The American Spectator

Lullaby's, Legends and Lies| 11.11.09 @ 6:30AM

There are some small Towns all over the Country, who's entire budget comes from their speed traps. One second you're driving 65 MPH, then there's a sign that say 25MPH, andthen ten feet beyond that sign is the "Man", "The Fuzz", "The Copper". They don't really care about speeding, they only care about taking our money. I've paid my fair share of these "Motorist Taxes" over the years, and it really sucks!!

Now who ever invented cruise control, deserves the Nobel Peace Prize (at least he/she actually did something).

Victor Burgess| 11.11.09 @ 6:42AM

You are such a fool. Work a couple of shifts on an ambulance. Cut and pull a couple of dead or dying bodies out of motor vehicle collisions . See the death and injury of a vehicle collision. Then you will realize that speed does kill. You are such a fool.

Nyx| 11.11.09 @ 7:05AM

Who's the fool...the man that calls into question a clear cut case of blatant revenue generation by the governing powers, flagrant disregard for common sense, and what amounts to little more than feel good nanny state mandates, Or the knee jerk wailing of a overly emotional ambulance rider?

People do stupid things with cars, speeding but one of them, they always have they always will, setting draconian laws and robbing millions of people at gun point won't change that, deal with it, or perhaps..... you should seek an alternative line of work.

2Anglico| 11.12.09 @ 6:32AM

Yeah, just call him a fool, that wins the debate everytime.

dan| 11.13.09 @ 12:27AM

Victor pulls an insulting non-sequitor. He assumes that collisions necessarily result from speed in excess, I guess, of the posted limits. This is statistically rediculous. Vic should take a spin on the Autobahn, the world's safest roadway.

Hutch| 11.15.09 @ 4:00PM

Ahhhh, that brings back memories... running at 90 mph on the Autobahn in my Rabbit GTI in the right hand lanes while the big boys in the Mercedes and Porsches went by in the left lanes so fast they were rocking me. Man, I'm getting old, that was over twenty years ago! :-)

Adam Smith| 11.11.09 @ 9:04AM

Victor it is you that is the fool.

I worked as a first responder for a fire dept right next to I-5 in California. The overwhelming majority of accidents I worked were do to innattention, intoxicants or falling asleep.

Speeding in metro areas, yes I agree is unsafe.

Driving the speed at which our highways were designed for is not. The highway patrol has become nothing more than another revenue generator. I have relatives and friends in law enforcement that complain about the quotas and pressure to increase citations and recognize they are being used as revenue agents.

Years ago growing up in the same area, law enforcement would rarely pull you over for driving over the limit on our rural highways and frequently let you off with a warning. Thier interest was in keeping the roads safe.

The exception has always been the state highway patrol who has always been under pressure to feed the state coffers. Now even the local good 'ol boys in the Sheriff's dept. here are writing tickets for missing mud flaps on pickups.

Your reaction shows the common sense crisis that is happening in this country and willingness to swallow the propaganda fed to the public to justify the robbery.

Jtc2162| 11.11.09 @ 9:28AM

No it doesn't. Bad driving and low situational awareness kill. The biggest problem with raising the speed limit to 80 is that half the population is unfit to drive 65, if at all. The US needs real drivers education (car control), rather than just teaching our 16 year olds how to pass a test. Parallel parking? No, teach them threshold braking and slide recovery.

Adam Smith| 11.11.09 @ 11:01AM

As a racing (not the circle track stuff) & rally enthusiuast, I agree whole heartedly.

Driver education is comic.

JTC2162| 11.11.09 @ 2:18PM

I drive F500's. Truth be told, road course, circle track, or autocross will teach you more than enough to keep you safe out on the roads. Especially when the snow starts to fly!

Speedbump| 11.12.09 @ 11:23AM

As a PCA Licensed High Performance Driver's Ed instructor, Jtc162 is absolutely correct...speed doesn't kill, inattention and poor skills are what kill...if speed in and of itself was the problem, then the 40 mph speed zone wouldn't be the one with the highest fatality rate...as it is now...

TexasEngineer| 11.11.09 @ 12:38PM

No...speed in and of itself most manifestly does NOT kill. Speed differential kills. When the idiot driving 45 mph in the "fast lane" of a 4 lane super highway gets in the way of those driving a legal 70 mph...that's where injuries and death come from...or the moron who decides to pull over to change his flat on the freaking shoulder of the road instead of destroying the tire by limping to an off-ramp and getting off the highway...or worst of all....the "oops I missed my exit so I'll pull over to the shoulder and BACK UP FOR 1/2 a mile to keep from driving to the next exit and U-turning back." Those are the folks who are the cause of death and injuries related to speed.

chuckd| 11.11.09 @ 2:29PM

Could not agree with you more, Victor. People who think they are being victimized by the state for enforcing speeding laws need to get a tinfoil hat.
There is legimate, honest, physics involved when the traffic engineers determine speed limits. Stupid people, like author of this article, have no knowledge of speed, acceleration, response time, etc. Add to that the element of surprise. Things like a kid walking out into the road for no reason whatsoever. A knuckle head parked in the middle of the road around a blind curve. Pieces of truck tire and other debris in the road. Ignorant, selfish, reckless tailgators who want to put other people's lives at risk as well as thier own.

I am guilty of speeding occasionally. When I get busted I pony up and don't grumble. Especially to the cop who is just doing his job. The law is the law. Deal with it.

John Navratil| 11.12.09 @ 12:10PM

chuckd,

You state as certainty that "traffic engineers determine speed limits". This is absolutely not the case or there would never have been a national 55 MPH speed limit.

Twenty years ago a couple of guys did a study for NHTSA which tracked the typical speed of drivers in 100 areas over a one year period. They observed that (1) the extreme 5%-ile of drivers caused most of the accidents because of speed differential, (2) the 70%-ile speed driver was statistically least likely to be involved in an accident, (3) the 95%-ile speed was the correct actual limit and (4) speed limits were almost always set too low, sometimes even below the 5%-ile speed.

The raised the speed limits in the study areas and observed that the average speed driven did in fact rise... by 1 (that's one) MPH.

Now ask yourself where the speed traps are set. If you say that the cops fish where the fishing is good, that is where the reasonable and prudent driver is statutorily a speeder, go to the head of the clall.

John Navratil| 11.12.09 @ 12:11PM

That's "the head of the class". I'll put my dunce cap on and stand in the corner now.

bill tronson| 11.11.09 @ 3:17PM

Victor, you fool, in how many of those accidents was alcohol the main factor? Most, statistics show; speed itself is very seldom the reason for fatal auto accidents.

Larry Disney| 11.14.09 @ 11:45PM

Speed does not, by itself, kill. I've gone in excess of mach 1 with no ill effects and I've had to come to a complete stop. It all depends on the situation. 100 miles an hour on a rural interstate is perfectly safe in most cases, especially if everyone is doing it. A favorite trick here in Iowa is to lower the speed limit to 35 MPH two miles outside of town and then ruthlessly enforce it.

If the "authorities" gave a rats patoot about safety they would spend time nailing red light runners. But, since that requires more work than setting up a radar, they almost never do.

Martin| 11.11.09 @ 6:52AM

You are an antisocial bozo who should have his license taken away. As an uncertain driver in his late 50s I hate loathe and despise drivers who weave through the expressways 30 mph faster than me, especially on the grossly overcrowded Northern Virginia highways. There are other drivers besides you on the road, and not all of them have your reaction speeds. Slow down, for Christ's sake, before you kill someone.

Otis, my man| 11.11.09 @ 8:37AM

Martin,

Get over into the far right lane and stay there. In that lane you won't be bothered by the faster drivers who are trying to weave around inept drives such as yourself, who clog up the fast lanes.

Old Soldier | 11.11.09 @ 11:41AM

NH used to ticket these kind of idiots who drove slow in the left lanes.

Steve| 11.11.09 @ 1:57PM

Martin, you should stay off the road until you become more certain

Le Cracquere| 11.11.09 @ 8:46PM

If you're an "uncertain driver" with subpar reaction speeds, then YOU might be the fellow who should lose his license here. The worst of it is, Martin, the kind of driver you describe yourself to be is responsible for many times more deaths than any speeder, and a legal system that cared primarily about safety would find ways of weeding you out rather than faster, competent drivers.

But hell, thinks law enforcement, the radar gun doesn't take any painful thinking to use, and is such a cash cow to boot ... why screw up a perfectly good revenue stream for the sake of sanity and human lives?

2Anglico| 11.12.09 @ 6:34AM

"antisocial bozo" my, my, my that is sooooo convincing.

Larry Disney| 11.14.09 @ 11:50PM

The way to stop this is to make it illegal to be PASSED on the right and give huge tickets to the idiots who self deputize themselves as speed limit enforcers and park their butts in the passing lane forcing people wanting to go a more reasonable speed to do all that weaving. Slow vehicles keep right!

Jack| 11.11.09 @ 7:01AM

In Oregon it is 55 mph everywhere but the interstate which is crazy. It is supposedly saving fuel but the cars today are all designed for at least 70 mph. The surrounding states are 65 - 70 which makes driving through this state painfully slow. You make a good point but I see that it is lost on the people that drive so slow as to create a hazard or just have to resort to name calling.

Appleby| 11.11.09 @ 7:12AM

Here in Ontario (Canada) we have Stunt Driving laws which came in expressly to prevent Tuner Guys from racing by weaving in and out of traffic on major highways, not to mention the late night drag races down in-town streets that have led to multi-car crashes and the deaths of entire families.

And we have heard the same cries of Poor Me from those who have been busted driving 175 mph on the freeway in a Porsche Carrera or a Mazda6, and who claim they had no idea that was not legal!

We will not even mention those who are driving like this while staring at that two inch screen between their twiddling thumbs.

My Daddy drove like a madman and he was a very good driver, having learned on quarter mile dirt tracks all over the Northeast. However, he was involved in three (that I know about) life-threatening accidents that were not caused by him -- rear-ended at a stop sign by a logging truck whose driver had fallen asleep; and t-boned by a woman speeding through a red light while blabbering on her cell phone. I myself was punted across an intersection, out of a left turn lane, by a carload of speeding teenagers.

Northern rebel| 11.11.09 @ 7:20AM

One of the largest causes of accidents was the 55 MPH law, because of the disparity between the speeds of individual motorists.

You would drive on the thruway, and see vehicles going 80, and others doing 40. When the speed limit was 70, people who had no reflexes, or too old, or incompetent to drive at the posted limit, were discouraged from getting on the thruway, and took the back roads, where they belonged.

I personally favored aggressive drivers, to passive drivers, because at least they were confident in their driving skills. I would hazard a guess that 1/3 of the people who drive, do not deserve this priviledge, because their skills are poor. Rather than lower the speed limit, we should remove the keys from these idiots!

A driver's liscense is not a right.

In 40 years of driving in Connecticut, I never even glanced at speed limit signs, and I got pulled over a grand total of 3 times.

When I moved to northern NY, it seemed like I got pulled over 3 times a week! Obviously, they think of it as just another revenue stream up there.

Victor Burgess:
The people you had to come across in your occupation, (thanks for doing a thankless job, by the way) are usually people who will find a way to kill themselves, no matter the speed limit.

That is the problem with cellphone laws. The people that get in accidents using their cellphone, would crash changing the radio station, or yelling at their kids. This in one of Darwin's theories I actually agree with! It's called "culling the herd!"

It sucks that these idiots sometimes take innocent people with them.

The speed limit is designed for the lowest common denominator driver.

If you don't believe that, Mr. Burgess, than you sir, are the real fool!

Martin:
Take the back roads, with the rest of the incompetents!

Muleskinner| 11.11.09 @ 7:38AM

Speed alone does not kill,but you better be watching what you are doing when going fast. The largest contributing factor in fatal accidents is inattentive drivers. My vantage point enables me to see fools playing with the hand held electronic device,reading a book/newspaper,reviewing pages for that presentation one hour hence. The safest speed to drive is what 85% of traffic is doing,no matter the posted limit. Check out the National Motorists Association for studies backing up what I have presented here. We all make mistakes on the highway,so be prepared in case the guy next to you slips up.

Dennis Bergendorf| 11.11.09 @ 7:53AM

All I can say to this is, "are you out of your mind?"
NOBODY was charged with reckless for merely going 5-10 over the limit. And Utah and Idaho (to name two western states) now have an interstate limit of 75, which is above the 70 MPH limit of the late 60s and early 70s.

Stuart Koehl| 11.11.09 @ 7:55AM

As Jeremy Clarkson likes to say, "Speed never killed anyone. It's coming to a sudden stop that does you in".

The Big E| 11.12.09 @ 8:39AM

Anybody who quotes Jeremy Clarkson in this space obviously knows what they're talking about.

ALL HAIL TOP GEAR!

Old Soldier| 11.11.09 @ 8:10AM

New Jersey cops are little more than tax-collectors when patrolling the roads. I've seen their methodology many times.

A motorist is pulled over for a speeding or another infraction that will involve "points" on his or her license. Since auto insurance is expensive in NJ and points will make it more so, said motorist would go to court – maybe even hire a lawyer – to fight the ticket. This would require the officer to spend much of his/her time in court.

So instead, a “non-point” offense is invented. My last ticket was for failure to wear a seatbelt. I was wearing one until I unbuckled to reach over to retrieve my registration from the glove-box. I didn’t argue because I knew the game and would rather pay the $50 for the non-point offense than deal with a real speeding ticket (rolling down a hill at 45 in a 35 zone). The ticket gets paid, the officer makes his un-official quota and doesn’t waste time in court.

My point – our police are viewed as roving tax collectors, not protectors.

Mart| 11.11.09 @ 9:03AM

Gentlemen, I am neither incompetent nor senile, and I am 59 not 90. There are NO back roads in Northern Virginia that a truly nervous driver could go on without being rear-ended by some lunatic. The herd that needs to be culled is those who drive at 80 plus in heavy freeway traffic.

And incidentally, I NEVER go in the inside lane, because other fruitcakes are liable to merge into the side of you.

The culling needs to happen of the testosterone-crazed and the cellphone users, not the responsible motorists who proceed at a moderate and safe 55.

John S.| 11.11.09 @ 11:38AM

Mart,

There is a simple rule of the road: Keep right, pass left. If you are not passing cars to the right of you, or worse, you are being passed on the right, you are the problem. It is not the absolute speed that is the problem. It is relative speed. If you are keeping pace with the car in front of you, other drivers don't weave in or out.

Try a simple experiment next time you are on a highway. Observe a bunch of cars, “a pack”, and then the distance to the next pack. I bet you will see a substantial distance between packs. The danger is the tightness of the packs. You will note that the cars in the left lanes are not passing cars in the right lane.

I travel the Garden State Parkway with a 65 mph limit. You will find packs of 40 - 80 cars doing 65 - 70 with only a couple of feet between them. This is dangerous. But, you look up ahead and there is a half mile gap from the next pack.

The cars in the center and left lane heading the packs are the problem. They are going too slowly relative to other drivers. Driver after driver catch up to the pack and can't get thru.

If you and other drivers follow the keep left, pass right rule, tight packs wouldn’t occur and the weaving would decrease. In Germany, on the Autobahns, there were no speed limits. The rule was you only got into the left lane if you were passing or, you kept your lights on to indicate you were driving at a very high rate of speed. It is very effective.

Regarding not driving in the right lane because of merging; some one above made a comment about active versus passive drivers. Driving is an important action. You have to be alert and should never be on auto pilot. If you drive in the right lane and you see a car merging, you responsibility as an active, courteous driver is to carefully move to the left lane and allow the car to merge, or to speed up so the other car can merge or to slow down. Regardless of the choice, the responsibility is yours to be an active driver.

Audax| 11.11.09 @ 2:03PM

John S. When was the last time you drove on the autobahn??? Must have been a long time ago because MOST of the autobahn now has posted speed limits. There are some COUNTRY side stretches without speed limits but that traffic is usually so thick on most of them that that you take a real risk some trucker is going to pass another or you have the same problem of some @$$hat driving 130 kph in the fast lane and NOT getting over even if you flash him or keep your left blinker on. Someone who lives there and drives them almost daily.

Steve| 11.11.09 @ 2:04PM

You are a menace on the road and no doubt a reason for road rage

Le Cracquere| 11.11.09 @ 8:53PM

I'll take Mart's word for it that he's not senile. I'm genuinely gllad to hear it. But every fact that he gives us, from his "truly nervous" default driving state to his eccentric choice of lanes, SHRIEKS incompetence, totally upending his assertions to the contrary.

So why--for God's sake, WHY--are the police always more interested in a motorist going 80 on a freeway than in this man?

flyboy| 11.11.09 @ 10:43AM

Speed kills!!! Drive a Ford, live forever!

Kevin, Meath| 11.11.09 @ 10:50AM

It should not be said that 'speed kills' but rather 'inappropriate speed kills', doing 20-30 mph near a school or suburban housing could be far too fast with the danger of children etc. On the other hand 90+mph in good conditions, clear roads etc could be fine. You need to drive with some common sense (which is often all to uncommon for many people.)
An 'aggressive driver' may be confident in his skills but that does not mean he (could of course be a she mustn't be sexist!) actually has those skill levels or the road sense to use the skills effectively. If you want to see poor driving come to Ireland.

John - TMF| 11.11.09 @ 11:13AM

Wow.. dumb stuff in two directions...

For those who want to drive FAST... You are dangerous and selfish, your licenses should be revoked permanently and be left to walk or take public transportation for your entire lives.

But since I don't rule the world:

1. Find a closed circuit speedway club... join it... and go out and drive around fast... get a thrill. But stay off the roads. You might be good, great... wonderful... etc.. but you are driving a ton of weapon at indifferent speed amongst other vehicles that might or might not be as capable.

2. In respect to the Right and Left lane fallacy. A) if the speed limit is 65. That is the speed limit in the LEFT LANE as well as the right lane. If the guy on the right is going 65, he is NOT going too slow and does not need to be passed. - at least that is what the law says.

The State troopers in Virginia generally give about a 5 mph bump on the speed, but only in good conditions, and only if you aren't the only stop in the pile.

If you are speeding you are breaking the law at the same level that an illegal alien is breaking the law. Perhaps chronic speeders and aggressive drivers need to be deported?

B) The right lane is often more dangerous than the left. Merging traffic is a major problem, especially for speeders who seem to take a yield sign as an indicator to accelerate to warp speed and threaten to run down, ram into, or sideswipe any driver who is sticking to the right lane because he is attempting to avoid being murdered by a speeder.

The right lane is also a problem because speeders are more often than not reckless drivers, and weave in and out of traffic to "beat" the next guy, thus creating major collision risks from both sides, including the shoulder.

3. Driving is dangerous. It requires attention, and most of all discipline. Most speeders that I have ever observed in my 24 years of driving are ignorant of the danger both to themselves and to others. They are generally - as I have observed as I have been numerous times almost run off the road (in the right lane mind you) completely inattentive to the task.

Finally they are most generally not only speeders, but actually reckless drivers - tailgating, weaving in and out of lanes with little buffer space, no signals, nothing... just the grinding need to get somewhere, and not one care as to the lives that they are endangering.

By the way, who said this is only guys? The last three "madmen" who cut me off, tailgated me, tried to run me down on the road were women.

To the people who drive TOO SLOW:

Folks if you are too intimidated to drive the speed limit, or are too timid or afraid to maneuver when necessary, you are a serious danger to yourself and to others.

A) the left lane is for people who are passing... and driving the speed limit... (there are also those dangerous nut speeders who will run up on you tailgate, flash their lights, blow their horns... and the cut madly over into the right lane to get around you. ) Have some common sense and get over to the right...

B) The road is not yours and you are not a cop so quit trying to enforce the laws by tootling along with a like minded slow driver causing a major traffic jam for miles. Even non-speeders will be given a pass by the average jury for pounding the tar out of you if they ever find you.

The difference in speed, not pure speed kills... however, the real things that kill on the roads are the drivers who whether they are speeding-reckless freaks, or timid mousey 'fraidy cats... mix with the old tome that sometimes [Stuff] Happens.

Also: for those who are unaware. In Virginia if you are caught speeding 20 mph over the posted speed limit, it is an automatic reckless charge and a required Court hearing. Since most state roads are now 65mph, it might do you and society well to have to explain to the judge why you absolutely needed to go 90, and endanger hundreds of other people in the process.

My old man had a rule that he taught to me before he left this plain of existence. "Drive like everyone on the road is out to kill you..." I am now 50 and have driven the equivalent of several times around the Earth, mostly in DC Beltway traffic. Dad was spot on.

Regards,

The Mighty Fahvaag

txn4ever| 11.11.09 @ 1:21PM

"If you are speeding you are breaking the law at the same level that an illegal alien is breaking the law."

What? Surely you jest. 'splain yourself, Lucy

John - TMF| 11.11.09 @ 2:37PM

Illegal presence in the United States is a civil violation punishable by deportation, and a warning only, though certain process infractions can result in having return limitations placed on the individual.

It only rises to a misdemeanor level crime with a defined punishment of deportation and return limitations, a potential fine, and a potential ban on returns for repeat offenders.

Illegal presence doesn't rise to felonious levels until it is repeated and routinely abused.

Hence the joke.

Actually speeding, depending upon the degree of speeding and number of infractions can rise to misdemeanor levels quite quickly. If tagged with some of the recent aggressive driving enforcement regulations... Inattention, unsafe lane changes, etc - you can be hit far worse than any immigration court will dole out.

r/TMF

Neo| 11.11.09 @ 11:20AM

In the UK, some there hate the cameras on the sides of the road used for enforcement.
They have come up with the interesting way of "necktie-ing" them with a tire filled with gasoline.

Becky| 11.11.09 @ 12:06PM

I would add the seat belt enforcement zones as criminalizing decent people. How come the state police don't make public service announcements threatening obvious law breakers like rapists, murderers, theives?, but they find the money to warn about the evil non seat belt wearers.

And then after a certain number of speeding points, you get to further invest in government goodness by paying driver responsibility fees, another money making scheme. In Michigan, the lawmaker that first introduced it wanted it rescinded because it was so punitive, and the govenor said she was willing if the revenue could be replaced. Revenue that wasn't there before now has to be replaced. That is how government works. Things that are now criminal would make many (if not all) of our parents and grandparents criminals.

Northern Rebel| 11.11.09 @ 12:34PM

Mart:

Nobody is saying people should go 80MPH, in heavy traffic. Nobody is saying drive dangerously.

I am simply saying, that 1/3 of the people on the road are not qualified to be behind the wheel. If we eliminated the incompetent, Your Virginia highways would run that much smoother, and our lowest common denominator speed limits wouldn't be set for idiots.

Keeping fools with poor driving skills off the road, is preferable to "culling the herd" the hard, and bloody way.

Northern Rebel| 11.11.09 @ 12:37PM

P.S.:

I personally go 5MPH faster than the posted speed limit. No more, no less.

If you can't drive the posted, "lowest common denominator for idiots" speed limit, YOU should take public transportation!

Audax| 11.11.09 @ 2:16PM

John S. When was the last time you drove on the autobahn??? Must have been long ago because MOST of the autobahn's now have posted speed limits. There are some COUNTRY stretches in Germany without speed limits but the traffic is usually so thick that that you take a real risk some trucker is going to pass another or some @$$hat driving 130 kph in the fast lane and NOT getting over even if you flash him or keep your left blinker on. European Union law now demands that your headlights are ON at ALL times when driving in the EU, cops in all the countries WILL pull you over, or stop you from side of road (more likely) if you don't have them on. But saying you can go at ANY speed on the autobahn in Germany is FALSE! The speed limit in most of EU autoroutes is 130 Kph (80.6 MPH) unless posted lower.

Davep| 11.11.09 @ 3:14PM

One of the most important things is keeping a safe distance from the car in front of you. Never know when you are going to depend on the driver in front of you driving that big SUV or truck you and can't see whats lies ahead on a straight stretch of road. A safe speed regardless of posted speed limits is what the speed is of the current flow of traffic is or the pack you are driving in.

PolishKnight| 11.11.09 @ 3:14PM

Artificially high speed limits are dangerous, in and of themselves, for one important reason: They teach contempt for the law and each other. The bloody do-gooders, such as John, derive a feeling of satisfaction seeing "criminals" on the side of the road picked apart like a gazelle by a lionesse while the rest of the motorists continue to flout the "safe" laws that gives him a feeling of satisfaction.

In the meantime, there are regions where low speed limits do make sense and are essential such as jug handle off ramps. When I see a low speed limit for them, I take them seriously for the reasons intended: Not to obey The Law or be a Good Citizen but just to protect myself from a driving hazard. But since many motorists are either viewing the signs as just a game to avoid getting a ticket or a feel-good factor, the real meaning and language is lost.

Pity.

Mark| 11.11.09 @ 3:36PM

I read once that roads are engineered for a safety factor and that the general public drive that speed. In short, people drive 45 on a 35 mph road, 75 on a 65 mph road because they drive a safe speed, regardless of the posted limit. This applies only to the road, not other conditions like traffic, children present, schools...etc. If it were only safety that the police were interested in, it would be better that the cops who currently drive low profile, unmarked cars and hide along the road, to be highly marked, drive the speed limit and when on the side of the highway, run their lights to slow people down. Is the job of the police to get us to drive safe or to catch us when we don't?

GW| 11.11.09 @ 4:17PM

What is even a bigger violation of our rights is seat belt laws. We do need speeding laws, although I agree they are much to low and to heavily enforced. But seat belts have nothing to do with the safety of other drivers. If I want to not wear a seat belt because they are uncomfortable, the police have no right to give me a ticket. I'm in my own property and not violating any harm principle.

Good article overall.

Miata| 11.11.09 @ 5:00PM

John S.: hear, hear, hear! Great post.

Mart: please get out of the left lane. I too am a Northern Virginia driver and it is selfish people like you who create the dangerous condition on the road that John S. so aptly described as "packs." If you are unwilling or unable to drive in the right lane then you shouldn't be given a license in the first place.

If speed, in and of itself, kills, then the speed limit should be set at 1 mph, or thereabouts.

Drivers in Virginia take note: 20 mph over the limit constitutes reckless driving unless the limit is 65, at which point the threshold is 15 over the limit. Fyi.

Radioman777| 11.11.09 @ 6:42PM

A few years ago, the city council of a major Texas city had a fit when the police chief reassigned a half-dozen patrolmen from traffic enforcement to gang crime. The city council said they couldn't do without the $1.5M in lost revenue. An officer on that particular force, who does traffic enforcement told me that between himself and the other officer assigned to their substation, they make the city a minimum of 40k per month (if all tickets were the cheapest, which they're not, of course). Legitimate traffic enforcement should concentrate on things like DWI, reckless or aggressive driving, and running traffic signals.
I spent a great deal of time in Germany in the USAF and there weren't nearly the number of wrecks on the autobahn that the speedophobics would have you believe.

Howard Ino| 11.11.09 @ 6:53PM

Follow the money!

GENE HAUBER| 11.11.09 @ 7:44PM

PENNSYLVANIA, MOSTLY RURAL STATE , WITH MANY MILES BETWEEN TOWNS FINDS EVERY WAY TO HARASS THEIR MOTORISTS. SMALL TOWNS ON A US HIGHWAY, NO6, FOR EXAMPLE HAS CITY LIMIT SIGHNS SPREAD WAY BEYOND THE ACTUAL INHABITED PART OF THE TOWN, BUT IT IS ALWAYS 35 MPH BETWEEN THE SIGNS....AND MORE THAN $100 BUCKS IF YOU GET CAUGHT "SPEEDING"
NO PASSING ZONE SIGN'S ARE EVERYWHERE AND YOU CAN DRIVE 20 MILES OR SO BEHIND SOME "HAT" WHO HAS NO WHERE TO GO EXCEPT TO BE IN THE WAY.
THEY'RE NOT GOOD DRIVERS, BUT JUST PESTS.

AS FAR AS THE FINES AND PENALTIES SUFFERED BY DRIVERS UNDER THE LOWERED SPEED LIMITS IN SOME ARES, IT IS LIKE CATHOLICS DOING A "MEAT RAP" IN HELL BEFORE THE RESTRICTION ON EATING MEAT ON FRIDAYS WAS LIFTED.

BESIDES, ITS NOT SPEED THAT KILLS....ITS THE "FOREVER WITH US ASSHOLE" CRUISING ALONGSIDE ANOTHER VEHICLE IN THE FAST LANE WITH NO INTENTION OF PASSING..........WHERE IS MY 30-30 WHEN I WANT IT?

HAPPY MOTORING...............back in jersey

Guy| 11.11.09 @ 9:42PM

Why does the average person speed on the interstate regardless of the speed limit? They do it because it is demonstrably safe to do so.

I lived through the double-nickel era after learning to drive when the interstate limits were seventy or higher. Mr. Peters comments on the improvement of vehicles and equipment since the design and construction of those 80 mph-designed roads are spot on. Tire technology alone has made driving in all conditions much safer. What the 55mph limit did to driving was make it actually more hazardous. Drivers became less attentive because they were "only" doing 55 mph. As to the law aspects; I vividly recall my conversations with law-abiding citizens who condemned my driving at 80 mph in a 55 mph, formerly 70 mph, zone. I always asked them what speed they drove. Invariably the answer was, 63 mph. Just fast enough to get there on time without picking up a speeding ticket. Of course, my breaking the law at 80 mph was far more serious than their breaking the law at 63! The law was and is, an ass.

When the limit was 55 you saw far more people reading while driving and other unsafe activities. At 70 mph and above the driver is forced to focus further down the road and much less inclined to perform activities that bring his focus back to shorter range.

Speed doesn't kill; distractions kill. As evidence of this I'd cite the fact that I only get speeding tickets when I am distracted from the job of driving.

I still drive 80 mph on the interstate and I always move back to the right lane after passing even though no one is coming up behind me. Despite the whinings of the Anti-Destination League members here smooth traffic flow at any speed is the safest driving condition. That is the goal of traffic engineers. If you're driving at 80 mph and holding up traffic behind you, you are creating a traffic hazard even though you're driving ten over. Keep right except to pass. The actual safest speed to drive is 2 mph faster than the flow of traffic. That keeps you moving away from developing congestion. Sitting locked up in the flow of steady state traffic makes you far more susceptible to collision, especially from behind.

Until the misguided experiment with the 55 mph speed limit the entire history of interstate driving was of ever increasing average speeds driven with a commensurate ever decreasing number of highway fatalities.

Accidents don't happen on interstates; they happen off the highway in largely urban environments. Artificially low speed limits not only cost the nation in lost productivity but make perfectly responsible citizens violators and enrich the coffers of the insurance industry by placing the driver in assigned risk categories needlessly. Interstate traffic enforcement is a waste of money. It might serve some purpose if the tickets issued were for failing to yield the left lane to faster traffic or citing the nitwits in grey and white cars driving in the rain without headlights on.

Ever notice how the police are rarely on the interstate during rush hour congestion? That's because the traffic engineers have informed them that police cruisers cause traffic back-ups behind them and that creates unsafe driving conditions.

Speed limits on interstates tend to also make fools of drivers who presume they have something to do with safety. Here in Michigan we'll have our annual driving exposition in a couple of months where we get to observe southern and urban drivers driving at the posted speed limit "safely" oblivious to the fact that road conditions dictate a far slower speed. Like the members of the Anti-Destination League above, they are all quite self-righteous in their assertion that they are safe drivers doing so. May both end up residing in the ditch where they belong!

Big Leo| 11.11.09 @ 11:25PM

As an ex ambulance man and funeral director's assistant, I'm with Victor. Drive the limit, stay right except to pass, and never get a ticket. I've never gotten one in forty eight years and I've never had an accident on that philosophy. Also, I believe that half the drivers on the road are murderous or drunk and the other half or blind. Paranoia is a valuable driving tool. Judging from some of the raving here, it's pretty true to life, too.

CJ Daniels| 11.11.09 @ 11:54PM

I agree that many laws are not written with much valid purpose, but the arrogant asses here who think their opinion is all that counts don't get the point. Wrecklessness is not that you were going a speed barely faster than the current limit, but that you were going more than 20 over it. Doesn't matter if the limit is 50 or 150, if you are going 20 to 30 more than everybody else, YOU'RE WRECKLESS! Quit finding excuses for your unacceptable behavior. Don't confuse the facts with unrelated anecdotes.

Keyser Söze| 11.12.09 @ 1:35AM

Being "wreckless" is a good thing!

acheter dofus kamas| 11.12.09 @ 4:05AM

http://www.igchest.com

Mike Donavan| 11.12.09 @ 4:37AM

In France, speeding fines have become a huge business with automated radar boxes. Have a Google search with "radar automatique france" to see what it looks like.

In the beginning these boxes were useful : the number of deads in car accidents dropped from 8000 to 4000 per year, which was pretty good.
It has been a few years that this number is still around 4000 a year but the government still deploys more and more boxes and now it is because they understood that it collects millions of $$$. Actually in 2009 it has collected more than $ 800 million; which is not bad for a 60 million citizen country.

The Big E| 11.12.09 @ 8:56AM

I live in North Carolina, and a couple of years ago, we drove up to New Jersey to spend Thanksgiving with my wife's family. I-95 was a parking lot the whole way, but the worst part was through the state of Maryland. There was, if I accurately recall, 108 miles of I-95 in Maryland, and over that 108 mile stretch, I counted (because when your basically sitting still there's nothing better to do) 117 traffic stops made by the Maryland HP. That's just the ones I saw. I have no idea what they could have been pulling all those people over for. The traffic was so heavy I never got above 35 mph at any time in the State, and yet the Maryland HP were pulling people right and left for something.

It reminded me of an old nature film where the wolves follow the migrating caribou herds across the frozen north, picking off the weak and the old on the way. It was a motorist's nightmare. (and then I got to Delaware, where I was informed it was illegal for a restaurant to serve me a steak cooked anything less than medium).

Stuart (Austin, TX)| 11.12.09 @ 3:35PM

The article, though persuasive, overlooked a salient, persuasive fact. Speed does not kill. The suddenness of the stop does. It is when the car stops suddenly and the body inside keeps moving, striking the dashboard or steering column, that injuries and fatalities result. If one were able to continue driving unimpeded at even tremendous speeds, it is not until one had to slow down or stop suddenly that loss of control would occur. Such conditions arise, more often than not, from other drivers who are driving too slow -- acting as cholesterol does in the blood vessels -- causing traffic congestion and accidents, as opposed to such accidents resulting from winding, icy, wet, bumpy or low visibility roads . . . or SPEED. If everyone picked up the pace, we'd get where we are going faster, with a lot less road rage and fewer car wrecks.

tjsker| 11.13.09 @ 12:00AM

Let’s revisit the Right lane/Left lane fallacy. Read your state “Rules of the Road” booklet. It will probably say “Slower traffic keep right” and that’s it. At least that’s what it says in my state’s booklet, I just checked. It doesn’t say “Slower traffic keep right, unless you are driving the speed limit.”

There’s a reason for this rule, it prevents bottlenecks.

I’d much rather drive 78 mph in uncongested traffic than 55 in a pack of 20 cars.

WAKE UP PEOPLE, GET OUT OF THE LEFT LANE.

dadofhomeschoolers| 11.13.09 @ 7:06AM

One more point. Too many drivers think that because they are using the cruise control, that it is illegal to touch anything but the brake. hence, they slowly approach a slower car, and even more slowly pass them. USE THE ACCELERATOR to speed up just enough to pass the slower car and GET BACK IN THE RIGHT LANE. When you let go of the accelerator, suprise! the car settles neatly into the same speed as before. No muss, no fuss, nobody p!!ssed off behind you.
Isn't technology wonderful?

Ed B| 11.13.09 @ 9:35AM

Those weenie mobile clown cars you see nowadays kill too.
Why isn't Ralph Nader out having a cow?
Oh yeah, it's never really about the issue they are harping on - it's about endlessly growing Government control. Get used to it, they want us all waiting on the stinking bus that the union drivers gones on strike over and standing in the rain waiting next to a jihadi with a back pack stuffed with explosives. There's that fundamental change to America they are so excited about. Time to party like it's 1960 East Berlin!

Sammy H| 11.13.09 @ 9:41AM

Bored drivers putzing along at 55 on wide, flat, straight roads simply start doing other things - like rooting around in the center counsel or checking their makeup, reading you name it and then you get lots of accidents! Put them on a narrow, steep, winding mountain roads with no railing and - funny thing - almost no accidents! The safety yokels never own up to the fact that actual danger makes people behave safer - Why, because people always manage risk. But I digress, the main point here I think is that a law - any law to be just should not be so encompassing as to criminalize almost everyone. Which is the current state. Ever try to safely merge onto the interstate behind someone going 25 mph or more slower then the traffic? Not safe at all - all those stupid stop lights on CA on ramps are killers! Get going at least within 10 mph of the speed of the traffic flowing on the ramp before you try to fit into a slot. Geez, why can't people figure that out?

boilermaker_greg| 11.15.09 @ 8:49PM

You folks suggesting driving the speed limit (it's the LAW and the gubmit must be right?) and ignoring the rule - and in many states LAW - to stay right except when passing obviously do not do much distance driving. I have averaged about 30,000 miles/year for almost 30 years. Assuming 75% of those miles are interstate driving, the difference between 55 and 75 is over 4 1/2 full 24 hour DAYS per year. Your silly rules would cost me an extra several months of my life behind the wheel.

Please, do everyone a favor and stay right except to pass. I don't care what speed you drive, if everyone followed that rule, the world would be a better and safer place.

Joe M| 11.16.09 @ 1:19PM

Mr. Peters, how about a piece on drivers in the main road incorrectly yielding to cars in the minor road at T junctions. If driver education should teach one thing, it should be when to yield. Countless man hours are wasted while these spontaneous "yielders" stop unexpectedly.