Did you know? The history of speed limits and how they're ...

(KMID/KPEJ) – Speed limit signs are everywhere, from highways, to neighborhoods, to even the most remote roads. But do you know how these speed limits came into existence or how the state determines what the speed limit is on a given road?

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Speed limits in America can be traced as far back as 1652, when the New Amsterdam colony, what is now New York, issued a decree stating: “[N]o wagons, carts or sleighs shall be run, rode or driven at a gallop,” with violators risking a fine starting at “two pounds Flemish,” or about $150 in today’s currency.

Fast forward to 1899, when the New York City cabdriver Jacob German was arrested for driving his electric taxi at 12 miles per hour. This was followed closely by Connecticut becoming the first state to pass a law regulating motor vehicles on May 21, 1901. This regulation limited the speed of motor vehicles to 12 mph in cities and 15 mph on country roads.

This law began when a bill was submitted by Representative Robert Woodruff to the State General Assembly, proposing a motor-vehicles speed limit of 8 mph inside city limits and 12 mph outside.

However, the law that passed in 1901 specified higher speed limits but required drivers to slow down upon approaching or passing a horse-drawn vehicle, coming to a complete stop if necessary to avoid scaring animals.

New York wouldn’t introduce the world’s first comprehensive traffic code until 1903, with the adoption of speed regulations and other traffic codes being a slow and uneven process across the nation.

Twelve states had no speed limit, and 28 states did not require a driver’s license to operate a motor vehicle, as of as late as 1930.

President Richard Nixon would sign a national speed limit of 55 mph into law in January of 1974, after rising fuel costs contributed to the lowered speed limits in several states in the early 1970s. This led to the drop of miles travelled from 4.28 million miles in 1972 to 2.73 million miles in 1983.

Congress would later increase speed limits on rural interstates to 65 mph in 1987, followed by the National Highway System Designation Act of 1995 repealing the maximum speed limit. This Act returns the control of setting speed limits to the states, including rural and urban interstates and limited access roads.

The fastest road in America currently is a 40-mile stretch of toll road between Austin and San Antonio, legally allowing drivers to travel at 85 mph. Speed limits have shifted across America with cars becoming faster and roads becoming safer.

According to the Texas Department of Transportation website, speed limits on Texas highways are set using the 85th percentile method, which represents the speed the majority of drivers will be traveling at or below. A principle which has been used to set speed limits for highways across the U.S. for the past 60 years.

Speed checks are conducted to determine the 85th percentile speed. The observed free-flowing speed for vehicles is tallied and the 85th percentile speed is calculated using gathered information. To ensure a true reflection of a normal traffic situation, speed checks are made on average weekdays during off-peak hours, under favorable weather conditions.

More information about the history of speed limits and how they are set today can be found on the History Channel website, the American Safety Council website, or the TxDOT website.

Early Speed Limit Signs

As cars have become faster, speed limit signs have naturally kept up. The first speed limit signs were posted at city and town limits. Early signs were not reflective. By the middle to late 20’s however, many cities required that speed limit signs be illuminated. The early requirement was for a famous GE style of light, called a “MAZDA” lamp. The New York State legislature, in 1925, passed a law that "each city shall have placed conspicuously [signs on] each main highway, where the rate of speed changes [and signs shall be] adequately illuminated between sunset and sunrise".

For many townships and cities, however, internal illumination proved difficult. Too many roads needed speed limit signs and power was not readily available. As a result, speed limit signs started to use “cats eye” reflectors. Signs with reflectors captured the light from early auto headlights and reflected the message back to the driver.

Arrow sign is used to designate a road near a schoolhouse and limits speeds to 10 MPH. The arrows are from July, 1925 American City Magazine, "Traffic Regulation and Directions", which showed recommendations from the International Police Conference.

Different cities were free to enact different speed limits. This sign is shown from the Lyle Sign Catalog of 1925. Note the use of cats eye reflectors.

By the late 1920’s however, the interstate system adopted signs which initiated many of the design elements that we see today on our current Speed Limit sign designs. The signs were rectangular, taller than wide, printed in black and white and highlighted the actual numerical speed limit in taller letters. Rectangular signs “are used to carry direction of use or benefit to the driver” (1927 AASHO). AASHO also cited that the dimensions of Speed Limit signs (a tall rectangle) distinguish them from other directional signs.

Photo of a speed limit sign from the 1930’s (in author’s collection).

Speed Limit Sign adapted by the Joint Board of Interstate Highways, as reported by the American City Magazine, 1925. The middle sign shows the AASHO R4 Sign from 1927.

But, most early roads were not part of the nascent interstate system, nor were they part of a city’s street network. These early roads, which still transverse rural communities, seldom posted signs. For many, the “honor system” was predominant.

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Vintage Speed Limit Sign from Redditpics.

By the late 20’s and 30’s, speed patrols become more common (Photo from the Author’s Collection).

The debate between those demanding the freedom to travel at high speeds in an unregulated environment and others citing the need for greater security and increased regulation (e.g. signs) was common in the 20’s and 30’s. For certain communities, "too slow speeds” were also an issue. As reported in the June, 1925 Lyle Sign Post, the chairman of the Maryland State Roads Commission, John Mackall, "advises substitution of the maximum speed limit with a minimum speed limit, to speed up traffic. Mackall also suggested slow-moving vehicles be barred from main streets during peak hours".

Many states did not require drivers licenses. As part of the author’s own family lore, there is a wonderful story of two strong-willed daughters, Lydia and Mary, traveling from their home in North Dakota to visit their father, Senator Langer, in Washington, DC. With little experience, other than on farm machinery and certainly no license, they ended up in Washington in record time. Speed limits (and the few Speed Limit Signs) were proudly ignored.

For more discussion, see the excerpt below on fixed speed limits: " Should there be Fixed Speed Limits? ". Even in the 30’s and 40’s, speed limits were not uniform. Should speed limits change, depending upon the weather conditions, road conditions and time of day (for example, during school hours)?

1959 (Author’s Collection).

A speed limit sign in Washington from 1975 that includes a metric limit and warns drivers that it is radar enforced (Photo in Author’s collection).

It was not uncommon to find that speed limit regulations changed from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Towns often found themselves at odds with neighboring communities. Moreover enforcement was also inconsistent. See the 1927 excerpt below from one Mayor’s reported leniency towards speeders. In spite of this speed limit variability, school zones and pedestrian areas have always been more tightly regulated.

Modern Speed Limit Signs

The 1930 NCSH and 1935 MUTCD manuals defined the Speed Limit signs with most modern elements. The first mention of the yellow "advisory speed limit sign" occurred in the 1935 MUTCD. And in 1948, the MUTCD specification specified, essentially, all elements of the current speed limit sign . The code R-2 and R-102 were defined in 1948 for the two sizes and colors of Speed Limit Signs.

From 1930 NCSH Urban Manual. This 24” x 30” sign uses three different fonts.

The modern speed limit sign (at right) was largely established and specified in the 1948 MUTCD. Yellow advisory speed limit signs were also defined in the 1948 manual.

Some excerpts on the changing specifications for the speed limit signs are as follows:

1930 NCSH Urban Manual. Sign size and font defined 30" x 24" [sign and the words] Speed Limit shall be in 3 1/2 inch Series E letters, the numerals shall be in 8" Series F letters and word "Miles" entry in 3" Series D letters.

1935 MUTCD (Signs Placed Where Speeds Change). Speed limit signs shall be erected on main thoroughfares at entrances to business or residential districts in municipalities and at other points were established prima facie limits are changed. It should be noted that the speed limits indicated in uniform vehicle code are prima facie limits. Therefore, where the code is in effect speed limit signs will indicate the maximum presumptively proper speed under normal conditions. It is frequently desirable to erect confirmatory speed limit signs at selected points within speed zones.

1948 MUTCD (Yellow Advisory Speed Limit Sign Defined). The advisory speed sign is a small plate, 13" x 30" square with a message [xx] mph in black on a yellow background. It may be used in conjunction with any standard yellow warning signs to indicate the maximum safe speed around a curve or through a hazardous location.

Another sidelight to the inevitable march towards state, county and local governmental standardization of speed limit signs was the desire to bring the metric system to the US. The FHWA received a crushingly negative response to this conversion and it was dropped in 1994.

The "Cat and Mouse Game" – the Police Radar Gun vs the Speeders

Law enforcement officials attempt to deter dangerous speeding by handing out tickets to speed limit violators. This type of regulation was not so easy in the beginning. Police officers had to be sure that violating vehicles were travelling well above the legal speed limit before they could pull these miscreants over and slap them with a ticket. Before the use of radar, such certainty was virtually impossible. Then, much to the chagrin of speedsters, came the invention of the radar gun.

Police officers using a clunky radar gun to catch speeding drivers in Chicago in 1956 (Photo in author's collection).

Created by Bryce K. Brown of Decatur Electronics, the first radar guns calculated the speed of objects by measuring the change in frequency of waves hiting moving objects due to the Doppler Effect. In April 1954, the first speeding ticket using the new radar device was issued by patrolman Leonard Baldy in Chicago, Illinois. Since its invention in 1954, radar speed gun have been used by police officers to measure the speeds of passing cars, and catch drivers who violate the lawful limit.

Leonard Baldy, the first police officer to use a radar gun to issue a speeding ticket, on the job with his radar gun in Chicago in 1954 (Photo in author's collection).

Two officers issue a ticket to a Chicagoan who was caught driving 36 mph in 25 mph zone by a radar gun in 1954. This was described as the first speeding ticket resulting from radar enforcement (Photo in author's collection).

Radar guns quickly expanded their electromagnetic reach from Chicago to the rest of the country, becoming a fixture of many American police forces. The first radar gun was large and unwieldy, and it looked somewhat like a telephone. Newer models were handheld and more easily transportable.

As they do, law-breakers eventually found a work-around – in this case, the Fuzzbuster. Invented in the 1970’s, the Fuzzbuster could detect police radar, and warn drivers to slow down when approaching a speed trap. In response to devices like the Fuzzbuster, police officers now use the more modern LIDAR speed gun, which uses laser waves instead of radar light waves. Radar guns and devices like them ushered in a new era of speeding tickets, in which American drivers, by choice or by law, grew more and more alert to speed limits, as posted on signs along the road.

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