Talk:Speed limits by country

Chart
The chart in this article needs consistency to be a useful, factual, and accessible for comparison. Much of the information within the chart contradicts the by-country sections. The third (and to a similar extent the fourth, fifth and sixth column) are in need of repair. References where possible would be nice, but the main issue appears to be a linguistic one: the difference between the American English technical terms expressway and highway, which are now linked in the chart.

Even though colloquially there is a lot of diversity of terms (all public roads are "highways") and, here "highway" is simply used as a synonym for the expression "outside built-up areas" and as the logical counterpart to "expressway".

"Expressway" is used here to denote all higher classes of roads not just the highest. While there are 130kph speed limits outside of built-up areas in Australia on normal public highways, the 130kph speed limits in the Czech Republic are limited to higher classes of roads: Motorways and Expressways; roads intended for motorized vehicless. And I am sure the same applies to many European and other entries.

I propose two different solutions: 1.The chart's headings could be changed to British English terminology, something like, "built up areas- outside of build up- Motorways- etc..." In this case entries like Germany would have to be changed to reflect that the 130kph recommendation also applies to lesser classes of road with multiple lanes or medians. The last third and fifth columns would only apply to the highest class of road. or 2.The terminology of the charts heading could use more neutral terminology, "expressways" would be changed to "freeways and similar roads", and "highways" would be deleted. The intended meaning of the chart's columns would remain unaffected and currently contradictory entries would have to be changed.

I advocate 2. It really seems like this is a language issue and that literal and vernacular translations of these terms are causing confusion. Either way, I don't think the vague term "highway" belongs in this chart. I would love to see this article improve.Synchronism (talk) 03:20, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

Map Update for Nunavut, Canada
The map at the top of the page currently has this province of Canada listed in the black 70 km/h or lower category when the Speed Limits in Canada page states there is a maximum of 90 km/h. Could this discrepancy please be rectified? Thank you! Jtn2002 (talk) 16:44, 13 September 2019 (UTC)

100 mph in Zimbabwe
This article states the speed limit in Zimbabwe changed from 100mph to 120km/h. I can't find any source for this, and find this hard to beleive for several reasons.

Firstly 100mph is a very high posted speed limit, if it were in place it would have been common knowledge by petrolheads, much like no posted limit in Germany and previously NT in Australia. Secondly Zimbabwe has always been a metric country since independence; metrication completed in the final days of Rhodesia. A speed limit of mph just would not have existed in Zimbabwe.

Googling for speed limits in Zimbabwe sees several articles disagreeing over whether the limit is 100km/h or 120km/h. I suggest what has happened is the limit has increased from 100km/h to 120km/h recently. Many articles incorrectly write kmph instead of km/h, and I think someone has misread this error. 84.92.43.36 (talk) 12:12, 11 April 2009 (UTC)
 * That sounds highly plausible: the kmph typo. I guess it's possible that the limit was 100mph, but I doubt it was ever posted. In any case 100kph to 120kph sounds more realistic.Synchronism (talk) 19:18, 11 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Correct limits here. Babakathy (talk) 08:51, 15 May 2013 (UTC)

Speed limits in NT, Australia
Open speed limits ended in NT in 2007 when they were replaced with 130km/h speed limits. These open speed limits are currently (starting February 2014) being trialed again on some roads in NT — Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.255.163.147 (talk) 02:26, 12 August 2015 (UTC)

Conversion
There is a lot of inconsistency in whether speeds are translated between km/h and mph, and when they are converted to what fidelity it is done. I have edited the US and UK and other refs where speeds in mph are listed first and brought the charts in line for UK and US. I have followed the most popular convention of converting to the nearest km/h and have used the convert template where possible. Some consistency is needed in converting the other way around, but I think a national knowledge is required to determine whether the mph figure should or shouldn't be included for each country. Parttimebarman (talk) 15:08, 18 November 2009 (UTC)

Need to update the information on Polish speed limits
It appears that the proposed speed limits of 120 km/h and 140 km/h to commence from 1 May 2010 were never approved. A reliable source to clarify the situation (not a forum post for example) is needed. 124.170.226.168 (talk) 07:55, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

Requested move

 * The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section. 

The result of the move request was: not moved Tiggerjay (talk) 03:45, 22 April 2013 (UTC) Tiggerjay (talk) 03:45, 22 April 2013 (UTC)

Speed limits by country → Road speed limits by country – Road speed limits by country matches the article introduction and more accurately describes the content. The article does not cover watercraft or trains and it does not cover bicycles on touring paths. relisted again Tiggerjay (talk) 21:04, 14 April 2013 (UTC) Relisted. Jenks24 (talk) 15:21, 31 March 2013 (UTC) Vegaswikian (talk) 21:59, 23 March 2013 (UTC)

Survey

 * Feel free to state your position on the renaming proposal by beginning a new line in this section with  or  , then sign your comment with  . Since polling is not a substitute for discussion, please explain your reasons, taking into account Wikipedia's policy on article titles.


 * Oppose. Mostly because of WP:COMMONNAME; people don't call them road speed limits, and we also have Speed limit which is specifically about roads too. So unless that article is moved first, I don't think this should be moved either. Your premise also doesn't seem quite valid... why wouldn't it cover bicycles, and more importantly, why do you assume bicycles don't also go on roads? Laws on this aspect can differ widely in different countries. CodeCat (talk) 18:01, 24 March 2013 (UTC)
 * I did not assume that it doesn't cover bicycles nor did I say that. As for speed limit, yes, it could probably be moved, based on your statements, but I ran into this article and the flaw with the name was obvious given the precise wording in the introduction as I stated.  Vegaswikian (talk) 05:46, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Comment it would be a good idea to move both articles to "road motor vehicle speed limit" to counter WP:Systematic bias. There are speed limits on snowmobile trails, bike paths and railroads that are not covered in either article. -- 65.92.180.137 (talk) 23:11, 24 March 2013 (UTC)
 * I would support such a move if and when there is a need for it. But as it stands now, there isn't because there is no list of any speed limits other than this one, so there is no ambiguity (and the introduction makes the subject matter clear). Furthermore, I think it's actually better if discussion of speed limits were covered in one article (Speed limit), because it's valuable as additional context to the concept of a "speed limit" rather than as a distinct concept altogether. That is, a speed limit is a speed limit no matter what type of transport it applies to.
 * Oppose. The main article, which also only deals with road limits, is at "speed limit" and there are no other speed limit articles to create ambiguity.  —  AjaxSmack   00:03, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

Discussion

 * Any additional comments:


 * The correct title should be List of speed limits by country, per WP:NCLIST.  Lugnuts  Dick Laurent is dead 17:46, 1 April 2013 (UTC)
 * As it's a descriptive title, precision is more important than common name. Information about other (non-road) speed limits, if verifiable could be added to this article, then it could be split if necessary; if other information is added to a new page instead, this should then be moved. Peter&#160;James (talk) 00:31, 4 April 2013 (UTC)
 * So long as the current title redirects to this article no matter what it's called, then the redirect is both sufficiently precise and more concise. If you think the current title shouldn't redirect to this article if it is moved, then you would need to make an argument in that direction before I could agree that a more precise title is better.  Powers T 13:56, 16 April 2013 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

=
NEPAL

There is no speed limit in Nepal. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 151.18.156.27 (talk) 09:32, 5 May 2014 (UTC)

Venezuela, speed limit:
Urban speed limit is 15km/hr in residencial and school zones, pedistrian zones, 30 km/hr urban, where did that 60k/hr come from? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 201.208.189.225 (talk) 20:27, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

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No limit in Germany?
In the map "Highest-posted speed limits around the world", the "no limit"-coloring is applied for Germany. This might be misleading, as there are speed limits in Germany for 90% of all roads, including large parts of the Autobahn-system. There is only no general limit. In towns there is a general 50 km/h-limit, if not indicated otherwise (e.g. 30 km/h or 70 km/h). Outside towns there is a general speed limit of 100 km/h (if not indicated otherwise) except for the Autobahn (and a few Kraftfahrtstraßen). On Autobahnen, about 50% of their length there are also speed limits, for several reasons (such as security, frequent traffic jams, noise control in densly populated areas), or conditional speed limits (in case of rain, during the night etc.) The range of these limits is mainly between 100 km/h and 130 km/h. So, only for about 50% of the Autobahn it is true, that there is no precise general speed limit. What do I mean with "prescise"? Even in an "unrestricted" area of the Autobahn, there is a general recommended maximum speed ("Richtgeschwindigkeit") of 130 km/h. If you drive faster and nothing happens, its all right, i.e. driving at 200 km/h is ok and you won't be charged only because of that. But if you get involved in an accident at such a speed, you will automatically get blamed guilty for at least 50%, even if you were not the one doing something wrong and causing the accident. So I recommend that "no limit" for the pink coloring should be changed to "no general limit". (I guess that in Northern Australia there will be some town limits at least, too.) --Payton M. (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 10:11, 28 July 2016 (UTC)

Speed limit in Bolivia
On the new Dual Carriageway (RN1) La Paz - Oruro the maximum speed limit is 90kph. Therefore the colour of Bolivia on the world map needs to be changed from red to orange reflecting this new highest maximum speed in the country. Source (unfortunately in Dutch): https://www.wegenwiki.nl/Bolivia — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bsmsenglish (talk • contribs) 13:16, 10 January 2018 (UTC)

Treasure trove of references / sources on the openstreetmap wiki
As part of my contributions for openstreetmap, I am in the process of creating an exhausting list of default speed limits (=when there is no explicit sign) by vehicle and road type per country. For each country, I researched where in the countries' legislation the rules can be found and added these as references. The page is here:

https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Default_speed_limits

Whoever feels inclined to might want to fill some citation-needed gaps in this article by using the references given on the openstreetmap wiki page. Cheers --Westnordost (talk) 18:51, 18 July 2018 (UTC)

What is a maximum speed limit?
I'm thinking this article needs an agreed (by the editors) definition of what a maximum speed limit is. In particular do we consider a trial, such as the current 120 km/h trial in Japan (I understand two, 50km stretches) as the maximum for that country or not? As a starting point I would suggest:


 * The limit should be permanent and not a trial or sunsetted (that is going to revert automatically)
 * It needs to cover a significant stretch of public road, so the German Autobahn would meet these bar, but I'm not sure the trial in Japan would.

This is not to say that trials should not be mentioned, just that they would be considered more as footnotes and detail about the maximum speed in that country. Alex Sims (talk) 12:07, 13 March 2019 (UTC)
 * I think that's too complicated a definition. I'd keep it simple and go for the maximum legal speed on any public road in a country. -- DeFacto (talk). 16:06, 13 March 2019 (UTC)

Iceland
According to the news a new speed limit of 110 km/h will be introduced on some roads in Iceland in the new year.

South Sudan
Map does not show South Sudan. Can someone fix? 206.55.177.124 (talk) 06:40, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

"Driving in canada" listed at Redirects for discussion
An editor has asked for a discussion to address the redirect Driving in canada. Please participate in the redirect discussion if you wish to do so. Interstellarity (talk) 19:01, 19 April 2020 (UTC)

160 km/h speed limit in the UAE? Time for an update on the main graphic?
Looks like the UAE has a 160 km/h speed limit on some roads:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_limits_in_the_United_Arab_Emirates

https://gulfnews.com/uae/transport/abu-dhabis-superfast-160kmh-speed-limit-to-change-1.2257174

Time to update the main graphic? This would also require a new color category as well — Preceding unsigned comment added by DanTheMan702 (talk • contribs) 15:51, 8 September 2020 (UTC)

Argentine: 120 (dual carriageways with level crossings)?
It is written "120 (dual carriageways with level crossings)".

However,
 * in English language level crossings might mean an intersection with a railway.
 * a 120 km/h speed is usually found on a dual carriageways motorway where crossings (that is intersection) are on another level (usually a bridge).

Could the sentence be reworded to be more specific? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.136.216.31 (talk) 14:48, 31 October 2020 (UTC)

Map data inconsistancy
Map should either show an actual limit (shown on signs) or a punishable limit (with margins included). Currently, it is mixed up and is different in different countries. For example, both United Kingdom and Russia have a limit of 110 km/h, and both of them have margins, but on the map UK is portrayed without the margin, while for Russia it is included. 178.252.70.98 (talk) 10:05, 26 June 2022 (UTC)

The HGV maximum speed map indicates mph for United Kingdom but does not say how many. Is it still in mph, by the way, while an other limit is set at 110 km/h?

Regards, ULF--2001:4C80:40:493:CA1F:66FF:FE49:EA0B (talk) 11:13, 8 July 2022 (UTC)

A source for sources
The article is marked as not having enough sources. A similar list as this one but which exclusively lists legal (instead of common) speed limits has been created and is maintained on the OpenStreetMap wiki: https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Default_speed_limits

This list contains a plethora of primary references (to legislation texts) that you could take, if this is what you are after. -- Westnordost (talk) 15:59, 2 August 2022 (UTC)

Saudi Arabia is 110 kph now!
.. 2001:16A2:C1C9:57FF:B459:FCB7:A5F5:B1F0 (talk) 16:53, 13 November 2022 (UTC)