Rose Hammond tirelessly lobbied officials to reduce the 55 mph speed limit on a two-lane road near her assisted living community, which also serves a church, two schools, and a park bustling with youth sports.
“What are you waiting for, somebody to get killed?” the 85-year-old admonished northwest Ohio authorities, frustrated by the motorcycles zooming past almost daily. Buckling under public pressure, Sylvania Township requested a March study from county engineers on whether Mitchaw Road’s speed limit is excessively high.
The unexpected finding: Technically, it should be 5 mph higher. This stems from old rural road studies from the 1930s and 1940s that disproportionately influence current U.S. speed limit decisions, even in urban settings. It comes as a new law affecting millions of cars will take effect in one US state in September.
These studies gave rise to the 85% rule, asserting that a road’s speed limit should match the speed at which 85% of traffic flows, rounded to the nearest 5 mph increment. However, some states are now reconsidering this long-standing rule, encouraged by federal guidance, as they explore new methods for local engineers to determine appropriate speed limits…