This report presents an analysis of the effect of the reduced speed limit during the summer of 1989. On 5,500 km of roads a reduction of the 110 km/h speed limit to 90 km/h was carried through for about two months of the summer (June 22-August 20). When looking at the actual speeds, the reduction was greatest on motorways. However, an overall effect could be noticed not only on the road sections involved but also on other main roads. The traffic safety situation on rural roads improved in relation to the corresponding period in 1988. As expected, the improvement was greatest on those roads where the speed limit was reduced, particularly on motorways. An estimation of the overall effect of the speed limit effect of the speed limit reduction on the accident rate was made. The traffic safety trends on roads which earlier had a 110 km/h speed limit, was compared with the traffic safety trend on roads with a 70 km/h speed limit. These estimations show an improvement of the traffic safety situation. This improvement is most significant on the roads where the speed limit was reduced by 20 km/h from 110 km/h to 90 km/h. For the Swedish version of this report, numbered VTI rapport 358, see C 5179 a (IRRD 840456).
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