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BC Government Uses Science to Set Speed Limits

posted by n1 on Thursday July 03 2014, @06:10AM   
from the 5mph-speed-limits-in-new-york,-london-and-tokyo dept.

Appalbarry writes:

It's a sad day when it's surprising to see a government using scientific method to make policy, but for once that has happened in Canada. After several years of lobbying, drivers in British Columbia will see speed limits on many rural highways increased to what is commonly referred to as the 85th Percentile.

Media coverage is ranging from the confused to the outraged, and the call in shows and web site comment streams are just plain out there.

There will also be a new set of laws to enforce the practice of "keep right, except to pass" on multi-lane highways, and a new definition for "Winter Tires" to clarify that mud and snow (M+S) and mountain/snowflake tires are defined as winter tires.

• Re:There is a lot of sense to that. Re:There is a lot of sense to that. (Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Thursday July 03 2014, @02:42PM

  by tangomargarine (667) on Thursday July 03 2014, @02:42PM (#63602)

  It's actually in one of the linked articles as *their* rationale. But yeah, I laughed when I saw it.

  Use of the 85th percentile speed concept is based on the theory that:

          the large majority of drivers:
                  are reasonable and prudent
                  do not want to have a crash
                  desire to reach their destination in the shortest possible time

  Tailoring the law to match what people are already doing seems a bit weird, too...but this is speeding so without going all Big Brother on us I suppose there's not really any other way to force people to slow down so just don't? Not that I'm sure whether I'm against the change, but their rationale seems a bit shaky. (cf. my other comment below)

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• Re:There is a lot of sense to that. (Score: 2) by frojack on Thursday July 03 2014, @05:07PM

  by frojack (1554) on Thursday July 03 2014, @05:07PM (#63687) Journal

  Tailoring the law to match what people are already doing seems a bit weird, too...

  Not when you consider that traffic is a group (herd if you will) activity, where the expectations and capabilities of the average tend to become the norm, and any enforcement toward an artificial norm induces more delay, accidents, and chaos than letting it flow on its own.

  Cops have learned that enforcement actions in heavy traffic induce a lot more crashes than just leaving everything alone, and often the cops themselves end up the victim in these crashes.

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