Figures don't lie, but liars figure

[unixronin]

Interesting, if brief, reading on highway speed limits from the WSJ:

We now have 10 years of evidence proving that the only "assault" was on the sanctity of the truth.  The nearby table shows that the death, injury and crash rates have fallen sharply since 1995.  Per mile traveled, there were about 5,000 fewer deaths and almost one million fewer injuries in 2005 than in the mid-1990s.  This is all the more remarkable given that a dozen years ago Americans lacked today's distraction of driving while also talking on their cell phones.

(Emphasis mine.)

Comments

[ithildae.livejournal.com]

I also saw an article, many years back, about how much safer it is when most cars are traveling close to the same speed. The 55 speed limit is the most disobeyed federal law since prohibition (my opinion, as a driver) producing larger differences in speeds. With the faster speeds, I see dramatically fewer idiots weaving in and out of lanes trying to get through traffic "clumps". (I realize that this is anecdotal, but there it is.)

unixronin has already mentioned single car accidents, especially out west.

The funky thing about statistics is that, if we don't like what they are showing us, there is always something that could be added, so we don't have to accept the conclusions. (I find myself doing that more often that I want to admit.) Statistics is what it is. In this case, I think you are demanding more than statistics can provide.