What I think this article gets right, even if accidentally, is that speed is not a great factor in determining traffic crashes or the outcome on human life. Whi

What I think this article gets right, even if accidentally, is that speed is not a great factor in determining traffic crashes or the outcome on human life. While the point of the article seems lost in it’s nonsense and meandering story, there are a couple of good points: 1) The one person who says “I go 80 anyway so I like it”. People drive whatever speed they want regardless of speed limit. Case in point, the person who said “I still drive 70 because 75 is too fast”. There’s nothing inherently dangerous about speed until you hit something. Cars hitting each other is much more likely when the speed differential increases. 2) The person who talks about the economy having more of an impact on driving behavior than speed limits. I’d love to see more data on that, but regardless of if it’s true, we know that the speed limit doesn’t have the biggest impact on driver safety, and we know that thanks to 3) The Autobahn referenced at the very end of the article, and other no-limit freeways that exist even in America. I had an opportunity to drive on some unrestricted sections of the Autobahn this past summer and even with the huge differentials in speed, drivers managed to not crash into each other. I don’t know what the problem is so I don’t know what the solution is, but I can make a couple more observations. First, Germany has a law that your car has to be in proper working order and it’s taken off the roads if it’s not. Having spent a lot of time in Northern Michigan where this article takes place, there is no guarantee that cars on the road are working. As long as the car can move, people will drive it. Doesn’t matter how long they’ve been using the same brakes or tires. So when it comes time to avoid an accident, their car is not capable of stopping or maneuvering in time. Secondly, drivers training in the US is abysmal. You’re expected to learn how to avoid collisions by yourself, and you’re expected to learn how to drive in bad weather (wind, snow, rain) by yourself, on public roads, with other drivers around you. An extra five miles per hour on a limited-access freeway in an amazingly rural area should not impact anything at all, ever. There HAS to be other factors in play besides the speed limit.