How fast do you drive? (Stuart Isett for The New York Times)When it comes to speeding, many American motorists don’t worry about safety. They just worry about getting caught.
Those are the findings by researchers from Purdue University who surveyed nearly 1,000 motorists about speed limits and driving habits. They found that many drivers are cynical about the safety benefits of driving within speed limits, and many think they can drive safely while speeding as long as they won’t get caught, according to the report in Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour.
“So the faster you think you can go before getting a ticket, the more likely you are to think safety’s not compromised at higher speeds,” said Fred Mannering, a professor of civil engineering at Purdue, in a press release. “For whatever reason, respect for speed limits seems to have deteriorated.”
Dr. Mannering used a series of mathematical equations to calculate the probability of speeding, based on data from a survey of 988 motorists in Tippecanoe County, Ind. The survey findings were consistent with other research that has shown two-thirds of all drivers regularly exceed posted speed limits, and roughly one-third report driving at least 10 m.p.h. faster than most other vehicles.
The latest research asked participants: “At what point do you feel speeding becomes a threat to the personal safety of you and your family?” The motorists were given three choices: 5 m.p.h., 10 m.p.h. or 20 m.p.h. over the speed limit.
The survey was taken before and after a 2004 media campaign launched in the county stressing the dangers of speeding that included radio and newspaper messages.
More than a third of the drivers in the survey thought it was safe to drive 20 m.p.h. over the speed limit. Overall, the vast majority of respondents said they thought it was safe to speed, with 79 percent saying it was safe to exceed the limit by 10 m.p.h. or more.
The research showed the media campaign relating to the dangers of speeding had no statistically significant impact on drivers’ views on speeding and safety. For most drivers, a “safe” speed is typically just beyond the point where they believe they are at risk for getting a ticket. That means that motorists who believe they won’t get a ticket until they go 10 m.p.h. above the speed limit are 27 percent more likely to drive up to 20 m.p.h. above the speed limit.
Notably, getting stopped for speeding didn’t seem to have an effect on whether or not a person speeds again. Both men and women drivers who had been stopped for speeding in the last year were 25 percent more likely to believe that it is safe to drive up to 20 m.p.h. faster than the speed limit, compared to those who hadn’t been ticketed.
“This is probably because people who habitually speed are not significantly deterred by being stopped for speeding,” Dr. Mannering said. “They might become slightly more conservative, but it doesn’t slow them down to the level of people who are inherently more conservative.”
To learn more about Dr. Manning’s research, read “Yes, Accidents Happen. But Why?,” published in The Times last year.
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From 1 to 25 of 248 Comments
I think the study reaffirms the idea of slowing down our lives. The constant pull of work, school, extracurricular activities and so forth have contributed to lives of hyperactivity. More thought is devoted to getting from point A to point B, in the least amount of time, than the actual ride itself. This leads people to make decisions which may seem innocuous but actually lead to dire consequences and situations. We can’t control the traffic but we can definitely control our reactions.
— RunningIt’s not a concern until they end up in a perhaps fatal car crash.
— LPPerhaps if people were lectured about the dangers of speeding at the time of being stopped they might take it in a bit more, the main problem with the stigma of speeding is that a speeding ticket is seen by most people as basically a source of revenue for the local government and not as an exercise in ensuring safety.
The law should also take into consideration improvements in auto technology such as tires ,brakes and the condition of the car and the road.
— AdrianIt’s a bad question. The speed is pretty much irrelevant. If there’s no traffic on a wide flat highway, you should be able to drive 90+ safely. The cops hiding in the bushes are a bigger safety hazard than actual speeding. Also, the rotting corpse driving 40 MPH is a bigger danger than most speeding too. Another thing is the person making unsafe lane changes is far more common on the highway. Tailgaiting too, is an issue. But these pigs love to hide and give BS speeding tickets. It’s just a hidden tax.
— JoshIt really depends. On a curvy mountain road, I would probably stick to the speed limit. On an open, straight, divided highway with sparse traffic, I wouldn’t mind doing even 60 mph over the limit if I thought I could get away with it and my car was powerful enough to go at that speed and be stable. That’s why we need sensible speed limits for conditions; get rid of the idiotic 75 mph cap, regardless of how conducive the road is to higher speeds.
— Vivek ThuppilSpeeding tickets are mainly sources of revenue, otherwise police cars would be more visibly deployed. I doubt that the risk of speed traps deters more drivers than actually having visible authorities around would.
— williamDuh! with commutes growing ever longer, with three kids who need to be in three different corners of the county at times only fifteen minutes apart, with the fact that accidents, while deadly, do not in fact happen every time someone speeds, whereas it is a fact that I will be docked each and every time I am late for work….
— talathieland everyone else’s habits DO affect yours, and should. Average speed on the freeway near my home is 85-95 mph. No joke. speed limits are 65-70. Not uncommon for folks to drive 100mph on some stretches. Anyone actually doing the speed limit would be forcefully run off the road by some guy in a truck. I personally have been run nearly into a ravine for doing 7 mph over the speed limit in a pea-soup fog. IF you don’t keep up with the traffic, you WILL have an accident!
Of course, context matters, and I should read the study to get it. I don’t think going 90 in a 70 mph zone (our speed limit in NC) is particularly safe, nor do I think going 35 in a 25 is safe. But on a near-empty freeway posted for 55? Is 65 too fast? Or on the NYS Thruway, say, between Albany and Kingston, or I-88 to Binghamton? The posted limit is 65, but the sight lines are good, the road is well maintained, and traffic is awfully light. The problem in these cases is that the speed limit is set too low. The limit could be 70 or 75 mph in some cases. Of course, snow or other bad weather should reduce the limit. But again, it’s about context.
— Tom in RaleighIf everyone were to obey other traffic laws, like staying to the right unless passing, then speeding would not be as dangerous as it actually is in the United States. For instance, European drivers regularly drive at speeds substantially higher than in the US, but their willingness to move to the right to allow a faster driver go by creates a more orderly and safer driving experience. European drivers, in my experience, also use their signals regularly, use headlights at all hours of the day, and are rarely seen with cellphones in their hands. By contrast, American drivers seem obsessed with being in the left lane no matter what speed they drive, rarely use signals to merge and are always on their phones. Add it all up, and speeding under these conditions becomes significantly more dangerous than it might otherwise be.
— PeterMotorists’ behaviors reflect their general outlook on life, and on the Social Contract in particular. In Los Angeles, California, where I live, many drivers continue to use hand-held cellular telephones in open disregard of the state’s law banning this activity. For years, I’ve watched distracted drivers cruise through stop signs and red lights, or unsafely slow down or drift across lanes in traffic for no apparent reason, only to notice that they’re fiddling with a cell phone — often furtively, holding it down below window level to avoid being spotted by police. Despite the heavy fines attached to the law, it seems not to be widely observed, notwithstanding the proven dangers of cell phone distraction. It is, at bottom, a kind of selfishness that disregards the danger created to others, that narcissism peculiar to coddled, mediocre people living cluelessly in their urban bubbles.
— Mark Millerthis is pointless; every driver knows that speed limits are a lower bound, and that “+5″ is the actual speed limit (as measurable by detection limits, officer’s time, ticket quotas, et cetera.)
Why are interstate highway speed limits set at 75 out west and 65 in the east? are not the roads designed to the same specifications?
It is perfectly clear that speed limits could be raised above where they are now, and that safe passage could be afforded within 15-20 miles per hour upwards of present limits. Speed limits are set to generate revenue for states and localities, which is why people are cynical about them.
— PointlessAs a cyclist, I have to say that speeding cars scare me, both those who accellerate suddenly in heavy traffic and those who just speed by. Particularly when they don’t leave me space when passing.
I ride primarly in an urban area, and do my best to avoid roads with speed limits higher than 35 mph, but occasionally in the suburbs I have to take two-lane roads with higher speed limits. While most people are respectful and aware of their surroundings, some do not realize how the size and speed of their vehicle could lead to my death and their injury. Others are almost malicious, but that’s a different issue.
(No, i don’t have a car, so driving is not an option, and public transportation is limited)
While you may be in control of your vehicle, you do not know what is around the next corner. Speed limits exist in part based on visibility so you can stop before an obstruction. I wish people would remember that.
(Yes, cyclists in general need to be better about riding with helmets, lights, using the rules of the road, etc. But two wrongs do not make a right.)
— StephanieI’ve read their reports before. They intentionally set speed limits to lower than what is considered safe. It is documented in NHSTA reports believe it or not. In other words, the people surveyed are exactly correct in most cases.
Speed limits are not based on the safest possible speed but due to political and arbitrary rules. This is really what promotes speeding.
The biggest danger i see on the roads are cell phones, lack of attention, and riding the left lane, not speeding.
— KI guess I’m the only person left on the planet who obeys the speed limit “because it’s the law and I respect the law.” It’s not a matter of being afraid of being caught speeding. Even if I knew that there was no police officer around for 100 miles, I would still NOT go above the speed limit. Whatever happened to respect for man’s law? I guess it has gone the way of respect for GOD’s law . . . in other words, no respect. Even Romans chapter 13–written 2000 years ago–says that we are to submit to the governing authorities (obey the laws of the land) and to do so “for conscience sake,” not out of fear of getting punished if we don’t. THAT is timeless wisdom. If people in general would respect and obey all the laws of the land, fairness, safety and wisdom would prevail on the highways and everywhere else. Oh, by the way: If a law goes against God’s ways, then God’s will must prevail. Also, if we don’t like a particular law, we should obey it anyway and work within the system to change or defeat it. That’s the American way and a way that leads to an orderly society. Why disobey the law? Answer: selfishness, arrogance, apathy, ignorance, self-importance, rebelliousness, foolishness, etc. The only reason I can think of to speed, for example, is if someone’s immediate life or physical well being is in danger. We can ALL come up with that rare exception and reason for breaking the law . . . but how do we justify chronically breaking it in normal, non-emergency, day-to-day living?
— SusanAs a society, we’ve settled on an acceptable safety standard of about 10 mph over the posted speed limits on most roads. Because of this and their low dollar value, we see speeding tickets as a randomly applied tax and show them as little respect as we do accordingly. That having been said, the people going faster than the 10 mph over standard are acting more irresponsibly than our norm.
So, if we want to get serious about speeding while accepting the reality of public perception, speed limits on most roads should go up 10 mph, and the penalties for breaking the new speed limits should be in the thousands of dollars and allow for possible weekend jail time.
I suspect if we did this, people would stop speeding above the new limits, and a lot of police departments would lose an important revenue stream…
— MIkeI’m very mindful and observant of speed limits on residential and secondary roads. But what really aggravates me is that the stop lights are not cooridnated such that if one drives the speed limit down the dominant road you don’t have to stop for lights. Instead every secondary road triggers a stop light as soon as a car pulls up. Drivers would be more inclined to drive the speed limit if the stop lights were coordinated.
On the highways, If I drove the speed limit on I-95 here in South Florida I would be run of the road.
— SamThe study provides proof that the idea of controlling society can always be justified by the analysis of a group of its citizens.
This country was founded by a group of rebels and we are still a rebellious bunch. While the idea of slowing down our lives sounds great, the practice of getting in line like a herd of sheep chafes with our reluctance to follow orders from the King.
The readership of this forum does need to keep in mind that some of us enjoy driving. Speeding across West Texas is far different than speeding down the Belt Parkway. 70mph on the crowded Belt can be suicidal and dangerous to all. If you wipe out at 100+mph in West Texas, you may just create a lot of dust and food for the local critters.
It’s about personal responsibility, either way, you pay.
— Heavy foot in TexasYears ago, New Jersey took away licenses of drivers who were caught going 10 miles above the speed limit. I travel a few miles above the speed limit on my commute to work and I have to stay in the slow lane. The majority drives more than 10 over the speed limit and it has been years since I’ve seen anyone pulled over for speeding. Is it any surprise that everyone speeds. On a morning commute of 30 miles, driving the speed limit may save 5 minutes. Is it worth the increased risk and gasoline consumption
— clareI think that this study is probably talking about speeding when there are other cars around. We’ve all seen people who are weaving in and out of other cars on the highway. Plus, even on a deserted road going abvove the speed limit diminishes your control (the speed limits are set for optimal road conditions, not only so you don’t hit other cars) and can result in a single car crash. A teenager in my town was killed in a single car accident on a pretty fair weathered day because she was driving above the speed limit on what seemed to be a manageable stretch of road. She lost control of her car on the slightest hint of a bend (something that most people wouldn’t even think about being a bend) and hit a tree.
— runsonairMaybe if speed limits were set to reasonable speeds, people wouldn’t speed? There are very few interstates which could not have 80mph speed limit.
If anything, there needs to be stricter driver testing and licensing, and increased speed limits. We also need to enforce the right lane as the travel lane.
— AlexStephanie - +1 Cyclists, on tight 4 lane roads the safest option is to take a lane. Let them go around you.
On highways, speed limits were designed for cars that had worse fuel economy and many more safety concerns. Every single interstate highway could be 75 or 80 without decreasing general safety.
— paulThe real reason people feel fine speeding: their cars are better. Drivers are more insulated from the road with better build quality, and most cars have a much more solid feel. This leads to more confidence at higher speeds. The problem of course is that our reaction times don’t improve with a new car, so the human element brings fast cars down to earth quickly.
— JiversonI think the real issue, that continues to be ignored is the cost to the country. Every mile per hour above 58 hammers down the mpg for the trip. If you want to continue funding terrorist nations then by all means keep speeding and wasting fuel. Everything has consequences, a speeding ticket should be the least of your concerns. Keep American jobs by keeping capital in the country.
— NovieI guess this is what happens when a civil-engineering professor does “psychological” research. You get data that’s interesting with respect to speed-limit setting, but it’s misrepresented as being relevant to safety.
As presented here, it seems to deal only with how people’s willingness to exceed posted limits correlates with their perception of the likelihood of getting caught.
In fact, most of us who drive have become cynical about the relationship between speed limits and safety for very good reason. We constantly read that speed limits are being lowered to save energy, for traffic “calming,” because residents of a neighborhood have complained to politicians, or whatever.
It’s no wonder we conclude that speed-law enforcement is primarily a randomly-assessed tax that, in most cases, has little or nothing to do with road safety. It’s natural for us to assume that in most cases, the maximum safe speed on a given stretch of road is considerably higher than the posted limit.
A study that segmented road types by actual accident risk, as well as by speed limit, and compared them to drivers’ perceptions of safe speed would be very interesting, and safety-relevant as well. I suspect that such a study would find that even habitual speeders are actually pretty good judges of when speed limits are arbitrary vs. when it’s actually prudent to slow down. But that’s just a guess.
— AJ ViggenRespect for the law is a 2 way street. When people feel laws, like speed limits, are arbitrary, they will not respect them. This study does nothing to consider the speed limits themselves, and assumes we all suffer from some common delusion about safety.
— JosephHighway speed limits in many countries are much higher than in the US, yet no one is screaming that Europe is a death trap. In the suburbs many major streets have 25 mph speed limits that are almost completely ignored. Speed limits are set low for political reasons (often relating to children), and to help revenue, and occasionally truly for safety.
Safety is mainly determined by physics, something easily calculated by the geography of the road and the properties of the average car. Drivers have an innate sense of how fast is safe, and this determines the average traffic speed, not “what they think they can get away with”. When people go outside this bounds is when there are problems. But if the speed limits are not reasonable numbers, then drivers only have their personal feeling to go on, which may be deadly wrong at times.