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Why are we so weird about speed limits (US)? (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 3 hours ago by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world
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  1. Why does everyone drive 10-15 miles above the speed limit?

  2. Why don't we raise the speed limit if that's how fast everyone wants to go?

  3. Why is traffic enforcement given to very expensive and ineffective police instead of cheaper and more automated traffic cameras?

  4. Why do we refuse to ever use ANY traffic calming measures? Yes, than you flashing digital sign for telling me I'm going 10 miles above the limit on this incredibly wide and straight and flat road with high curbs and perfect visibility.

It's a serious confusion I have about how society is supposed to operate because it seems like a complete and total breakdown of logic and sense.

And, yes, I know there's some thing people did long ago to set the speed limit at some percentile of what people were already traveling at, but that's obviously a stupid way to do it and we did it anyway. So why?

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[–] -1 points 2 hours ago (2 children)

Many speed limits are set so that you can still drive the road in adverse conditions.

This is not true. There may be some statutes in some jurisdictions with language that may suggest something like this is done, but the truth is, all speed limits were originally set by simply measuring how fast people drive, averaging all the number together, then reducing that number by 20%. From there, how it's changed over the years depends on where you are (with the exception of the nation-wide speed limit of 55 mph in response to the oil crisis in the 70s) but all of them started completely arbitrarily.

It's also worth mentioning, car technology is such that a modern cars only needs about 40% the stopping distance of a vehicle made when the speed limit was decided upon. So, not only are they arbitrary, but if they truly were based on vehicle performance, they would be a lot higher today (at least on rural roads. City streets are another story).

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