PITTSBURGH _ A nighttime drive along an open suburban road can seem to drag on forever. Without anyone in sight and a heavy right foot on the accelerator, the drive could inspire a liberal interpretation of the speed limit. Thirty-five mph? Why not 50?
But a new study by the National Transportation Safety Board found speeding-related fatalities were three times higher on local roads than on highways. It blamed high speed limits and an outdated system for determining them as the reason for the more than 10,000 deaths a year caused by high-speed accidents. Adopted by the NTSB on July 27, the study followed speed enforcement approaches throughout the country and found that traffic cameras were one of the best ways to prevent speeding.
The study only reinforces what Kathleen Ferrier, communications director for Vision Zero Network, and other street safety advocates have already known.
"Speed is an absolutely critical factor in achieving zero deaths," said Ferrier, who added it was the main goal of Vision Zero Network to reduce speeding-related fatalities to none per year. "We're so encouraged to see national leadership on this. Still, not enough is being done about speed."
From 2005 to 2014, the study said, there were over 112,000 fatalities from speeding-related crashes. That accounted for 31 percent of traffic deaths, the same as alcohol-related deaths in the same timespan. Sixty-four percent of people killed were drivers who were speeding, and 20 percent were passengers. Of those injured in speeding-related accidents _ over 336,000 people in 2014 alone _ 40 percent were occupants of non-speeding vehicles, pedestrians or bicyclists.
Surveys reviewed by the NTSB for the study showed respondents overwhelmingly agreed everyone should obey the speed limit. One study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration showed 87 percent of drivers said exceeding the speed limit by 20 mph was unacceptable. Yet 27 percent of the same respondents agreed speeding is something they do without thinking. Forty-two percent said driving at or near the speed limit makes it difficult to keep up with traffic, and a survey by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety showed 45 percent admitted to having gone over the speed limit that week.
The few negative consequences to speeding that exist in society today, Ferrier said, may explain the willingness of driver's to speed despite the danger. She said people should treat speeding the way they treat drunken driving.
"We allow this to happen in modern society but it's killing people," she said. "For so many years these fatalities have been one of those consequences of modern life. We drive, therefore people will die. But no, these deaths are preventable."
That could be easier said than done. Tests to determine speed limits are not standardized and may differ from state to state, the study said. One method looks at the speed at or below which 85 percent of vehicles are traveling on a specific road. This method, the study said, has "become common practice and is considered 'the traffic engineers' traditional rule of thumb.'"
However, the 85th percentile rule relies not on a stationary point, the study said, but rather on a moving target that increases when speed limits are raised. The more the speed limit goes up, the more likely people are to drive above it. It's like allowing drunken drivers to set impaired-driving laws, said Ferrier.
As for the traffic cameras, concerns of privacy abound. In Texas, the state legislature prohibited the use of automated speed enforcement, joining 14 other states that have strict laws on the cameras. Pennsylvania is among 27 states which have not passed any laws on the issue.
Scott Bricker, executive director of Bike Pittsburgh, said traffic cameras offer an equitable approach to enforcement. And he hopes the study will soon lead to visible change in urban streets.
"I think a lot of us in the safe streets movement have known this for a long time now," he said. "The speeds at which people drive are a deterrent to people riding or walking. With a livable speed, it will encourage more people to cycle and walk and feel safer in our streets. Most of all it will protect human life."
