Comment by adamweld

No, that's not the reason why people speed. True emergencies are a rounding error.

The real reason is that speed limits are generally lower than the safe speed of traffic, and enforcement begins at about 10mph over the stated limits.

People know they can get away with it.

If limits were raised 15% and strictly enforced, it would probably be better for society. Getting a ticket for a valid emergency would be easy to have reversed.