To expand on my Simpsons reference, the headline in the Globe article is misleading at best. "Nearly half" means that the majority of the zones had no increase in accidents. 14 of 33 zones saw an increase in accidents, or 42%.
"Of the 14 segments that saw crash rates go up between Nov. 1, 2014, and Oct. 31, 2015, Mr. Stone said seven had an increase in the rate of speed. The other seven segments, he said, saw a reduction in the rate of speed, but the collision rate increased nonetheless."
So to summarize, most highway sections with higher speed limits had no increase in accidents, accident rates also increased on sections where speed limits were unchanged, and of the sections with higher accident rates, lower speeds were just as common as higher speeds. Based on that, it seems that raising the speed limits had very little effect on how fast people actually drive.
"The B.C. government increased speed limits along the stretches of highway in 2014 – generally by 10 kilometres per hour, and against the recommendations of some health officials and police."
Some health officials and police? Which ones? How many? Does that mean that some (or most) health officials and police were in favour of higher speed limits? What do health officials know about highway design?
What shoddy journalism.