Should US national speed limits revert back to 55 miles per hour?

No

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by Ashley Smith

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Speed limits can be useful in saving lives and improving safety but conversely if set incorrectly they can also cause problems. If your car has a cruising speed of above the road limits you may spend more time watching speed limits and watching your speedometer then watching the road. This can also apply with speed cameras where cars will slow for cameras and will then speed up before the next one, again the drivers attention will be looking down and not in-front. Speeds should be limited only when there is a direct threat to safety, this would be in built up areas and around schools. The places where children may stray into the road or shoppers could be trying to cross the road. This may also be advisable on single lane roads and roads with numerous twists and turns. The limits shouldn't be limitless but shouldn't be low for the sake of it.

Thirty to forty miles an hour would be advisable where there is a danger to pedestrians but on major roads the limits should be higher. The British limit of sixty or seventy miles an hour for major roads with no pedestrian access is probably about right. The roads in America are inn the main longer and straighter then the British ones and therefore should be able to cope in most cases. The faster speeds could keep traffic moving both quicker and more economically, in fact they may run better at a slightly higher in terms of emissions. The American built cars are designed to run best at American speeds while imported cars may not be. Most cars on British roads run at their optimum at around seventy seven miles an hour, therefore avoiding speeding up and slowing down would be a great benefit. Running at the most economic speed will also make the car laster longer and will make the journey smoother.

Its an unofficial fact that at quiet times of the day that speed limits in the UK are slightly more flexible , at night if all cars are travelling around ten to twenty miles an hour over the limit they are not always targeted. The theory is that they are travelling safely and are travelling together, if one car is travelling far above the speed of the rest they will be stopped. Cars are designed to drive faster and faster , they are therefore designed to be driven safely faster and therefore are safer when slower. Of course the joke goes that the cars are safe and the only dodgy part is the nut behind the wheel.

High speed when unable to drive safely or when not ready is dangerous, therefore a very high speed is very unwise. There will always be new drivers and risks linked to them so a speed limit around the one it is remains safe. Its one that everyone knows and is one that most people are used to. Lowering it could be as full of risk's as raising it. Leave it be and concentrate on teaching new drivers.

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