Speed Limit Drop: 20% Fewer Injuries in Seattle.
It is to be expected that slower speeds come with greater security on roads. Studies coming from the Insurance Institute for Roadway Protection reveal this observation to be also valid for more densely populated urban roads, on which people may commonly be found traveling at an already slow rate.
Data collected from Seattle, Washington revealed that in November 2016, the velocity limit on arterial roads downtown was retracted to 25mph from its 30mph standing. Moreover, the restriction over residential streets was similarly adjusted to 20mph from an antecedent 25 mph.
The research revealed that for downtown Seattle’s arterial roads, the possibility of a crash leading to an injury decreased by 20 percent. With respect to the avenues located outside of the downtown area, there was a downslide of 11 percent, however, according to the IIHS, this variation was not significantly meaningful.
“The findings of this study demonstrate the importance of reassessing speed limits,” commented IIHS President David Harkey. “Accidents still occurred after Seattle’s modifications, but they weren’t as severe.”
Analyzing three years of crash statistics in Seattle as well as three additional cities, that did not modify their speed maximums, IIHS researchers noticed a decrease in the amount of collision-related injuries on arterial roads situated here. On the contrary, similar crashes in the other surveyed spots had seen a rise.
On local roads, the probability of an accident leading to injury seemed to not vary a great deal. Two potential explanations were posited by investigators from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. A reason could be a minimal sample size. Alternatively, these streets are quite slender and typically have parked cars lined up on both sides — which might cause drivers to not exceed 20 miles per hour regardless of the speed limit signage since it does not appear to be secure.
Studies conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration exposed a decrease of 0.2% in all road accident casualties over the period between January and September 2022 compared to 2021. While drivers traveled 1.6% more miles this year than in the preceding nine months, there was still only a marginal decrease observed.
Source: Insurance Institute For Highway Safety
