Speed Limit Laws
Since the federal government gave individual states the power
to set their own speed limits through legislation in December
1995,
44 states passed measures to increase speed limits. As of June
2003 there were 29 states with speed limits posted at 70 mph or
higher
on some of their highway systems. The chart
below provides
state rural and urban interstate speed limits.
Speed and impact on crash fatalities
The average speed of drivers in the US is on the increase and most
traffic safety researchers agree that raising speed limits is harmful.
A study released in November 2003 by the Insurance Institute for
Highway Safety (IIHS) shows that in the six states studied where
rural interstate speed limits were raised, more than two-thirds
of the vehicles on these roads were going 70 mph or faster. The
states studied were CO, GA, CA, MA, MD and NM.
The study also found that higher travel speeds translated into
nearly 1,900 more deaths in 22 states between 1996–99. IIHS
reports that 28 states have raised rural Interstate speeds to at
least 70 mph.
Another component of the IIHS report includes highlights from a
study by the Land Transport Safety Authority of New Zealand. The
New Zealand study examined the number of deaths per million vehicle
miles driven in 22 US states that immediately raised their limits
to 70 or 75 mph after the repeal of federal speed limits. Trends
from those states were compared with 12 states that kept their limits
at 65. The study found states with increased speed limits to 75
mph had 38% more deaths per million vehicle miles than expected
for an estimated 780 deaths. States with speed limits raised to
70 mph experienced a 35% increase, resulting in 1,100 more deaths.
Safer cars and highways may serve to encourage higher speeds, but
no study to date has determined that driving faster than posted
speed limits or prevailing road conditions is safer than driving
at moderate speeds.
In fact, traffic crash death rates, which had been on the decline
in the US for decades actually are starting to increase. 42,815
fatalities were reported in 2002, more than any year since 1990.
Ohio speed limit legislation and five-year crash statistics
In 2003, a bill calling for a uniform speed limit for cars and
trucks on certain rural interstate highways was introduced in
the
Ohio House, similar to legislation introduced in 2001. HB 186,
calls for 65 mph speed limits for large trucks on certain portions
of
Ohio’s interstate system, the same as cars. Ohio is one of
11 states that has differing speed limits on cars and heavy trucks
(see chart below). As of March 2004, the bill remains in
committee hearings.
In 1996, the Ohio General Assembly approved legislation allowing
the Ohio Department of Transportation to raise speed limits to
65
mph on designated urban interstates and rural highways for passenger
vehicles and commercial buses. Previous state law set the speed
limits at 55 mph on urban interstates and rural highways, and 65
on rural interstates. (See chart
below for history of Ohio’s
speed limit laws.)
In Ohio, fatalities declined following the passage of the 55 mph
speed limit law in 1974, the oil crisis era. Fatalities in the Buckeye
state have been under the 2,000 mark since then with the exception
of three years, 1978–1980. Worth noting is the fact that there
was a 6% increase in Ohio fatalities in 1987, the year after Congress
raised speed limits to 65 mph on rural interstates.
Trends in Ohio’s fatal crashes, according to the Ohio Department
of Public Safety (ODPS), show they have remained relatively stable
over the past five years. There were 1,284 fatal crashes in 2002,
and 1,258 fatal crashes in 2001, 1,240 in 2000, 1,284 in 1999 and
1,290 in 1998. Injury crashes steadily decreased four of the five
years during that same period. ODPS figures show 95,374 injury crashes
in 2002, 94,971 in 2001, 105,543 in 2000, 121,078 in 1999 and 123,785
in 1998.
 |
Speed-related crashes accounted for 31% of all
fatal crashes in 2002, or nearly 14,000 fatalities, costing
the economy an estimated $40.4 billion.
(Nat’l. Hwy. Traffic Safety Administration,
from The Washington Post, 12/10/03) |
NA = Not applicable
Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
Source: Hot Sheet News, Ohio Department of Public Safety,
March 2003 from Governor’s Highway Safety Office
| History
of Ohio's Speed Limit Laws |
| 1908 |
The first speed limit
was 20 mph outside municipalities, 8 mph inside municipalities |
| 1926 |
35 mph |
| 1940 |
45 mph |
| 1941 |
50 mph |
| 12/1/42 |
Gas rationing and a
35 mph speed limit on all roads that had been in effect along
the East Coast for 7 months was extended nationally to conserve
gasoline and rubber during World War II |
| 8/15/45 |
50 mph speed limit
reinstated |
| 1958 |
60 mph daytime, 50
mph speed limit at night |
| 1963 |
70 mph for cars and
55 mph for trucks and commercial tractors on interstates; 60
mph daytime and 50 nighttime on noninterstates |
| 1974 |
55 mph for all vehicles
on interstates and most other highways |
| 1987 |
65 mph for cars on
900 miles of rural interstates, 55 mph for commercial vehicles
weighing more than 8,000 lbs. |
| 1991 |
65 mph for cars on
another 246 miles of interstates |
| 1992 |
65 mph on 209 miles
of rural noninterstates |
| 1996 |
Speed limits raised
to 65 mph on designated urban interstates and rural highways
for passenger vehicles and commercial buses |
| 2002 |
Am. Sub. SB 123 (effective
date 11/1/02) overhauls point system for speeding. Effective
date
for provisions dealing with changes in Ohio’s point system
for speeding is 1/1/04. (Click
here for details.) |
Source: Ohio Historical Society |
