Speed limit increases prove deadly, should be reversed

The Vancouver Sun published an op-ed by six UBC professors on the need to reverse the speed limit increases in B.C.

“The (transportation) ministry thought that by increasing speed limits on these highways, slower cars would speed up but the fastest ones would not, thus narrowing the speed differential between the slowest and fastest cars and reducing conflict. They expected safety to be improved. The hypothesis has been disproven,” the authors wrote.

“The minister should report to the public that the increased speed limits did not improve safety, but instead made the roads more dangerous. The speed limit increases must be reversed,” they added.

Jeff Brubacher is a professor of emergency medicine, John Carsley and Kay Teschke are professors in the School of Population and Public Health, Gord Lovegrove is an engineering professor, Ian Pike is a pediatrics professor, and Tarek Sayed is a civil engineering professor.