County in Wisconsin Installs 17.3 mph Speed Limit Signs

What? That's been a common reaction from drivers when they encounter these new 17.3 mph speed limit signs.

What the heck?

The natural reaction is to question whether the signs are legit, why the speed limit is 17.3 mph and not some other random number and how a speed limit can be enforced down to a fraction. The double takes and subsequent pondering are exactly what county officials desired when they installed the signs at Outagamie County Recycling and Solid Waste.

"We're so used to seeing 15 mph, 25 mph or 30 mph," a spokesman told The Post-Crescent. "All of these are pretty mundane and normal, especially when drivers are in a truck eight or 10 hours a day. This really helps them reframe their thinking when it comes to their speed and safety on site." Prior to the new eye-catching signs being installed, the average speed at the landfill was about 25 mph. Since the signs were erected, the average speed has been reduced to 20 mph. "It's doing exactly as we intended. We wanted people to break out of their routine for a minute and think safety."

In a Facebook post, Outagamie County Recycling and Solid Waste said a decimal-point speed limit “makes you pause. It makes you look twice.” It’s also intended to keep drivers on their toes and break them out of the “autopilot” mindset that can set in on familiar routes.

The road is not a typical public roadway, but a road within a county-operated recycling facility where the site can post its own rules, including this decimal-point limit. As such, it’s unlikely to be adopted on a wider scale, especially on busy public highways.