Road speed limits are used in most countries to set the maximum (or minimum in some cases) speed
at which road vehicles may legally travel on particular stretches of road. Speed limits may be variable and in some places speeds are unlimited. Speed limits are normally indicated on a traffic sign. Speed limits are commonly set by the legislative bodies of nations or provincial governments and enforced by national or regional police and / or judicial bodies. The first maximum speed limit was the ! mph ( " #m/h) limit introduced in the $nited %ingdom in &" . 'ighest speed limit in the world is (! #m/h (&) mph)* which applies to some roads in +bu ,habi * -oland and .ulgaria/ similarly Texas posts &0 mph ( 1) #m/h) on one (!2mile long toll road. 'owever* some roads have no speed limit for certain classes of vehicles. .est #nown are 3ermany4s less congested +utobahns*5where automobile drivers have no mandated maximum speed/ measurements from the 3erman State of .randenburg in 6!!" showed average speeds of (6 #m/h (&& mph) on a "2 lane section of autobahn in free2flowing conditions. Rural areas on the 7sle of 8an* the 7ndian states of +ndhra -radesh and 8aharashtra also lac# speed limits* but speeds are lower when measured on those lower design roads. Speed limits are usually set to attempt to cap road traffic speed/ there are several reasons for wanting to do this. 7t is often done with an intention to improveroad traffic safety and reduce the number of road traffic casualties from traffic collisions. 7n their World report on road traffic injury prevention report* the 9orld 'ealth :rgani;ation (9':) identify speed control as one of various interventions li#ely to contribute to a reduction in road casualties. (The 9': estimated that some .6 million people were #illed and 0! million injured on the roads around the world in 6!!(.) Speed limits may also be set in an attempt to reduce theenvironmental impact of road traffic (vehicle noise* vibration* emissions) and to satisfy local community wishes. Some cities have reduced limits to as little as 1! #m/h ( < mph) for both safety and efficiency reasons. 7n situations where the natural road speed is considered too high by governments* notably on urban areas where speed limits below 0! #m/h (1 mph) are used then traffic calming is often also used. =or some classes of vehicle* speed limiters may be mandated to enforce compliance. Since they have been introduced* speed limits have been opposed from various sources* including motoring advocacy groups* anti2motoring groups and others who either consider them to be irrelevant* set too low or set too high.
History
The $nited %ingdom Stage >arriage +ct &16 first introduced the offense of endangering the safety of a passenger or person by 4furious driving4. The first numeric speed limits were created in the $% by a series of ?ocomotive +cts ( &" * &"0 and &)&)/ the &" +ct introduced a $% speed limit of ! mph ( " #m/h) on open roads in town* reduced to 6 mph (1 #m/h) in towns and ( mph (" #m/h) in rural areas by the &"0 4red flag act4. The?ocomotives on 'ighways +ct &<"* which raised the speed limit ( mph (being the estimated speed of a horse being driven 4furiously4) is celebrated to this day by the annual ?ondon to .righton @eteran >ar Run. The first person to be convicted of speeding is believed to be 9alter +rnold of Aast -ec#ham* %ent* who on 6& Banuary &<" was fined for speeding at & mph ( 1 #m/h). 'e was fined shilling plus costs.