triple win”: improved travel times, safety and fuel-efficiency by minimizing the common causes of crashes and delays. That’s why we build interstates and give ’em the highest speeds!
Higher speed limits have long been studied: For example in Ohio “fatal accident rates on rural Interstate highways [were] not significantly changed after the implementation of the 65-mph speed limit”. In Indiana a Purdue researcher said “If going from 65 to 70 doesn’t have a significant effect on the severity of accidents, you have to ask yourself, what about 70 to 75?”
Data sources:
Federal Highway Administration “Highway Statistics”, 2011, Tables FI-10 and FI-30
Federal Highway Administration brochure: “Speeding Counts On All Roads”, Nov 2000
“Effects of the 65-mph speed limit on Traffic Accidents In Ohio” (Transportation Research Board) Pant, Adhami, and Niehaus; 1992.
NOTE: During World War II — with a national 35-mph speed limit plus gas-and-tire rationing — Ohio had 1,331 traffic deaths. The best year for the regrettable 55-mph speed limit, 1983, saw 1,585 deaths.