Why U.S. Speed Limits Are Wrong

In 2019, 9,478 Americans lost their lives from speeding, contributing to more than a quarter of all traffic fatalities in the year. Speed limits were created to avoid situations like this. Yet, millions of Americans continue to speed every year. Many experts argue that the current speed limits might be too unrealistic and arbitrary to have any impact on how fast people drive. Watch the video to understand what’s wrong, what’s right and how the U.S. can fix speed limits on the road.

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Why Speed Limits Are Wrong In The U.S.

[philipp]

If you take a view on german highways with no speed limit, there are lesser fatalities and bad accidents than in the US. Therefore, it is not only relateable to speed limits. It has a lot to do with the condition of roads, vehicles and the ability of the driver.

[Striker_]

One thing we can all agree upon:
Most people are going to go 75-85 mph on the freeway no matter what the limit states

[jasonw]

There was an old study on this from 40 to 50 yrs ago in Wyoming or Montana.
They raised the speed limit significantly and found accidents actually decreased. The accidents that did occur had a higher fatality rate.
The authors deduced that the biggest cause of accidnets on the highway were a "disparity" of speed between vehicles not the speed it self.
(someone driving 40mph vs someone driving 80mph).
I had to dig through microfilm at my college library to write my paper on the topic.
interesting stuff.

[BlacqueJacqueShellacque_]

“Speed has never killed anyone. Suddenly becoming stationary, that's what gets you.” ― Jeremy Clarkson

[nicolasjakob]

It's really weird to watch this as a German. We have very targeted speed limits (with 1/3 of the highways being unregulated). On the Autobahn most people drive at 75-86 mph. Our fatalities are very low. Last time driving in the US it became quite clear what the root causes actually are:
1. The speed limits on US streets make no sense, so people ignore them completely.
2. Right lane overtaking should be forbidden (as in Europe)
3. Americans drive like crazy, there needs to be much more thorough drivers education (also on the practical side). In Germany we have 12 hours of mandatory practical driving education (while the average people usually take is 30h) with a theoretical and a practical examination.
Bottom line is we have 963 deaths in 2019 due to speeding (with 1/4 the population) so adjusted for population still half of the US, whereas we have much higher speed limits.

[mrquique]

This report fails to explore the deficient and mediocre driving courses in the US and how easy it is to give a driver's license to people that have no driving skills. Driving requires a driver with situational and spatial awareness, empathy, organizational skills among other things. Driving courses should last days with different scenarios, safety courses, basic technical knowledge about vehicles, basic road physics and dynamics, speed perception, etc. Instead, is parallel parking which 85% of drivers never master and such mundane skills completely unrelated to actual driving. Several days of training is nothing to a lifetime of driving privileges.

[jose]

I think a big contributor to fatalities is how easy it is to obtained a license in the U.S. compared to many European countries.

[antonisautos]

They missed the mark a bit on this.
Road design has the biggest impact on driver speed than posting a lower limit. Reducing the lane width, adding obstacles to the sides of the street like trees and bushes creates a sense of danger to the driver thus slowing them down. Reducing traffic can also reduce traffic fatalities. How you may ask? Increase other modes of transportation. Dutch cities have a lot of walkability and bike-ability that reduces the number of cars on the roads all together. Saying speeding is what kills and then trying to say that posting a lower limit will fix the issue is not going to fix it the way they want. You have to make a fundamental change to road design, and get more people out of their cars by designing better urban environments for people to live in.

[TheAnonymous]

I’m more annoyed with slow drivers on the far left lanes. They cause congestion and backup; causing other drivers to be frustrated, switch lanes, and drive faster to pass them up. It’s statistically proven that slow drivers on fast lane causes more accidents than speeders.

[LukaTheDon]

I remember reading somewhere that going 5mph under the limit is far more likely to cause an accident than going 5mph over.

[mrtipsy]

I feel like this video left out a lot of nuance surrounding speed limits in the US. Especially in regard to the different road types (highway vs. residential street) and area (low vs. high density).

[TheRidersChoice]

“Everybody can be inconvenienced to save a life”

Lady, we are still debating wearing a piece of cloth over our mouths during a pandemic 2+ years into lol.

[GRSEMETROMALL]

How about teaching people how to drive? I mean, the physical dynamics of the vehicle. What to do in an emergency situation. The ACTUAL rules of the road. Perhaps a yearly test should be given. You know there is a difference between a “safe” driver, one is nothing more than an operator, and one who know how to drive. I could go on and on and on and on and on, the best solution is probably automation. Self driving vehicles. I will personally hate her, but it’s probably your best solution. The US a long time ago decided to make vehicles safer because, I think, the cost to teach someone actually how to drive was too high for most people to bear.

[redcatxb]

As a mechanic I think most “speed” related deaths have to do with an improperly maintained vehicle and or driver incompetence, I find most of the time people who drive too fast also can’t bother to even change their tires or brakes.

[ServusLuis]

I‘m from Germany. I can tell you the solution for America really quick. Just have proper driving education. That’s it.

[syedbilalnafees]

The problem isn't nessaserily speed but rather driver skill. In places like Germany or Finland you are taught much more about car control and other road disciplines than in say the US. I mean is it any wonder how Germany still sections of derestricted autoban?

[gerardoflores]

I’m sorry, but the mother who lost her son in a traffic accident should not be a source of information in these type of videos.

[JDelta]

I’m on the side of speed isn’t the problem as much as distracted driving and road design. Set speed limits according to their environment such as urban, highway, etc..

[CJStigen]

It's simply that a lot of people are not good drivers and are not safe, it's not the speed limits fault it's the driver's fault.

[amabdall]

As an international person two things I believe can make the roads much safer here in the US. 1 tailgating: many drivers here drive at very close distances to cars in front of them giving them no time to react in case of an emergency. 2 driving on the left fast lane while going well below normal traffic speed. Those two things can help a lot