Survey Finds Drivers Take Speed Limits as Suggestions

A survey conducted by Purdue University has found that the vast majority of drivers are totally cool with driving over the posted speed limit — no matter what that number is.

Five miles per hour over the posted limit? No problem, 21% said. Ten mph over? More power to you, 43% said. Twenty mph over? Why not? asked 36%.

The study’s author, Fred Mannering, hypothesizes that moves to tangle other concerns up with speed limit policies (such as fuel efficiency and neighborhood safety and noise concerns) has led to people disassociating speed limits with safety. This is why officials everywhere artificially lower the maximum posted speed because they expect drivers to go five to 10 mph over no matter what.

The greatest danger is not necessarily speeding, but big discrepancies in how fast some cars are traveling compared to others. If half the drivers on the road are following the speed limit and half are going 20 mph over, then you have a problem.

Mannering says the best way to make people obey posted speed limits is to artificially raise gas prices, citing that people will begin to drive more efficiently (i.e. slower) when they pay more for gas.

How often do you ignore speed limits? What would it take to get you to obey the posted limit? Let us know in the comments.

Study Shows Drivers Feel Free to Ignore Speed Limits (Autopia)