Within a year of the repeal of the National Maximum Speed Limit in the United States, 23 states had raised their rural interstate speed limits to 70 or 75 mph. The effect on rural interstate fatalities was examined by modeling fatalities between 1992 and 1999 against the size of the new speed limit (no change, 70 mph, and 75 mph), the period before and after the speed limit change (1992 to 1995 vs. 1996 to 1999), and their interaction. Fatalities in the groups of states that raised their speed limits to 75 mph and 70 mph were 38% and 35%, respectively, higher than expected based on fatalities in the states that did not change their speed limits. Furthermore, the states that raised their speed limits to 75 mph had a higher rural interstate fatality rate before the speed limit was changed than the other groups of states. (Author/publisher).
Abstract