The Netherlands is willing to have 15 extra people die on the highway each year, increase the number of traffic jams and bring up CO2 emissions. These are the conclusions of several studies on  government plans for raising the speed limit to 130 kilometres per hour on all 120 km/h highways.

The balance between the freedom of putting the paddle to the metal and safety are the main concerns, plus, of course, congestion.

Higher speed equals more miles
A CE Delft study lets us in on some interesting results. According to researcher Matthijs Otten it is an historical fact that on average, people travel around 70 minutes per day. “If they can cover greater distances within that time frame, they will do so. On top of that, in the long run people will on average travel greater distances, resulting in even more fuel use. And in more emissions of CO2."

Fatalities
Bureau Goudappel Coffeng also researched the effects of the new speed limits. “Commonly used calculations show that the measure will cause an increase of 15 traffic fatalities per year and another 200 injuries, half of them resulting in permanent disabilities”, says researcher Henk Tromp. The current road death toll is 720 per year.

More traffic
Another finding in the Goudappel Coffeng study is that a larger group of people will take the car when they think they can reach their destination faster than before. Mr Tromp said “This means that the measure will get more people on the roads, causing more traffic jams. A small number of drivers will eventually rethink their move, but a larger group will not. This means overall more congestion.”

Keeping distance
Research by the Technical University in Delft takes the measure even a step further. It concludes that the optimal traffic flow occurs at a speed of 90 km/h. People driving at higher speeds need to keep more distance from cars ahead of them. This means there is room for fewer cars on a stretch of 130 km/h highway, hence more congestion.

Emotional
Several different studies tell us that lowering your speed from 120 km/h to 90 will result in using 27 to 40 percent less petrol. But who wants to slow down? And that question may be answered by  mobility historian Vincent van der Vinne:

“Raising the speed limit is a political instrument for gaining electoral support. Many people don’t like speed limits. Unfortunately there is no valid scientific research that shows any other benefit than a purely emotional one.”

Van der Vinne points out that The Netherlands is a small country:

“Compared to other countries the distance between towns in this country is relatively short, with a relatively high number of highway entrances and exits. Due to merging cars the traffic flow gets slowed down on many points. This means that the effective time benefit is very limited. Drivers merely have the impression they can go faster.”

(/js)

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