Strict Speed Enforcement Could Make You More Dangerous Behind the Wheel

Matt Posky
by Matt Posky

When driving, consider how often you look down to check your speed. Even with a good sense of your current velocity, entering a known enforcement zone or seeing a posted limit forces you to stop what we are doing and take quick peeks at the speedometer. It may only be a fraction of a second each time, but that’s still a fraction of a second where you aren’t paying full attention to the road ahead.

You might think that the average motorist is perfectly capable of such basic multitasking without causing additional risk. According to new research, you might be wrong.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation interviewed researchers from the University of Western Australia who tested the theory that reducing the speed enforcement threshold impacts a driver’s mental and visual abilities.

The group’s study placed 84 participants into a simulation and told them they could be fined for driving one, six or eleven kilometers per hour over an indicated 50 kph speed limit (a leisurely 31 mph). Researchers then measured their response to small red dots that appeared in their peripheral vision.

Lead researcher Dr. Vanessa Bowden said the study found those who were given a one-kilometer-per-hour threshold were less likely to detect objects outside of their immediate line of sight.

Replace those red dots with things like dogs, other vehicles, or small children and you start to see where this is all going.

“We concluded that drivers’ mental and visual resources were being used up by paying extra attention to the speed monitoring task, and this was taking some of their attention away from the visual world around them when they were driving,” Bowden said.

The participants were also asked to fill out a questionnaire to assess how difficult or demanding they found the overall experience. Unsurprisingly, drivers who were given a stricter speed limit threshold rated the experience as more demanding.

“There can be a perception that by making it stricter you’re only going to get benefits, like you’ll get everyone driving more slowly and more safely,” she said “But … you can’t necessarily make drivers pay more attention to the speed and go more slowly without taking their attention away from some other critical aspect of driving.”

It’s worth noting that this study isn’t conclusive of anything beyond this sample having a hard time spotting red dots under the pressures of being caught speeding. It doesn’t suggest that doing away with speed limits will make us all safer better drivers. However, it does offer something to consider in regard to how strictly it’s worth enforcing those limits.

The researchers plan to follow up this research with an investigation into whether drivers respond poorly to hazards when strict speed limits are enforced.

[Image: David Lofink/ Flickr ( CC BY-SA 2.0)]

Matt Posky
Matt Posky

A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.

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  • Wsn Wsn on Oct 27, 2016

    The general concept of this study is wrong. It's like this: 1) You select test subjects who were used to drive 10 above for the past 30 years. 2) You asked them to drive 1 above and then 11 above. 3) You concluded they drive better at 10 above. Don't you see anything wrong here? Of course people do better at what they have been doing for a long time. To make the study of any value, you need to: 1) Select people who has never driven a car before. Not easy, but not too hard. 2) Make the two groups (1 above vs 11 above) having the same real limit. I.e. limit of 60 for 1 above vs limit of 50 for 11 above. 3) Use prizes to let the two groups compete for faster time, which would mimic a real world situation.

  • Lorenzo Lorenzo on Oct 27, 2016

    When I'm on the freeway, I get up to the posted speed and look around me. One third of traffic is moving more slowly, and two thirds are moving faster. I just keep up with traffic around me and keep that ratio in mind, and it keeps me "around" the posted speed. The heavier the traffic, the better off you are just going with the flow and ignoring the speedometer. I haven't gotten a speeding ticket in years, but once a few years ago in Los Angeles, a CHP officer motioned me to speed up, and I looked at the speedo and was doing 68 in a 65 zone!

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