A common mistake is to associate speed limits with limiting kinetic energy. That is a secondary consideration. The primary: to rate limit the number of distrac

A common mistake is to associate speed limits with limiting kinetic energy. That is a secondary consideration. The primary: to rate limit the number of distractions a driver has to consider per second. For example, if you see a car backing out of a driveway, you are unlikely to notice the child playing near the street in the next yard for a certain amount of time, and the speed limit is chosen to help us manage this.