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Low Speed Limits “Increase Risk” Says US Transport Professor; NT Expanding Open Trial

A road safety expert in the US has declared the unthinkable: that “artificially low speed limits make roads less safe”.  He also said that modern speed limits have not kept pace with the abilities of drivers nor the safety stan


A road safety expert in the US has declared the unthinkable: that "artificially low speed limits make roads less safe". 

He also said that modern speed limits have not kept pace with the abilities of drivers nor the safety standards of modern cars and has called for speed limits to be raised.

Assistant Professor in Transportation Engineering at The University of Texas, Stephen Boyles, made the declaration in a paper published by the University on the eve of 4th of July holidays in the US.

Professor Boyles said this particular 4th of July was significant, as it was around this time 20 years ago that US Congress repealed the National Maximum Speed Limit Law.

This law limited American drivers to 88km/h (55mp/h) on highways - a limit many motorists deemed too low and simply ignored, backed by police who offered a generous tolerance to those who did. 

Professor Boyles said the decision to repeal the Maximum Speed Limit was a “triumph of good engineering over good intentions”, and that road safety had improved in the years since.

“But that was then, and this is now,” Professor Boyles said. “Nowadays, artificially low speed limits actually make roads less safe. In fact, on many roads in Texas and across the nation, the speed limit ought to be raised.”

Road Safety

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