Cowboy Drivers on the Freeway

Everybody loved Steve Emmons’ article (Jan. 24) about the new, less-obvious California Highway Patrol cars and the campaign against cowboy drivers. We are all familiar with the juvenile antics of those drivers, and we wish the CHP luck in educating them.

But there is a revealing line: “Porsche drivers are not the intended prey of these new patrol cars.” That’s true, but why?

Porsche drivers are among the most consistently poor drivers on the road today and they should be watched more closely than the drivers of Brand X cars (I have often wondered if the standard Porsche sales contract includes a pre-printed clause requiring the purchaser to behave like a teen-ager).

The truth is that the people of California don’t want the 55-m.p.h. speed limit enforced; Sacramento knows it, and the CHP performs accordingly. Their token speeding citations merely keep the feds off their backs.

But one sure result of public rejection of any law is to reduce public respect for all laws. We should abolish the 55-m.p.h. speed limit. Random slaughter on the highway is, after all, acceptable to the public at large. Witness the Porsche mentality.

WILLIAM F. MILLER

Newport Beach