The introduction of a speed limit of 130 km/h was intended to produce greater homogeneity of the traffic flow and presumably achieved its object. This should at any rate for the drivers of faster vehicles further reduce the number of signals per unit time which require reaction and limit the motor-activity in driving. This could however lead to increased monotony states and vigilance problems and reactively to psychic exhaustion. This was to be tested experimentally by means of long journeys both with and without speed limits. A group of 22 persons in the summer of 1975 each drove on two successive days one route with and one route without speed limits. After interchange of the speed regulation on the two test routes, a second group of 22 individuals in the summer of 1976 travelled the previously limited route with free choice of speed, and the previously unlimited route subject to speed limits. The length of the test routes (approx 87 km) was chosen so as to give a driving time of about 7 hours, and the test vehicle (mercedes benz 230) was fitted with the appropriate data recording and storage equipment. The tests produced a total data record of more than 160 hours in 6 data channels comprising some 18 million measurements. Results are not yet available.
Abstract