Evaluation of driven speed on German motorways without speed limits - a new approach.
The introduction of a general speed limit on German motorways is currently heavily discussed. This paper analyses a Floating Car Data (FCD) set from April 2017 generated on German motorways without speed limits. The data set is compared to average speeds measured at automatic traffic counting points. Therefore the validity of the reported speed in the present FCD data set is analysed by comparision to the reported speed at continuous counting stations. The results show that the average driven speed on motorways in metropolitan areas is lower than on long distance highways and motorways in rural areas. The frequency scales offer insights into expected effects of a general speed limit. Recommended speed (130 kph) is rarely exceeded during a trip, but a large number of trips can be observed where maximum speed is higher than 130 kph on short parts of a motorway route.
The paper can be downloaded here. Original figures can be found here.
A short Abstract in German language can be found here.
Update 10 March 2020: Fixed wrong links in source.
