CHICAGO, July 17 (UPI) -- In the 10-year period after repeal of the National Maximum Speed Law in 1995 there were some 12,500 U.S. deaths due to the increased speed, researchers said.
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health law said the federal law, which restricted the maximum speed limit to 55 mph on all interstate roads, was initiated in 1974 to conserve gasoline in response to the oil embargo.
"During the first year there was a drop of almost 17 percent in fatalities after the speed laws were reduced to 55 miles per hour," lead author Lee Friedman said in a statement.
The law, modified in 1987, allowed states to raise the legal speed limits to 65 mph on some interstates, but in 1995, the federally mandated 55 mph speed law was revoked nationwide.
"This is a failed policy because it was, in essence, an experiment over 10 years. People assumed that increasing the speed limit would not have an impact," Friedman said. "We've shown that something has happened and it's quite dramatic."
The study is scheduled to be published in the September issue of the American Journal of Public Health.
