(AP) — Road safety activists and some states are pushing to depart from a longstanding rule that sets speed limits in the United States based largely on how fast drivers actually travel.
This is due to the 85% rule, which ties speed limits to the speed of the 15th-fastest vehicle out of every 100 traveling a road in ideal conditions. Critics say this approach encourages speeding.
Ohio is among the states considering new guidelines that focus more on safety. In Madison, Wisconsin, the city has been dropping the speed limit from 25 to 20 on residential streets.
But supporters of the 85% rule say it provides the safer approach by limiting the speed discrepancy between drivers who abide by the posted sign and those who ignore it because the road design allows them to do so.
