(Updated 2012)
Thanks to all who have visited this website during the last five years; especially those who completed the questionnaire. An analysis of the data collected is now published in this website.
If you are a new or a returning visitor who has not answered the six questions below, it would be much appreciated if you would do so. Please do not refer to the results before you have submitted your answers.
Have you ever wondered …
1. What is the safest speed to travel in traffic and how can you find it? Click here to learn how to choose the safest speed.
2. Why the great majority of motorists exceed speed limits?
3. What can be done about motorists who
o impede others in the left-hand lane,
o do not signal soon enough,
o follow too closely,
o drive slower in left-hand lanes, forcing others to pass on the right,
o are inattentive or distracted?This website describes how these problems can be solved and everyone's driving experience can be safer and less stressful.
AMERICA’S MARVELOUS HIGHWAYS
The nation’s roadways are marvels of design and construction. 
Wide freeways cross the United States and local streets are generally well maintained.
Travel on our highways is very safe—much safer than ever before. The probability of dying in an automobile crash has decreased 75% during the last fifty years.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 2008 was a hallmark year when highway deaths fell below 40,000 for the first time, declining 9.3% from 41,259 to 37,423. In 2009, fatalities further decreased by 9.7% to 33,808. This trend continued in 2010 with an additional 3% decrease to 32,788.
Nonetheless, while the great majority of motorists are careful, responsible drivers and highway design and construction have steadily improved, traffic laws and enforcement practices dealing with the items in the questionnaire have not kept pace.
Let’s take a detailed look at each of them:
Slow drivers in the left-hand lane often cause vehicles to accumulate behind them. This congestion may spread to right hand lanes creating a cluster of closely spaced vehicles across all lanes--a ripe environment for safety problems.
For example:
- When an emergency vehicle is trapped in a cluster or held back by a slow vehicle in the left lane it may be delayed from reaching a crash site or medical facility as soon as otherwise possible. This means that injury crashes or other medical emergencies may convert to fatalities because emergency vehicles did not arrive in time to render life-saving aid or were delayed while traveling to a medical facility.
- Impatient, aggressive, or foolhardy drivers jockey from lane to lane trying to find their way through a cluster. They squeeze into small spaces and follow too closely endangering themselves as well as others.
TURN SIGNAL TIMING
Turn signals have been standard equipment for many years but are rarely used properly. The common practice is to signal at the same time, or even after, beginning a lane-changing or turning maneuver. When a signal is given too late for others to have time to respond, it is merely a useless gesture.
FOLLOWING DISTANCE
It should be obvious to all drivers that following too closely increases the risk of a crash when a leading vehicle brakes suddenly. Also, it is more hazardous to change lanes when space between vehicles is restricted by drivers following too closely.
By allowing faster drivers to pass on the right, slower drivers essentially double the risk of a crash from following vehicles. They also create turbulence in the traffic stream, which decreases efficiency and safety for others.
SPEED OF TRAFFIC IN HOV LANES
Vehicles with two or more occupants may be permitted to use HOV (high occupancy vehicle) lanes. These lanes are provided to encourage car-pooling and produce faster, more efficient travel when other lanes are congested.
Unfortunately, HOV lanes may attract slow drivers who happen to have another passenger in their vehicle. Traffic backs up behind such drivers, frustrating following motorists and reducing traffic volume delivered by the HOV lane.
COORDINATING (COURTESY-BASED) REGULATIONS
Before we discuss speed limits, let’s pause for a moment to note that the purpose of traffic laws dealing with the first four items in the questionnaire is to coordinate vehicles into orderly, safe traffic flow.
Additionally, these regulations involve simple acts of courtesy—they can be referred to as “courtesy-based” laws.Those who violate these laws forgo opportunities to show courtesy and respect to other drivers and run the risk of offending them—no one gains by going against these reasonable requirements. Instead, others may consider them thoughtless and inconsiderate.
ACHIEVING VOLUNTARY COMPLIANCE TO COORDINATING REGULATIONS
In most cases, we must take a risk in order to enjoy a reward. Common sense dictates that we will only take a risk if we believe that a reward will follow that is worth more than the risk.
It is very important to note that there is no benefit for violating coordinating regulations. In fact, these violations are likely to produce a negative result: Others may consider such drivers rude and inconsiderate. Thus, if motorists believe that there is even a small chance of being ticketed for violating coordinating laws, they would logically choose to obey them voluntarily.
Therefore, the key to improving safety and efficiency on our highways through voluntary compliance to coordinating laws may be to expose drivers to a recognizable risk of being penalized for violating them. Law enforcement agencies could create this perception by vigorously enforcing these laws.
At this point the amount of enforcement required to maintain voluntary compliance may be small—only enough to sustain the belief that there is a significant risk of being cited for violations.
Unfortunately, present enforcement practices seem to concentrate on speed limits with little attention to coordinating laws, possibly forgoing opportunities to significantly improve safety on our highways. This lack of attention to coordinating laws may also be a result of unreasonable or unenforceable traffic laws.
Therefore, achieving voluntary compliance to coordinating laws may be as simple as:
- Providing fair, enforceable coordinating laws, and
- Concentrating enough enforcement on these laws so that drivers recognize a significant risk of being cited for violations.
SPEED LIMITS
Note, however, that we have a very different situation with respect to speed limits.
- There
is no underlying relationship between speed and courtesy; a driver who
chooses to drive faster or slower than others may be as courteous as any
other driver.
- As long as it is safe to do so, motorists may benefit from violating posted speed limits—they may want to save time or avoid the tedium of driving at an unnecessarily slow speed.
- Considering the almost total disregard of posted speed limits, it seems obvious that the risk of receiving a speeding ticket is less than the perceived benefit of driving faster than speed limits.
AVOIDING CONFLICTS BETWEEN COORDINATING LAWS AND LIMITING LAWS
Because the better the coordination, the safer the traffic flow, limiting laws (speed limits) must not encourage drivers to drive at speeds that interfere with the ability of other drivers to maintain good coordination in the traffic flow.
The idea that slower speeds are safer speeds is not always correct. As you read through this web site, you will see that the normal speed of traffic is the paramount factor in determining the safest speed. If speed limits are to be set at the safest speed it must be done with due regard for the normal speed of traffic. Otherwise speed limits may encourage motorists to drive at speeds that impede other drivers and disrupt coordination in the traffic flow.