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The article asserts that lowering the speed limit dramatically reduces deaths, and provides a link, and also suggests lowering speed limits as a safety measure.

The article asserts that lowering the speed limit dramatically reduces deaths, and provides a link, and also suggests lowering speed limits as a safety measure. However, the link shows that lower collision speed dramatically reduces death, not lower speed limits. Mostly, I have seen that drivers don't tend to obey artificially low speed limits, for example, https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a14463672/how-lowering-the-speed-limit-can-actually-hurt-pedestrians/ https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a14463672/how-lower...

scosman 8y ago
The source might not have used the best link, but there are studies to support that claim. Vision Zero in NYC has been studied extensively and has had a huge proven impact. I wouldn't say a opinion piece from Road and Track would be a better source, especially considering it's just quoting untested theories on the cause of a single city's issue.
- u801e 8y ago
  The Martin Parker study on the effects of raising and lowering speed limits on actual traffic speeds should be the one that's cited.
- scosman 8y ago
  Oh, the people who implemented Vision Zero replied to the cited article here https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a14500765/new-york-city-vision-zero/ https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a14500765/new-york-... They call the cited article "dangerous if believed by your driving readership". They provide several points of evidence (full studies available to those interested).
u801e 8y ago
This is a fundamental problem that a lot of people don't understand. In order to lower travel speed, the road itself needs to be designed with a lower speed in mind. Just posting a 40 km/h speed limit in a road with a design speed of 80 km/h won't result in lower traffic speeds without constant enforcement.
- njarboe 8y ago
  We could just ban vehicles and vehicle deaths would go to zero. People need/want to go to another position on the globe at faster than walking speed. Maybe the US was/is flavoring people in cars a bit over people not in cars, but the problem is complicated. Lowering speed is easyish but that is not exactly what most people want.
jakubp 8y ago
Yes. In my view, the governments are simply unwilling to devise _actually_ meaningful way to remove bad actors from the roads (bad drivers, i.e. drivers that are reckless, drive too close to cars in front of them, use mobile phone too much, do dangerous maneuvers, etc.) , so they claim "speed kills". Which is like saying "life kills". There are a myriad reasons why people have accidents, and "speed" is not one of those reasons. Driving faster than one's skill, and car capability, on a given type of road surface, in given air visibility conditions, with given traffic, pedestrians and other people around, buildings/architecture blocking vision, and other factors, not to mention the whole huge range of actual distrations for the drivers such as ads, using mobile phone, talking with passengers, being tired, etc. .. those things actually cause accidents (and near accidents). Speed in general is almost never the issue. High speed is also almost never the key issue. Where one driver has an accident at 60kph due to being distracted / ignoring safe distance (relative to all the conditions above), etc., another can safely and confidently drive 100kph.
- AstralStorm 8y ago
  And every driver thinks they're better than average, therefore speed limits are put in place.

scosman 8y ago

The source might not have used the best link, but there are studies to support that claim. Vision Zero in NYC has been studied extensively and has had a huge proven impact. I wouldn't say a opinion piece from Road and Track would be a better source, especially considering it's just quoting untested theories on the cause of a single city's issue.

u801e 8y ago
The Martin Parker study on the effects of raising and lowering speed limits on actual traffic speeds should be the one that's cited.
scosman 8y ago
Oh, the people who implemented Vision Zero replied to the cited article here https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a14500765/new-york-city-vision-zero/ https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a14500765/new-york-... They call the cited article "dangerous if believed by your driving readership". They provide several points of evidence (full studies available to those interested).

u801e 8y ago

This is a fundamental problem that a lot of people don't understand. In order to lower travel speed, the road itself needs to be designed with a lower speed in mind. Just posting a 40 km/h speed limit in a road with a design speed of 80 km/h won't result in lower traffic speeds without constant enforcement.

njarboe 8y ago
We could just ban vehicles and vehicle deaths would go to zero. People need/want to go to another position on the globe at faster than walking speed. Maybe the US was/is flavoring people in cars a bit over people not in cars, but the problem is complicated. Lowering speed is easyish but that is not exactly what most people want.

jakubp 8y ago

Yes. In my view, the governments are simply unwilling to devise _actually_ meaningful way to remove bad actors from the roads (bad drivers, i.e. drivers that are reckless, drive too close to cars in front of them, use mobile phone too much, do dangerous maneuvers, etc.) , so they claim "speed kills". Which is like saying "life kills". There are a myriad reasons why people have accidents, and "speed" is not one of those reasons. Driving faster than one's skill, and car capability, on a given type of road surface, in given air visibility conditions, with given traffic, pedestrians and other people around, buildings/architecture blocking vision, and other factors, not to mention the whole huge range of actual distrations for the drivers such as ads, using mobile phone, talking with passengers, being tired, etc. .. those things actually cause accidents (and near accidents). Speed in general is almost never the issue. High speed is also almost never the key issue. Where one driver has an accident at 60kph due to being distracted / ignoring safe distance (relative to all the conditions above), etc., another can safely and confidently drive 100kph.

AstralStorm 8y ago
And every driver thinks they're better than average, therefore speed limits are put in place.