EndocrinologyHigher Number Of Road Fatalities And Injuries Occur After Repeal Of Federal Limit Controls
A new study points to evidence that the 1995 repeal of federal limit controls resulted in an increase of road fatalities and injuries.
Researchers examined the long-term effects of the 1995 repeal of federal speed limit controls on road fatalities and injuries in fatal crashes. They did so by assessing the changes in number of fatalities and injuries in fatal crashes between 1995 and 2005 on rural interstates, where all U.S. states have raised speed limits since the repeal, and on urban interstates and non-interstate roads. They found a 3.2 percent increase in road fatalities attributable to the raised speed limits on all road types in the United States. Rural interstates had the highest increases at 9.1%, whereas the increase on urban interstates was 4.0%. Furthermore, researchers estimated that 12,545 deaths and 36,583 injuries in fatal crashes were attributable to these increase in speed limits across the United States.
The study"s researchers stated, "We suggest that the lower overall change in fatalities and injuries on the higher-speed roads mean not that higher travel speeds are safer but that the relative increase in travel speeds was less extreme on these roads." [From: "Long-Term Effects of Repealing the National Maximum Speed Limit in the United States."
American Journal of Public Health