America's Speed Limits Visualized

The middle swath of the United States may be considered Red States, but on MetricMaps' new visualization of nationwide speed limits, the states of the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains are a deep blue. It turns out that places that lean libertarian don't much like to place limits on drivers. Today, freedom means a speed limit of 80 MPH in many places, meaning that actual speeds are likely to be much higher. 

"The Missouri River, as it turns out, is a kind of speed-limit fault line: Most states west of it consider legal what Virginia, Ohio and Illinois would call 'speeding.'"

MetricMaps has made visualizations of individual cities, displaying road networks according to their speed limits. Large areas of local streets that might be limited to 30 MPH are punctuated by arterial roads and freeways. Neutral as they are, the maps leave it to urban planners to decide how these speeds impact quality of life and safety for pedestrians and drivers alike. 

"These maps, through the lens of speed limits, reflect the hierarchy of how we build roads, from local residential streets, to busier boulevards, to limited-access arterials and high-speed highways. Each environment demands different standards. But this national map also raises a question central to"vision zero" campaigns trying to end pedestrian deaths and make roads safer: Does it make sense that a residential neighborhood in Houston would allow faster traffic than a residential neighborhood in Brooklyn?"