So far, so good. Actually, so far, so very good. The world did not go crazy. Anarchy was not let loose on the road. The fear and loathing of all the Chicken Littles thinking a little freedom equals a lot of chaos ended up amounting to one big nothing burger.
Let us back up a minute. The Alberta government under Premier Danielle Smith wants a 120 km/h speed limit on Alberta’s divided highways. After all, Alberta’s divided highways were designed for a 120 km/h speed limit. Highways like Highway 2, the Calgary-to-Edmonton corridor, Highway 63 to Fort McMurray, Highway 43 to Grande Prairie, Highway 1 the Trans-Canada, Highway 16 the Yellowhead, and Highway 4 to Coutts and the U.S. border.
So the Smith government is testing a stretch of Highway 2 south of Leduc to see how drivers behave with a 120 km/h speed limit. The road test will go on through the summer, but right now the first term report card grade is an A.
Early Statistics Show Success
The early stats are telling. In May of last year, when the speed limit was 110 km/h, the average speed was 118.4 km/h. In May of this year, when the speed limit was upped to 120 km/h, the average speed was 120.1 km/h. Putting up the speed limit to 120 km/h saw drivers on average go 1.4 km/h faster. Just 1.4 km/h faster. Not to 130 km/h or 140 km/h or whatever speed the minority of Albertans opposing the speed limit hike were predicting.
Here is another nugget. On this stretch of road, when the speed limit was 110 km/h, six to eight collisions could happen per month. So far during the road test when the speed limit is 120 km/h, there were three collisions in the month. The number of vehicles on average travelling that stretch of road on a given day? 30,790 a day.
Official Reaction
Devin Dreeshen is the Smith government’s main man on roads, and, unlike some in the Smith inner circle, he is not invisible. He is doing stuff. Dreeshen says his goal is to have a 120 km/h speed limit on all divided highways, seeing it as “a lot of common sense.” The transportation boss says he is very encouraged to see the numbers coming in from the road test. Before the road test began, a solid majority backed the idea of the 120 km/h speed limit.
Why does Dreeshen feel drivers did not go wild with the higher speed limit? If they were going around 120 km/h when the speed limit was 110 km/h, why did they not go 130 km/h when the speed limit was 120 km/h? From the people Dreeshen talked to who drive that patch of pavement, they just always felt comfortable going 120 km/h. The roads boss also says he has been attending a lot of high school graduations and he has had lots of grads come up to him because they saw the 120 km/h speed limit story on TikTok.
