Speed Limits

In the works: geofencing, distraction and intoxication technologies.

The proposed speed limit could save over $1 billion in fuel each year.

A fatal crash on the Flugplatz section last March involving a spectator caused the Nürburgring track management to impose speed limits on the 14-mile Nordschleife, or North Loop. When the track opens again for the 2016 season, these limits will be lifted.

The Nürburgring just won't be the same – lap records have effectively been banned after track management opted to continue enforcing speed limits.

Road safety is not to be taken lightly. Each year, thousands die on American roads, with driver error as a leading cause. Throughout motorized history, one of the prime ways used to curb deaths has been through speed limits. But are today's speed limits too low? We see both sides of the argument, even though we yearn to live in a

If George Orwell were alive today and had read this story from The Daily Telegraph, he'd be standing in the middle of the Rue de la Loi, shouting "I told you so!" at the top of his lungs. In a bid to decrease the 30,000 deaths on European roads each year, the European Commission is seeking to require speed-limiting devices on all vehicles.

A pair of French-Canadian scientists are claiming that birds understand speed limits. As ludicrous as it sounds, it begins to make sense once you dive a bit deeper into it. See, the two professors, one from the University of Quebec at Rimouski and one from McGill University in Montreal, began studying birds in France back in 2006.

Oh, Montana, how we miss your speed-limitless ways of the mid-1990s. We were carefree and young then, driving a 10-year-old Chevrolet that in no way, shape, or form was designed to travel at its top speed for hours on end. But that didn't stop us, we the "reasonable and prudent," and neither did it stop our digital dashboard from just flashing "85" over and over and over again. We'll never know

A new law is going on the books in Texas that will simultaneously eliminate the state's lower nighttime speed limits and raise the potential maximum speed limit to 85 mph. The 85 mph limit will be limited to rural areas, while most places will see a max of 75.

Ever since automobiles first appeared over 100 years ago, every automaker has tried to make them go faster. And they succeeded. Nearly every year, cars became more powerful with higher top-end speeds. But then, in the mid-1950s, we hit a plateau. The national speed limit was set at 70 miles per hour, and we've been stuck at that rate ever since. As a result, the automobile has made absolutely no progress as a transportation device in over half a century.

It's probably a safe bet that many Autoblog readers find speed limits very annoying in general. To that end, it turns out that a significant number of limits in Michigan may, in fact, be illegal. Researchers have known for years that when it comes to safety, speed limits should be set at the 85th percentile traffic flow speed. The reality is that most drivers move along at what they consider to be a safe speed for the conditions regardless of the posted limit. To minimize accidents, the limit sh

A study out of the Netherlands by consulting firm CE Delft predicts that a strictly enforced 80 kilometer per hour (50 mile per hour) highway speed limit could slash CO2 emissions by 30 percent. The study is careful to acknowledge that the results only apply to the Netherlands and that results will vary significantly elsewhere.

If you have a TomTom, the eye in the sky has been watching you and tracking your interstate speeds over the past two years. Don't worry, TomTom isn't going nark you out – it's tracking the data from its Speed Profiles program to help fleet drivers find the fastest routes around the nation. The two years of data collection shows that, overall, Americans tend to drive within the acceptable limits of the law overall, but the average speed of your journey will typically be determined by where

When it comes to cars, they do things a bit differently in Canada. While our neighbor to the north has long been considered more progressive than the U.S., it was the United States that introduced pollution controls, and until recently, Canada never actually had any rules requiring them. The same goes for fuel efficiency standards. A couple of years ago, the government of Ontario passed a law that could result in automatic confiscation of your car if you exceeded a speed limit by more than 50 km

Transport for London plans to begin a six-month trial of a new technology that will artificially limit the top speeds of taxis, buses and government fleet vehicles. Called Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA), the system will keep track of speed limits all over London and prevent operators from accelerating past that legal limit. The device is capable of slowing the vehicle down regardless of the driver's wishes.

Transport for London has just begun testing a new technology that will artificially limit the top speeds of taxis, buses and government fleet vehicles. Called Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA), the system will keep track of speed limits all over London and will prevent operators from accelerating past that legal limit. The device is capable of slowing the vehicle down regardless of the driver's wishes.

The Association of British Drivers (ABD) has itself in a total tizzy over a proposal to limit speeds on rural single carriageways to 80 kilometers per hour (50 mph). If that wasn't enough blasphemy to begin a barrage of bellicosity, they say the government plans to enforce this "speed bully" policy with a blanket of average speed cameras alo

Keeping your car moving under the speed limit is one of the tips that commonly appears when people talk about saving fuel. It's probably one of the tips most people respect the least, though, which can bring joy to some traffic authorities can then "remind" motorists - via a ticket and a fine - to drive slower. A website created to promote slower driving has even published a complete report on how much time you really save when you drive above the limit. Surprise: it's not much. For instance, fo