... y'on oublié d'inclure les "Farmers" pis les bonhommes avec des chapeaux dans l'étude ???? Speed limit study sparks controversy
Associated Press POSTED AT 11:23 AM EDT Thursday, Jun. 5, 2003 Philadelphia — Raising the speed limit to 70 miles an hour (112 kilometres an hour) or more increases the risk of driving-related deaths for women and the elderly, but not for men under 65, a study has found. Twenty-nine U.S. states have raised their speed limits to at least 70 mph since Congress abolished the national 55 mph limit in 1995, and several more states are debating whether to increase their speed limits. While states that raised their speed limits experienced no increase in the overall number of traffic-related deaths, fatalities per 100,000 people rose 10 per cent for women and 13 per cent for the elderly, researchers found. There was no increase for men under the age of 65, says the study, which appears in the June issue of the journal Economics Letters. The study does not explain the reasons for the difference, but co-author Thomas Dee, an assistant economics professor at Swarthmore College, theorizes that a higher speed limit increases the disparity of driving speeds and thus the risk of accidents. "The conventional view is often that speed kills," Mr. Dee said Wednesday. "But some people … would argue that the variance of speed kills." Eric Skrum, communications director for the National Motorists Association, a Wisconsin-based drivers organization that supports higher speed limits called the study's findings "junk." "When you set (the speed limit) at an appropriate level, you have a higher compliance with the speed limit, less weaving in and out of traffic … a safer driving environment," Mr. Skrum said. While highway deaths may be increasing for women and the elderly, men are still killed on the roads in far greater numbers. Nearly 28,000 men died in automobile crashes in the United States in 2001, compared with more than 13,000 women, according to U.S. government statistics. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Calendar - Free online calendar with sync to Outlook(TM). http://calendar.yahoo.com --- SMU-L Des textes d'education medicale continue sont disponibles a l'adresse http://www.groupegiroux.com/emc
