Raise Limit to 65 M.P.H.?

I had occasion to speak with a CHP officer about speed limits a couple of years ago when researching for a debate I had on the 55-limit and given that research, I take exception to many of the points claimed about raising the speed limit to 65.

First, if the speed limit were raised to 65, even if only outside metropolitan areas, California would lose millions in federal highway funds. With California and many other states seeing fewer and fewer federal dollars these days, we cannot afford to lose more funds unnecessarily or just because “we want to make our own choices” about the speed limit. Is this “choice” worth the millions we would lose? The funds would have to come from somewhere else. Where else?

The CHP officer I spoke with said that when the speed limit is 55, people usually do 65. If you raise the limit to 65, the speed will creep up to 75. Do we really want a 75-m.p.h. limit? Drivers might not prefer the current limit, but then again, I don’t prefer a good many things that are in my best interest. We can all think of a few examples.

It is claimed that accidents will not increase. That is too simplistic to ignore. The number of accidents may not increase, but you can bet the severity of the accidents that do occur will increase. Figure it out. Crashing into a wall at 65 will do more damage than at 55.

Also, driving at 55 uses less gas than driving at 65. Are we as a nation so far removed from gasoline dependency these days that we don’t need to conserve gasoline?

In addition to all the above, we are told that 1 million motorists are cited annually for exceeding the 55-limit. That is additional revenue from tickets that California would lose if the speed limit were raised; this is in addition to a loss of federal highway funds. This may sound heartless, but it also sounds like much money for California.

I dearly hope we retain the 55-limit because getting some place 5 or 10 minutes sooner at 65 than at 55 is not worth the consequences mentioned above.

AMANDA VARONA

San Francisco