Speed limits should stay the same - Essay Example

Speed limits are used to communicate to the motorist the driving speed that they are expected to be on under the prevailing situations; these are road conditions that they are driving on, the traffic and the weather changes. The governments set speed limits for the general reasons of public safety, prevent amount of damage and injury on motorists and pedestrians in case of an accident and set grounds for punishment if one is deemed to have gone contrary to what is expected. Therefore, speed limits should remain the same and no changes made otherwise any upward change would bring about more deaths from road accidents.

Increasing the speed limits will only serve to increase road accidents and speeds because lower speed limits reduce the likelihood of accidents and if they do happen, then the injuries are not severe and the deaths are minimal. It is common knowledge that when there are frequent occurrences of road accidents on a certain road, the plea that is usually made is for the speed limit to lowered and not the reverse. The fatality of an accident is usually higher if the driver was on a high speed especially in the case of a head on collision (Lund, 2007).

This therefore goes to prove that raising the speed limit would increase the chances of road accidents and also the number of injuries and deaths reported. . Most motorist drive at a pace that is comfortable to them, therefore raising the speed limit will not really serve to make matters any better on the road. If the speed limit is raised, the drivers that can drive faster will do so but those that are not comfortable with a high speed will drive at a lower one. It is crucial to note that increase of speed limit will not regulate traffic; actually, accidents might increase due to reduced traffic flow.

One of the major causes of road accidents is the lack of uniform traffic flow because cars are not moving at the same speed (House of Commons, 2008). Car insurance rates will also be affected in the event that the speed limits are raised. With increased incidents on the road, which include, damages and injuries to people, insurance companies might be forced to revise their prices upwards. The higher figure will then help the insurance companies to deal with the claims brought to them; this in turn affects the motorists who will have to pay larger sums of money to cover their premiums.

The cost of living is escalating each day, additional expenses will not be welcome by the masses. Bearing in mind that not everyone is for the idea of increased speed limits, but everyone will be affected by the increase in insurance rates, therefore the speed limit should remain the same. The speed limit should not be raised because it serves to help motorist use fuel efficiently. It is a well known fact that, driving at a constant speed leads to better fuel consumption as compared to lower or higher speeds.

It is therefore logical that maintaining the speed limits as they are is more economical to motorists as compared