That's the conclusion reached by An empirical analysis of driver perceptions of the relationship between speed limits and safety, a recent study at Purdue University. As the abstract states:
A key motivating factor in drivers’ tendency to exceed the speed limit is that they believe that the excess speed does not threaten safety. This paper, specifically studies this matter by using a survey that asked drivers how fast above the speed limit they feel they can drive before safety is threatened ... Estimation findings show that drivers’ perception of the speed above the speed limit at which they will receive a speeding ticket is a critical determinant of what they believe is a safe speed – suggesting that enforcement plays an important role in safety perceptions. Other variables found to be significant factors in determining the speed above the speed limit at which safety is first threatened include age, gender, being previously stopped for speeding, and drivers’ ethnicity.
This means that planners and advocates who want cars to slow down should focus not on speed laws but instead on changing drivers' perceptions. We don't want streets that are unsafe, but we do want them to feel unsafe, or just a little. For example, we know that narrowing the lane of traffic will slow driving speeds as drivers feel more constrained. Making neighborhood streets bumpy rather than smooth will discourage people from flying down the street far better than putting up a speed limit sign.
What are other effective ways you've experienced a decrease in your sense of safety at speed?
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2 comments:
Honestly, I have a strong dislike of the bumpy roads. Sure, they slow people down, but they also damage cars in the long run, and make people upset, which counteracts the benefit of slowing down traffic. I don't think we want upset people on the road.
Those big wide crosswalk-sized speed bumps they have in London (and undoubtedly elsewhere) are great. They slow you down, but don't feel jerky (or tax your shock absorbers) like regular-sized speed bumps. Also, the culture of driving itself will have an effect – in other words, once the process of realization starts, it compounds instead of developing linearly. I think that's neat.
I don't like bumpy roads, either, and they could detract from a nice community feeling if they make driving noisier, but I would be willing to make the trade off for slightly more annoying driving in neighborhoods if it increases their general safety and friendliness in other ways. A lot of our design decisions are made on the basis of prioritizing the preferences of drivers, or the preferences people who travel by a variety of modes have with respect to their driving experience. I'd like to see more angles taken into account!
Those big speed bumps are also known as speed tables, and they're nice, I agree! Though I've also heard from a lot of people who hate them :)
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