[ OUR OPINION ]
IF the despised traffic-van cameras served no other purpose, they dramatically revealed that Hawaii's freeway speed limits need to be changed to recognize the miles per hour at which most motorists drive. All other states have adapted their speed limits accordingly in recent years. It is time for Hawaii to go with the flow. Oahu speed limits
are set far too low
THE ISSUE The state is considering raising the speed limits on some stretches of the freeways.
Present speed limits may be appropriate for the H-1 freeway through central Honolulu. However, a 65-mph limit is more sensible on the H-1 west of Pearl City and on the H-3 to legalize the speed at which most cars are driven anyway.
Congress required states to lower their speed limits on federal highways to 55 mph in 1974 to reduce gas consumption because of the OPEC oil embargo. Studies afterward showed that it had the added benefit of reducing highway deaths.
After the federal limit was lifted in 1995, many states promptly raised their limits. Eleven Western states now post 75-mph signs on their Interstate highways, and 18 states limit speeds to 70. Twenty states, most of them having large urban areas, limit speeds on Interstates to 65 mph.
Critics of the higher limits warned that traffic accidents and fatalities would soar after states raised their limits, but that did not happen. In 2000 the national traffic death rate -- fatalities per 100 million miles traveled -- was the lowest on record. The trend in Hawaii differs little from the national figures.
A study conducted 10 years ago by the Federal Highway Administration in 22 states revealed that lowering posted speed limits by as much as 20 mph or raising them by as much as 15 mph "had little effect on motorists' speed."
The study found that most motorists "select a speed to reach their destination in the shortest time possible and to avoid endangering themselves, others and their property. ... The collective judgment of the majority of motorists represents the level of reasonable travel and acceptable risk," nearly regardless of the posted limit.
Traffic engineers recognize that the top area of acceptable risk is around the 85th percentile speed, which means a speed that 15 percent of drivers can be expected to exceed. Information gathered in the study indicated "that there are no benefits, either from a safety or operational point of view," from establishing a speed limit lower than the 85th percentile threshold.
Governor Cayetano says state studies show that 85 percent of Hawaii drivers exceed the speed limit, which means that the state's speed limits are set at the 15th percentile level. Obviously, the speed limit makes so little sense that most drivers ignore it.
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