I drive full speed on a highway with a traffic light, so when it's green I go through at about 55 mph. I get a little nervous because a wreck at that speed would not be fun.

If that traffic light were removed I would go a lot slower through that intersection, as would most people. Perhaps there would be fewer wrecks, and at low speeds any wrecks certainly would be less harmful.

But that would come at the expense of backing up that highway.

Some road design decisions are made to facilitate speed and throughput, not safety.