Ontario is raising speed limits, but are higher speed limits safer?

Ontario announced on Tuesday that the province would be permanently setting speed limits on some divided highways at 110km/h, following similar moves made by other provinces. Advocates of higher speed limits say having a highway speed limit that is too low could make the roads more dangerous.

Advocates of higher speed limits say these moves are a step in the right direction, arguing that a highway speed limit that is too low could make the roads more dangerous.

Chris Klimek is the founder of Stop100.ca, a group that has been calling on Ontario to raise highway speed limits. While he says the move is what Ontario should've done "at the very least," he says he's disappointed that only some highways are getting speed limit increases. Notably, provincial highways around Toronto are being excluded from this measure.

In most provinces, the highest speed limits on divided highways have been set at 110 km/h. Speed limits in Newfoundland and Quebec remain at 100 km/h while in B.C., some stretches have speed limits of up to 120 km/h. The territories and P.E.I. do not have any divided highways.

"What we've been saying for the last eight years now is that the speed limit has no effect on fatality rates, because it really has no effect on driving speeds," Klimek said, adding that most drivers will drive at the speed that they are most comfortable with, regardless of what the posted speed limit is.