Advisory Speed Predominates: The Results of an IW Analysis of Traffic and Speed on Motorways in North Rhine-Westphalia

The number of passing cars and commercial vehicles and their speed were recorded. It is therefore an evaluation of the traffic volume and not the mileage. A total of around 1.9 billion cars were included in the evaluation. These drove at an average speed of 113.5 km/h in the absence of a permanent speed limit. Compared to the two previous measurements, the average speed has fallen visibly. In 2021, it was still almost 3 km/h higher. In 2022, the average speed was still 115.2 km/h. Almost 83 percent of cars were counted in a minute in which the average speed of all cars recorded was below 130 km/h. For a further 10.5 percent, the average speed assigned to them was between 130 and 140 km/h.Differentiated by time of day, these patterns remain relatively stable. At weekends, the overall speed distribution shifts slightly towards a higher speed. The available results for freeways in North Rhine-Westphalia without a speed limit therefore indicate a deliberate choice of speed.

Transparency note:

An earlier version of this study stated that “Almost 83 percent of drivers drive slower than 130 km/h”. This statement is incorrect. In fact, the data describes the average speed of all cars recorded within one minute at each of the counting points. The average of 130 km/h would therefore theoretically also have been achieved if two vehicles had been measured within this interval, one of which was traveling at 80 km/h and one at 180 km/h. However, the results remain plausible. However, the results remain plausible, as they hardly deviate from previously determined figures. The incorrect description and interpretation of the data collection method was corrected in the study.