美国限速政策.doc

Establishing realistic speed limits that match road environment and design is essential for speed limits to be effective. Speed limits must be credible, in that they appear reasonable to the road users, and consistent, in that they reflect the maximum safe speed for prevailing conditions. According to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Manual on Uniform Traffic Control the percentile of travel Devices (MUTCD), maximum speeds should be established based on the 85thspeeds, that is, the speed at or below which 85 percent of road users travel. 1．INTRODUCTION In 1974, in response to the Arab oil embargo, the United States Congress adopted a national maximum speed limit of 55 miles per hour (mph). This national maximum speed limit remained in effect for 13 years until April 1987 when the Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance (STURA) Act was passed. The STURA Act permitted the States to increase the speed limit up to 65 mph on rural interstate highways (interstate highways passing through areas with populations less than 50,000).As part of the STURA Act, the Congressional Appropriations Committee directed the National Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) to assess the impacts of the increased speed limit on highway safety. In their first full report on the subject (NHTSA: Report 1989), NHTSA compared the fatalities in 1986 with those in 1987 (after the increased speed limit), andfound that rural interstate fatalities increased by 19% in the 38 states that raised their speed limit, while they increased by only 7% in the 10 states where the speed limit remained at 55 mph. From the yearly fatality data, NHTSA also concluded that the increase in rural interstate fatalities was 16% higher in 1987 than would have been expected had the speed limit not been increased. 2.Speed limit laws traditionally have been the responsibility of the states. Before 1973, when Congress responded to oil shortages by directing the U.S. Department of Transp