What is the "Correct" Speed Limit?

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Wait, you don't understand, I NEED to get to the next traffic light 15s faster!

“Multiple studies have shown that about 80% of people think they are an above average driver” This is probably one of my favorite stats now

I was pulled over by a cop one time for doing 35 mph in a 30 mph zone. It was down hill and I was on my bicycle. The cop said that I was impeding traffic. I asked how could be impeding traffic if I was actually speeding! He said, "People want to go faster than that!"

The part where you say "lets not permanently disable people to save a few minutes on your commute" hit me hard. My aunt was run over in LA while riding a bike about a decade ago and is still in a vegetative state. Then a few years ago I was in a crash myself. I got rear-ended at a light by someone who didn't stop. I lost my sense of balance from it and walk with a cane. Both times, they ran off and were never held accountable. In both cases, a reduction of speed might have saved us from life-long disabilities. My aunt wouldn't be permanently brain damaged, and I wouldn't be stuck walking with a cane so I don't fall over. Things need to change, obviously a lot more than just raw speed. Your videos give me hope that people will listen soon, and start aiming for those changes.

you missed the correct answer to the "let's set it at 0" argument: YES there are streets where it should be 0, it's called a pedestrian area

Me, an American, panicking 6 minutes in realizing that 30kph is about 18mph. There actually might be riots in the streets, I casually mention lower speed limits and some people act like I said I'm sending CPS to take their kids.

I work at a childcare center and we have to cross the parking lot twice to get to our playground. The first crossing is very short and very few cars go through it so it's pretty safe. The other one is just past the entrance and therefore every single car that enters has to go through it. There's a stop sign on either side of the crosswalk yet we constantly deal with people rolling right through it. Even when we have a group of 15 children and 4 adults taking up literally the entire space they'll still try to roll it and squeeze around us. Like dude, you can wait an additional 15 seconds for literal toddlers to finish crossing. Some of the older kids have taken to making their own stop signs and they spend part of their time in the playground standing by the fence that's right by the one sign waving them and shouting at drivers to stop. When a 5 year old knows how to obey traffic laws better than an actual licensed driver then you know it's bad.

I'm an american police officer, I have worked loads of car accidents, they are awful scenes. Things I have noticed: 1: SUVs/Trucks cause more injuries on other drivers. 2: Due to an economic reliance on cars, people who shouldn't drive, are driving. I went to a traffic crash once, 2 teenagers just driving down a neighborhood street in a sedan(25 MPH/40 Km/PH speed limit) A mom in an SUV runs a stop sign turns infront of them, and they crash, which resulted in both teenage boys being transported to the ER. We need to get rid of the reliance on cars in this country

Having trams and buses (in a separate lane) go faster has also the positive effect, that you are overtaken if you sit in a car and might think to yourself that next time you should sit in that tram instead of your car.

I like how we went from "that's a topic for a future video" to "watch this previous video if you want to know more".

My first job after getting driver license was pizza delivery, In a small town in Poland. In Poland cities are mostly limited to 50 km/h, and residential areas are limited to 30 km/h, with some exceptions in bigger cities on major roads, where the limit is 70 km/h. At first, as a new driver I was speeding all the time to get the food on time, I was young and dumb. I had one client that ordered everyday and was on the other side of town (around 5-7km from the pizza spot), and one day I decided to test how much time i gain by speeding. So i took the timer, measured the time one day while speeding, and the next day I measured time without speeding. The difference was 10 seconds. I stopped speeding after that. No matter what, something is going to stop you in the town sooner or later, it can be red lights, stop sign or give way sign, turning left, roundabout, or just pedestrian walking on the crossing(you have to give way for pedestrians on crosswalks in Poland). Speeding just don't make any sense in cities, best way to save time driving in cities is to drive dynamically by paying attention to the road and going as soon as you can go, BUT NOT FAST.

My town implemented 20 mph (32 kmh) speed limits on almost all streets and residential roads. They are entirely ignored by drivers and law enforcement.

"Well if 30 mph is safer, why not make it 0 mph?" I agree. All cars should do 0 mph in a city centre. I'm glad we had this discussion.

The shout out to Not Just Bikes really confused me for a second. I shall now go and touch some grass.

As a truck driver who drives through multiple cities on a daily basis, I've learned that the speed limit on the interstate within the city limits is irrelevant because overall, traffic never really achieves anything remotely close to the posted speed limit. Even if they do, it's only for a short while before everyone comes to a stop again. So when I'm on an interstate, driving through a city i automatically know to expect a much lower speed limit than what's posted on the signs. Therefore i put about 40-50 yards of space between me and the vehicle in front of me so as to allow traffic to freely change lanes and merge into and off of exit ramps while going along with the flow of traffic. By doing this I'm saving fuel because my speed isn't fluctuating so abruptly up down.

As a response to the (hypothetical) person saying "We should make the speed limit 0, then": We already do that. And no, it's not pedestrian areas, as some commenters have pointed out. (Pedestrians, bicycles and - where allowed - motor vehicles in those areas are allowed to go 5 to 15km/h, depending on jurisdiction.) It's at traffic lights. A line of cars going 50 km/h or faster is so dangerous that we have to impose a temporary 0 km/h speed limit on everyone possibly getting into their way. 14:28 - that.

One thing i always notice is just how loud sirens are. Because cars are loud, but drivers don't want to hear the noise they make, they are soundproofed against the outside world. But sirens need to be heard inside cars, so they have to be extra deafeningly loud.

Nothing grinds traffic to a halt like a bad crash. Slower driving = less serious accidents. I will never understand 45 mile an hour stroads with 100 different shops with individual driveways.

It is 50km per hour on our suburban residential street where kids play street hockey, basket ball, are biking and people are walking their dogs or children in strollers etc. It makes zero sense.