The paradox of driving speed: two adverse effects on highway accident rate.
Navon D(1).
Author information:
(1)Department of Psychology, University of Haifa, Haifa 31905, Israel.
dnavon@psy.haifa.ac.il
Whereas speeding is known to be a substantial risk factor in driving, there is no
unequivocal evidence that accident rate on limited-access motor highways is
considerably affected by average speed or by speed limits meant to regulate it.
It is suggested here that the seeming puzzle actually may have a straightforward
explanation: accident-prone interactions (APIs) between cars occur when they pass
each other--mostly moving in the same directions or in opposite ones. Such
interactions are shown here to happen more frequently, the lower average speed
is. To the extent that high speed limits contribute to increase in average speed,
they serve to reduce the number of such interactions, thereby to moderate at
least part of the negative effect of speed on the driver's ability to avoid an
impending accident.
PMID: 12643953 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]