Remember that footage of Japanese drivers fleeing from the tsunami floods? How many more would have died if their cars had been slower? How many more would have survived if their cars could have gone faster?
There are plenty of survival situations (e.g., tsunamis, volcanoes, tornadoes, gas explosions, etc.) in which it's desirable for your car to go a lot faster than one should drive under normal driving conditions.
I see plenty of very dangerous driving within speed limits, ie people unable to keep in their lane, playing with cellphone, randomly breaking in semi-empty roads and so on.
These are my experiences from highways from most weekends. In towns, speed limits make much more sense and could be enforced by speed bumps or stationary radars