German autobahns have the lowest death rate of major country motorways despite the fact they have no maximum speed limit. The truth is speed limits are solely to generate revenue and hike up automobile insurance rates. Studies show that faster driving cars have lower accident rates. Over 90% of car accidents are from inattention or falling asleep at the wheel. Cars driving above speed limits are less likely to get into accidents than cars driving below speed limits. It is very common and legal to see cars go well in excess of 100 mph on the autobahn. In the United States over 90% of speed limits are set below free flowing traffic. Traffic engineering theory indicates that speed limits should be set above the 85th percentile of free flowing traffic.
