Articles and studies on raising speed limits?

"SonorousSpeedJoe" (SonorousSpeedJoe) 11/17/2015 at 15:00 • Filed to: None

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I’m not generally one to ask for homework help on Oppo, but I figured you all could point me in the right direction on this. I’m going to be giving a presentation, and I intend to argue for raising speed limits; do you guys have articles/studies that I could support my assertions with, or an idea of what I could say?

I’m still not sure what the exact thrust of my presentation is gonna be - I could argue for raising highway speed limits, or I could make a broader argument for speed limits that optimize fuel efficiency and traffic flow within safe limits (so it wouldn’t necessarily result in higher speed limits in places like cities or residential areas, but highway limits could go up). Finding regular articles for my idea isn’t hard ( Jalopnik ran something that I could use), but it’s the studies that have me concerned.

Some points I felt I could make (assuming that I can prove them) would be that cars are more efficient at speeds higher than 55 MPH nowadays, and that people travel at speeds higher than that on highways without a significantly higher risk of traffic accidents.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > SonorousSpeedJoe 11/17/2015 at 15:03

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One item to mention might be the improvement in automotive technology over the past 40 years. Tires, suspensions, all are greatly improved. Autos are also vastly more efficient. These shouldn’t be difficult to document.

I’d recommend beginning with Wikipedia to focus your search, then turn to the source documents in the footnotes. Wiki is a great place to dig up source material.

HammerheadFistpunch > SonorousSpeedJoe 11/17/2015 at 15:04

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Go to KSL.com and do a search for speed limit, you should find some articles that have references.

Future next gen S2000 owner > SonorousSpeedJoe 11/17/2015 at 15:06

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http://stop100.ca/

They seem to have done your work for you. Second, don’t argue cars are more (fuel) efficient at higher speeds. They aren’t highest mpg is usually around 40-50ish.

Your main point should be the fact that most people already speed to begin with and speed limits aren’t set according to what the roads are safely designed for.

There is a video where the guys argues effectively for raising them. dig around on youtube. His premise was most people drive the speed safe for conditions and not the speed limit. He also said he wasn’t for across the board raises, just certain roads, so school zones, residential areas would remain artificially low due to the risk of kids running out into the street.

miadaman? yes please > SonorousSpeedJoe 11/17/2015 at 15:10

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Other than design related parameters such as banking angle, turn radius and type of surface, I recall seeing an article by a civil engineer commenting on speed limit essentially being the 85th percentile driving speed observed on that road.

Here’s an article found on the interweb.

HammerheadFistpunch > SonorousSpeedJoe 11/17/2015 at 15:11

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heres one

https://www.ksl.com/?sid=26729407

jariten1781 > SonorousSpeedJoe 11/17/2015 at 15:17

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Just search NHTSA, IIHS, insert governing body here , + “Speed limit study” and you’ll find tons of stuff. Be aware, not all, or necessarily much of it will agree with increasing. Enthusiast forums/sites tend to cherry pick studies that do then state it as incontrovertible fact.

davedave1111 > SonorousSpeedJoe 11/17/2015 at 15:24

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https://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?hl=en&…

davedave1111 > Future next gen S2000 owner 11/17/2015 at 15:25

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“highest mpg is usually around 40-50ish.”

Apparently that hasn’t been true for years, and most modern cars have so much less rolling resistance than old ones that their most fuel-efficient speed is <30mph.

Future next gen S2000 owner > davedave1111 11/17/2015 at 15:28

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source?

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > SonorousSpeedJoe 11/17/2015 at 15:41

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If your school has a library database that can be helpful. I know my college library has an online database tool for searching ebooks and scholarly articles on pretty much any keywords. Usually has really good tools for citing your sources and such through there.

davedave1111 > Future next gen S2000 owner 11/17/2015 at 15:53

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Nothing specific, just something I read that makes sense when you think about it. The ‘optimum speed’ is where you trade-off rolling resistance against wind resistance. If rolling resistance is lower, so is the most efficient speed.

Future next gen S2000 owner > davedave1111 11/17/2015 at 16:56

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The most fuel efficient is the result of throttle position, engine load, engine rpm, speed - aero drag, and tire resistance. To boil it down to just trading rolling for aero resistance is too simplified.

davedave1111 > Future next gen S2000 owner 11/17/2015 at 17:59

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Yes, of course engine efficiency and gearing come into the picture, but they’re the details. The main factor is wind resistance v rolling resistance.

SonorousSpeedJoe > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 11/17/2015 at 20:01

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I do have access to a database, but I was mostly trying to see if other folks here could find stuff on the web that my google-fu might not catch.

SonorousSpeedJoe > jariten1781 11/17/2015 at 20:02

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Yeah, the bias is definitely something I’m wary of.

SonorousSpeedJoe > Future next gen S2000 owner 11/17/2015 at 20:10

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Yeah, I was thinking of pursuing the traffic flow/safety side of things because I wasn’t sure whether the MPG argument would be tenable.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > SonorousSpeedJoe 11/18/2015 at 07:28

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well googling stuff is really just going to give you Wikipedia at best as a credible source. I could certainly bullshit some logic too but as far as actual evidence or scientific studies, using database research is the ideal way to go. More relevant for a research paper but I imagine applying the same methods to a presentation would be good. Youtube can actually be a good idea too if you can embed the videos.

Zyrtec just kicked in, yo > Future next gen S2000 owner 11/24/2015 at 22:18

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The Ultragauge in my Corolla definitely agrees with that. Humming along at a steady 25 MPH in 5th gets GREAT mileage.

Zyrtec just kicked in, yo > SonorousSpeedJoe 11/24/2015 at 22:22

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I would definitely pursue that... the 85th percentile is generally considered the safest speed at which to drive.

The NMA would also be a resource to explore.