Safer Speeds

Safer Speeds is one of the five pillars of the Safe System Approach, which prioritizes safety and human vulnerability in the design and operation of a transportation system. Speeding increases both the frequency and severity of crashes and is a significant contributor to traffic deaths. Speeding is particularly hazardous to pedestrians. A pedestrian's chance of survival is directly correlated with a vehicle's speed at time of impact. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), speeding-related crashes accounted for 28% of fatalities in the U.S. between 2011-2020.

Credit: U.S. Department of Transportation

Speed Limit Audit

Road ownership varies in Louisville. A road may be owned by the state through the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, by the city (Louisville Metro Government), by home rule cities (such as Jeffersontown or Shively), or by private ownership. Louisville Metro Government owns and maintains over 2,100 miles of road throughout Jefferson County. Louisville Metro Government establishes speed limits for its roads through an evaluation that includes desired and actual speeds, roadway functional classification (such as Arterial, Collector, or Local), roadway design and geometry, crash history, traffic volume, and surrounding land uses.

As part of its Vision Zero initiative, Louisville Metro Government aims to reduce speeds through roadway design, speed limit setting, and enforcement. An audit of speed limits on Metro-owned roads was launched in January 2023. This includes identifying roadways that could benefit from a speed limit reduction. The first phase of the audit, which is to evaluate Metro-owned roads with speed limits greater than 35 MPH, is expected to be completed by Summer 2023. Speed limit reductions are dependent upon the results of those evaluations.

Below is a map of Metro-owned roads with speed limits greater than 35 MPH.

Automated Enforcement

Automated enforcement is achieved through speed safety cameras and red light cameras. While implementation strategies for these cameras vary widely, automated enforcement is proven to reduce fatal and serious injury crashes. Speed safety cameras have been named a “Proven Safety Countermeasure” by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). This form of automated enforcement is an effective, reliable technology to supplement traditional methods of enforcement, engineering measures, and education to alter the social norms of speeding.

Currently under state law, the use of automated enforcement is prohibited in Kentucky. However, a coalition of legislators, transportation safety advocates, and transportation officials in Kentucky are working to change that, aiming to join over 20 other states that utilize red light cameras, speed safety cameras, or both.

In March 2022, Louisville Metro Council passed a resolution supporting state legislation that enables the use of automated enforcement.

Visit our Automated Enforcement page for more information.

Last updated: March 16, 2023