70 mph speed limit doesn’t lead to drivers going faster, study finds

A number of chunks of interstate in Utah were raised from 65 to 70 mph in December. Four month in, studies have shown that the average speed on the road has increased a paltry 2 mph, and no increase in speed-relate fatalities. The consensus seems to be that drivers were already going faster than 70… but the speed they were going at was pretty much the speed they wanted to go at, so raising the speed limit didn’t make it easier for people to go faster because they were already going as fast as they wanted to.

Now, compare this to *your* local government:

When UDOT raised the speed limit in December, part of the reasoning was that motorists were already driving 70 mph.

“People are driving the speeds that they’re most comfortable driving at,” UDOT spokesman John Gleason said. … The Utah Highway Patrol initially opposed the increase but now maintains a stance of enforcing the posted limit.

Compare and contrast with states, counties and municipalities that set up speed traps specifically to raise funds through tickets.