Faster is not always better: why the case for higher speed limits is fatally flawed.
Faster is not always better: why the case for higher speed limits is fatally flawed.
Higher speed limits are coming. But the case against them isn’t based on road safety alone – claims of increased economic efficiency are not supported by the evidence, either.
This is regarding the NZ government's plan to introduce higher speed limits. Unsurprisingly, the conservative party is in power at the moment.
It's also worth noting that the previous government had a Road to Zero policy similar to the Vision Zero policies mentioned in the article. Part of this involved reducing speed limits on high risk roads.
The new government committed to ending that policy, and increasing speed limits on some roads over that were not reduced under the previous policy.
Also relevant is they are building roads that no one wants, and creating huge debt doing it...
It's also worth noting the current speed limits were set in 1985. I know this is the wrong place to point it out, and I do hate cars, but acknowledge they have value for some use cases. That said...
Since 1985, car safety evolution has introduced: -Traction Control -Anti-lock Brakes -Airbags -Electronic Stability Control -Crumple Zones -Adaptive Cruise Control -Blind spot detection -Pedestrian detection
...just to name a few. Cars are safer now than they've ever been, for both drivers and pedestrians (the Cybertruck not withstanding), so it's equally strange to suggest that the same speed limit that was set in the mid-80s is the best balance of convenience and safety. If it's simply a matter of reduction in absolute terms, why not LOWER the speed limit?
Not saying the article's premise is wrong, but it's kneejerk. In fact, smartly using speed limits can help to push traffic into out of the way areas where it will be less problematic to pedestrians. For example, lowering the speed limits in pedestrian areas in cities and increasing them less dense, outer areas can both improve traffic flow and make dense spaces more pedestrian friendly by diverting traffic into roads with fewer people. And intercity traffic through areas with little to no pedestrian traffic is a no-brainer.
I understand that trucks and SUVs are more dangerous to pedestrians due to increases in hood height and reduction in curvature (along with reduced visibility). Is this not correct?
It is - both things can be true. There are certainly some types of vehicles and conditions that are less safe than others, often for unjustifiable and stupid reasons, but the general trend of the average vehicle over time is towards being much safer than in the past. You'd still rather be hit by an SUV with a crumple zone than a sedan with an all steel body, all else being equal.
If cars are safer for pedestrians than ever, then why are pedestrian deaths increasing?
Number of cars. Increase the number of cars, you increase the number of deaths. But any given collision is more likely to be survivable than in the past.
Also, it's not a perfect analog, but a quick search for deer hits and you can see modern cars crumple just fine.
Don't get me wrong... I'm not saying this deer was out dancing that very night, but if you're gonna hit me at 30 MPH with either a flat, unyielding piece of steel with potentially sharp edges and/or rusted spots, or a soft piece of plastic or fiberglass formed to cushion my impact into the engine where the REALLY hard parts are, I'm going to choose the plastic/fiberglass every time.
Edit: Here. Just to back up the information I'm giving you...
The ABSOLUTE number of deaths are increasing, because the number of people and cars are increasing. But as a function of percentage of population they are only slightly above the lowest they've been since the 20's. Modern cars are much safer. Even a bad SUV with horrible visibility is safer to all involved in a crash than an average car in the early 80's. The numbers don't lie.
Edit again: To give pedestrian numbers to go with that:
You do have a point... there ARE increases in recent years, but overall the rate is still nearly half of the rate in the 80s. You are correct the most very recent trend is worrying, however.
Simple answer is an increase in the number of cars and the number of pedestrians. If cars are 10x safer for pedestrians now, but there are 1000x more interactions...
Vehicle sizes. SUVs and trucks kill pedestrian more often than sedans and coupes do
Oh, welcome to the eu. Speed limits are going down, generally. At least in this nick of the woods, we aren't driving as fast as in the eighties. The goal is zero Trafic fatalities.
Totally viable as an option if that's the goal.
If that's New Zealand's goal, they should do exactly the same.
But if they're looking for a balance between risk and convenience, there's factors to be considered that the article glosses over.
Speed limits are generally bs, only useful for justifying police budgets. The goal should be designing roads with safety in mind.
Introducing arbitrary rules helps nobody. Not in reducing the amount of cars on the road, not people who are forced to drive for some reason.
Speed limits are not bs. The energy of kinetic motion increases with the square of the velocity. Double the speed, quadruple the amount of energy. That matters.
Speed limits are arbitrary factors set in place that don't make sense for the roads they're on. They do nothing for safety, and often become a speed target. If you want to reduce speed of cars (which I agree is a good thing) the best way to do so is to make traveling above a certain speed feel dangerous to the driver. Chicanes, medians, and narrow lanes encourage that. Speed limits do not.
Speed limits are bs.
I disagree. But not necessarily for the reasons you might think.
I’d be on the side of doing Autobahn-style limits that are adjusted to traffic and road conditions. I’ve done over 100 on the Autobahn and it’s fine.
Why do I disagree? Because we as Americans on the roadway are fucking idiots. People don’t maintain their cars. People put stupid mods on, like lifted trucks, super-wide off-road tires, stanced cars, people staring at cellphones or watching videos. Mods that significantly change handling, rollover risk, and stopping distances. There’s always some asshole who has to drive like the road is a personal racetrack. There’s always people completely disregarding the “keep right except to pass” rules.
Why do high- or no-speed limits work on the Autobahn? Because of rigid rules that enforce compliance with vehicle safety and behavior on the roadway.
Americans have too much of a fuck-you attitude about rules, especially about their cars. They literally couldn’t handle the freedom of a no-speed-limit road, there’d be daily catastrophes.
Children at risk
I don't have time to read the article, I'll check it out later today, but I am immediately suspicious of anything that has a whole section on "think of the children!"
New Zealander here. A lot of the lower limits being rolled back were specifically targeting school zones. This is genuinely about children's safety
They plan on raising the limit when there's no children around.
Yeah it's crap. Summary of arguments:
-
raising speed limits on highways won't relieve congestion: 1) yes it will, and 2) that's not the point anyway
-
Higher speeds cause more crashes: fair point
-
Higher speeds burn more fuel: no shit
-
Think of the children!: not even worth addressing
-