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| Speeding to death and destruction |
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| Friday, 15 August 2003 | |
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Briarpatch Magazine, July-August, 2003 by Gary Smith On June 1 of 2003, the speed limit on all twinned highways in Saskatchewan increased from 100 to 110 km/hour. There seems to have been very little discussion or debate on the matter. This is surprising considering the issues involved. Much of the world has recognized the environmental danger associated with global warming and the urgent need to do something about it. The Kyoto Protocol has been developed to help combat the problem. Canada has agreed to ratify the protocol and reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases to 6 percent below 1990 levels sometime between 2008 and 2012. An increase in speed limits on Saskatchewan highways flies in the face of this initiative. Another issue is road safety. General wisdom tells us that the greater the highway speed the greater the possibility of injury or death. To gain an understanding of why the Saskatchewan Government would pass legislation that runs counter to an important international agreement and to the safety of Saskatchewan citizens, I wrote to a number of Saskatchewan NDP caucus members and expressed my concerns. Not all answered. Some of those who did answer agreed with my concerns. Some did not. Highways minister Mark Wartman's reply best summarized the government position on this issue. In response to the greenhouse gas issue, Mr. Wartman assured me that the government had reviewed the environmental impact of increasing the speed limit and potential impacts have been taken into account within the government's strategy to control overall emissions. Mr. Wartman went on to say that, "The major mediating factors in this area are the continuing and rapid technological progress being made to reduce greenhouse gases from internal combustion engines, and the provinces ethanol strategy that will mandate the use of more environmentally friendly ethanol blended fuels." Carbon dioxide ([CO.sub.2]) is the most troublesome of the greenhouse gases. If a given unit of gasoline goes into an internal combustion engine a given unit of [CO.sub.2] will come out. If you put more units of gasoline in, more units will of [CO.sub.2] will come out. It's not rocket science. Increasing highway speed leads to increases in gasoline usage. The Ontario Ministry of Transportation states the following in a fuel economy fact sheet: "At speeds above the highway limit of 100 km/hour, the fuel loss is about 1 percent for each kilometer per hour increase in speed." Rather than Saskatchewan contributing to the effort to reach Kyoto targets, the increase in speed on Saskatchewan highways will negate much or all of the advantage provided by proposed increased ethanol usage. On the question of safety Mr. Wartman stated, "Contrary to popular belief, speed itself does not contribute to an increase in accidents. As a matter of fact, at least one European jurisdiction has documented that increased speed on one of their busiest highways has actually resulted in a reduction of collisions." Mr. Wartman did not provide the source of this documentation. A brief internet search, though, did provide contradicting information. For example, a government of New Zealand fact sheet entitled Facts About Speed states that, "Evidence of the speed/crash relationship has been demonstrated in the following studies:Between 1987 and 1988, 40 States in the United States of America raised the speed limit on interstate highways from 55mph (88km/h) to 65mph (104km/h). Over the same period there was an increase in fatalities on These roads of between 20 and 25 percent. In Australia the speed limit on Melbourne's rural and outer freeway network was increased from 100 km/h to 110km/h in 1987 and then changed back to 100 km/h in 1989. Compared to a control group (an area where the speed limit remained the same), the injury crash rate per kilometer traveled increased by 24.6 percent following the change from 100 to 110 km/h, and decreased by 19.3 percent following the change back to 100 km/h." A more recent study by the USA based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety analyzed results from 24 states that increased their speed limit after Congress repealed the national speed limit in 1995. The 24 states studied raised speed limits to 70 mph (113 km/hr) or higher on rural interstates and to 60 (97 km/hr), 65 (104 km/hr), or 70 mph on urban interstates and freeways. During 1995 and 1996 deaths on these interstates and freeways increased by approximately 15 percent. The institute also analyzed seven states that didn't raise speed limits. Highway deaths didn't increase at all on the interstates and freeways of these seven states. The studies are probably best summarized in information provided by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety that states: "The higher the travel speed, the greater the risk of serious injury or death in a crash. Vehicles and their occupants in motion have kinetic energy that is dissipated in a crash. The greater the energy that must be dissipated, the greater the chances of severe injury or death. The laws of physics tell us that crash severity increases disproportionately with vehicle speed." The institute goes on to say that increased speed also increases the possibility of a crash because: "It increases the distance a vehicle travels from when a driver detects an emergency until the driver reacts." And as well, "It increases the distance needed to stop a vehicle once an emergency is preceived." Related Articles:Motorcycle Demand IncreasingMotorcycle vs Automotive Oils Crocker - Rebirth of a Legend Seven Flip-Face Motorcycle Helmets Compared History of Cafe Racers How to Be a Motorcycle Passenger Triumph turnover up 42% in 2005 |
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| Last Updated ( Thursday, 10 September 2009 ) |
