Editing Speed limit (section)

==History==

{{Globalize|section|date=August 2015}}

[[File:Antique New Hampshire speed limit sign.jpg|thumb|Historic [[New Hampshire]] speed limit sign]]
In Western cultures, speed limits predate the use of motorized vehicles. In 1652, the American colony of [[New Amsterdam]] passed a law stating, "No wagons, carts or sleighs shall be run, rode or driven at a [[gallop]]". The punishment for breaking the law was "two pounds Flemish", the equivalent of US$50 in 2019.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/connecticut-enacts-first-speed-limit-law|title=Connecticut enacts first speed-limit law|website=history.com|access-date=2019-04-14}}</ref> The ''1832'' ''Stage Carriage Act'' introduced the offense of endangering the safety of a passenger or person by "furious driving" in the United Kingdom (UK).<ref>{{cite book|title=Criminal on the Road:A Study of Serious Motoring Offences and Those Who Commit Them|year=1964|publisher=Routledge|isbn=0415264162|page=64}}</ref> In 1872, then-[[President of the United States]] [[Ulysses S. Grant]] was [[Arrest of Ulysses S. Grant|arrested for speeding]] in his [[horse-drawn carriage]] in [[Washington, D.C.]]<ref>{{cite web|last=Kemp|first=Ben|date=2018-05-18|title=The Thin Blue Line|url=https://www.grantcottage.org/blog/2018/5/18/the-thin-blue-line|access-date=2023-04-02|publisher=[[Ulysses S. Grant Cottage National Historic Landmark]]|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="rosenwald">{{cite news|last1=Rosenwald|first1=Michael S.|title=The police officer who arrested a president|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2018/12/16/police-officer-who-arrested-president/|access-date=2023-04-02|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=2018-12-16}}</ref>

A series of [[Locomotive Acts]] (in 1861, 1865 and 1878) created the first numeric speed limits for mechanically propelled vehicles in the UK; the 1861 Act introduced a [[Road speed limits in the United Kingdom|UK speed limit]] of {{cvt|10|mph}} on open roads in town, which was reduced to {{cvt|2|mph|0}} in towns and {{cvt|4|mph|0}} in rural areas by the 1865 "Red Flag Act".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/24-25/70/contents/data.htm|title=Locomotive Act 1861|website=www.legislation.gov.uk|access-date=2019-04-14}}</ref> The [[Locomotives on Highways Act 1896]], which raised the speed limit to {{cvt|14|mph}} is celebrated by the annual [[London to Brighton Veteran Car Run]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2019}}

On 28 January 1896, the first person to be convicted of speeding is believed to be Walter Arnold of [[East Peckham]], Kent, UK, who was fined 1 [[£sd|shilling]] plus costs for speeding at {{cvt|8|mph}}.<ref name="NatMotMuseum">{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalmotormuseum.org.uk/motoring_firsts|publisher=National Motoring Museum|title=Motoring firsts|access-date=2009-12-01|archive-date=2016-01-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160114042029/http://www.nationalmotormuseum.org.uk/motoring_firsts|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="BBC R4">{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00cmb4q|work=BBC Radio 4|title=The Eureka Years|author=Adam Hart Davis}}</ref><ref name="AllExp">{{cite web|url=http://en.allexperts.com/q/U-S-History-672/criminal-justice-history.htm|title=US History, Criminal Justice, The first speeding ticket|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100503020127/http://en.allexperts.com/q/U-S-History-672/criminal-justice-history.htm|archive-date=2010-05-03}}</ref>

[[File:19200820 D. C. Pastor Fined for Speed and Contempt - The Washington Times.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.3|In 1920 a pastor was fined US$10 for "overspeeding his machine ... at a rate greater than {{cvt|25|mph}} ... in what appeared to be a reckless manner."<ref name=WashTimes_19200820>{{cite news|title=D. C. Pastor Fined for Speed and Contempt in N. H. Police Court|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:19200820_D._C._Pastor_Fined_for_Speed_and_Contempt_-_The_Washington_Times.jpg|work=[[Washington Times (1894–1939)|The Washington Times]]|date=1920-08-20|page=1}}</ref>]]

In 1901, [[Connecticut]] was the first state in the United States to impose a numerical speed limit for motor vehicles, setting the maximum legal speed to {{cvt|12|mph}} in cities and {{cvt|15|mph}} on rural roads. Speed limits then propagated across the United States; by 1930 all but 12 states had established numerical limits.<ref name=":0"/>

In 1903, in the UK, the national speed limit was raised to {{cvt|20|mph}}; however, as this was difficult to enforce due to the lack of [[speedometer]]s, the 1930 "Road Traffic Act" abolished speed limits entirely. In 1934, a new limit of {{cvt|30|mph}} was imposed in urban centers, and in July 1967, a {{cvt|70|mph}} national speed limit was introduced.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://readcars.co/2017/06/20/history-speed-limits-uk/|title=The history of speed limits in the UK|date=2017-06-20|website=Read Cars|access-date=2019-04-14}}</ref>

In Australia, during the early 20th century, there were people reported for "furious driving" offenses. One conviction in 1905 cited a vehicle furiously driving {{cvt|20|mph}} when passing a [[tram]] traveling at half that speed.<ref>{{cite web|title=Keeping Order: Motor-Car Regulation and the Defeat of Victoria's 1905 Motor-Car Bill|url=http://prov.vic.gov.au/publications/provenance/provenance2004/keeping-order#sthash.6erps9hJ.dpuf|quote=On 7 April 1905, E Norton Grimwade ...appeared in the District Court [charged with] ‘furious’ driving [because] he passed a tram ... Several people ... [estimated] the car’s speed at 20 mph ... It was going twice as fast as the tram.|access-date=2015-02-25|archive-date=2015-03-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150318045808/http://prov.vic.gov.au/publications/provenance/provenance2004/keeping-order#sthash.6erps9hJ.dpuf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In May 1934, the [[Nazi Germany|Nazi-era]] "Road Traffic Act" imposed the first nationwide speed limit in Germany.{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}}

In the 1960s, in continental Europe, some speed limits were established based on the [[V85 speed]], (so that 85% of drivers respect this speed).<ref name="racfoundation" />

In 1974, Australian speed limits underwent metrication: the urban speed limit of {{cvt|35|mph}} was converted to {{cvt|60|kph}}; the rural speed limits of {{cvt|60|mph}} and {{cvt|65|mph}} were changed to {{cvt|100|kph}} and {{cvt|110|kph}} respectively.<ref>{{cite book|title=A Review of Rural Speed Limits in Australia|last=Cowley|first=J.E.|year=1980|location=The Office of Road Safety Commonwealth Department of Transport}}</ref>

In 2010, Sweden defined the ''[[Vision Zero]]'' program,<ref name="racfoundation" /> a multi-national [[road traffic safety]] project that aims to achieve a [[highway]] system with no fatalities or serious injuries involving road traffic.