This new Warp 5 speed limit – whats up with that?
In “Force of Nature” [TNG] it is discovered that in the Hekaras Corridor, a region of space where warp travel is hindered except for a narrow path the intense use of warp drives in an already sensitive area can (over time) cause subspace rifts to form, where subspace manifests itself in real space on a macroscopic scale. This is not a good thing.
