Speeding, Coordination, and the 55 MPH Limit

A number of recent studies discuss the optimality of the 55 miles-per-hour (mph) national maximum speed limit (NMSL) and evaluate the trade-off of time-lost versus lives-saved resulting from lowered speed. These studies implicitly accept the conventional wisdom that speed kills, and slower is safer....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American economic review 1985-12, Vol.75 (5), p.1159-1164
Main Author: Lave, Charles A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Automobiles
Average speed
Coefficients
Death
Fatalities
Highways
Law
Mortality
Police
Roads & highways
Speed
Speed limits
Speeding
Statistical analysis
Statistical data
Statistical variance
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Summary:A number of recent studies discuss the optimality of the 55 miles-per-hour (mph) national maximum speed limit (NMSL) and evaluate the trade-off of time-lost versus lives-saved resulting from lowered speed. These studies implicitly accept the conventional wisdom that speed kills, and slower is safer. Speed laws have evolved as limits on driver behavior rather than as signaling devices meant to coordinate it. The present analysis tests differing views of the law by examining the current effects of the 55 mph NMSL. The effects of limit-defying behavior (speeding) and the absence of coordination (speed variance) are measured. Based on the analysis of 1981 and 1982 state cross-section data, the results show that there is not a statistically discernible relationship between the fatality rate and average speed, though there is a strong relationship to speed variance. Evidence that speed laws should be viewed as devices for coordinating speed, not just limiting it, is presented.
ISSN:0002-8282
1944-7981