Today’s speed limits grew out of studies on rural roads from the 1930s and 1940s. Now states are looking to change guidelines

Now states are looking to change guidelinesBy Jeff McMurrayBy The Associated PressBy Jeff McMurrayBy The Associated Press Vehicles drive along Mitchaw Road past Pacesetter Park in Sylvania Township, Ohio.Paul Sancya—AP PhotoRose Hammond pushed authorities for years to lower the 55 mph speed limit on a two-lane road that passes her assisted living community, a church, two schools and a busy park that hosts numerous youth sports leagues. “What are you waiting for, somebody to get killed?” the 85-year-old chided officials in northwest Ohio, complaining that nothing was being done the motorcycles that race by almost daily

Amid growing public pressure, Sylvania Township asked county engineers in March to analyze whether Mitchaw Road’s posted speed is too high

The surprising answer: nically, it’s 5 mph too low

But after decades of closely ing the rule, some states — with a nudge from the federal government — are seeking to modify if not replace it when setting guidelines for how local engineers should decide what speed limit to post

Drivers set the speed The concept assumes that a road’s safest speed is the one most vehicles travel — neither too high nor too low

If drivers think the speed limit should be raised, they can simply step on the gas and “vote with their feet,” as an old brochure from the Institute of Transportation Engineers once put it. “The blem with this apach is it creates this back loop,” said Jenny O’Connell, director of member grams for the National Association of City Transportation Officials. “People speed, and then the speed limits will be ratcheted up to match that speed.” The association developed an alternative to the 85% rule known as “City Limits,” which aims to minimize the risk of injuries for all road users by setting the speed limit based on a formula that factors in a street’s activity level and the lihood of conflicts, such as collisions

Leah Shahum, who directs the Vision Zero Network, a nonfit advocating for street safety, said she wishes the manual had gone further in downplaying the 85% rule but acknowledges the change has already impacted the way some states set speed limits

Others, however, are still clinging to the simplicity and familiarity of the longstanding apach, she said. “The 85th percentile should not be the Holy Grail or the Bible, and yet over and over again it is accepted as that,” Shahum said

Rethinking the need for speed Under its “20 is Plenty” campaign, the Wisconsin capital of Madison has been changing signs across the city this summer, lowering the speed limit from 25 mph to 20 mph on local residential streets

When Seattle took a similar step in a pilot gram seven years ago, not only did it see a noticeable decline in serious injury crashes but also a 7% drop in the 85th percentile speed, according to the Vision Zero Network

But legislators have loosened the restrictions on local governments a bit in recent years, allowing them to depart from the guidelines if they can cite a ven safety need

Advocates for pedestrians and bicyclists say the change helps, but is not enough. “We still have a long way to go in California in terms of putting value on all road users,” said Kendra Ramsey, executive director of the California Bicycle Coalition. “There’s still a very heavy mindset that automobiles are the primary method of travel and they should be given priority and reverence.” But Jay Beeber, executive director for policy at the National Motorists Association, an advocacy organization for drivers, said ing the 85% rule is usually the safest way to minimize the variation in speed between drivers who abide by the posted limit and those who far exceed it. “It doesn’t really matter what number you put on a sign,” Beeber said. “The average driver drives the nature of the roadway

Since then, speed limits have kept climbing, with North Dakota this summer becoming the ninth state to allow drivers to go 80 mph on some stretches of highway

There’s even a 40-mile segment in Texas between Austin and San Antonio where 85 mph is allowed

You’re in a cocoon,” said Chuck Farmer, the institute’s vice president for re, who conducted the study

A town’s attempt at change If elected officials in Sylvania Township, Ohio, got their way, Mitchaw Road’s posted speed limit would be cut dramatically — from 55 mph to 40 mph or lower

The county’s finding that the 85% rule actually calls for raising it to 60 mph surprised the town’s leaders, but not the engineers who ran the study. “If we don’t make decisions based on data, it’s very difficult to make good decisions,” Lucas County Engineer Mike Pniewski said

For now, the speed limit will remain as it is

And Ohio’s guidelines are evolving

The state now gives more consideration to roadway context and allows cities to reduce speed limits based on the lower standard of the 50th percentile speed when there’s a large presence of pedestrians and bicyclists

Authorities there recently hired a consultant to consider additional modifications based on what other states are doing. “States have very slowly started to move away from the 85th percentile as being kind of the gold standard for decision-making,” said Michelle May, who manages Ohio’s highway safety gram. “People are traveling and living differently than they did 40 years ago, and we want to put safety more at the focus.” It’s un whether any of these changes will ultimately impact the posted speed on Mitchaw Road

After years of futile calls and s to state, county and township officials, Hammond says she isn’t holding her breath. “I just get so discouraged,” she said

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