Path: utzoo!censor!jeff
From: jeff@censor.UUCP (Jeff Hunter)
Newsgroups: ont.general
Subject: Re: Highway Driving Rules
Summary: any idea why?
Message-ID: <545@censor.UUCP>
Date: 1 May 89 22:25:39 GMT
References: <89Apr26.134028edt.9320@ois.db.toronto.edu> <440@bnr-fos.UUCP> <2375@lethe.UUCP>
Distribution: ont
Organization: Bell Canada, Business Development, Toronto
Lines: 33

In article <2375@lethe.UUCP>, dave@lethe.UUCP (Dave Collier-Brown) writes:
> ... jdd@db.toronto.edu ("John D. DiMarco") writes:>
> >I remember reading somewhere that there was a dramatic decrease in American
> >highway automobile accidents (or was it deaths?) when the highway speed limit
> >was reduced to 55 mph.  Can anyone confirm?
> 
>   Actually the recorded result was that the number of accidents **on the 
> limited-access roads** fell, but accidents on surface roads in cities which
> were adjacent to the limited-access roads rose precipitiously (sp?).

	Ummm. Are those roads parallel to the limited access ones? I.E. were
time-pressed motorists using speeding on city streets as an alternative to
70 mph's on the highway? 
	If not then does anyone have pet theories as to why the city 
accident rates could rise?
	Here are four of mine:
o the driver is used to getting from A to B in 3 hours. The change in the 
  limit now raises the trip to 4 hours, so the driver cuts corners
  in the destination city to shave a few minutes back off.
o the increase in trip time means that the inter-city driver arrives less
  alert
o the change co-incided with some normal increase in accident rates (first
  snowfall, New Years, etc...)
o there has been some other long-term increase in the city accident rate
  (more urban crowding?)

	Any other guesses? Anyone have newer statistics?
 
-- 
      ___   __   __   {utzoo,lsuc}!censor!jeff  (416-595-2705)
      /    / /) /  )     -- my opinions --
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