Common Sense Is in the Driver’s Seat

Apprehensions over the lifting of the 55-mph speed limit touch my deepest concerns for safety. However, of greater concern is the difference between academic theories and arguments, and actual behavior.

I remember a lesson learned when I was 17. The progressive-thinking Culver City High School administrators were concerned that, if they lifted the dress code, post-pubescent students would go wild. Boys would grow their hair and beards long, and the girls would wear their skirts shorter. When the dress code was finally lifted, nothing of notable importance changed, other than when the weather turned warm we would wear shorts and sandals to be comfortable, and were happier, more productive students.

Shortly after I moved to Europe in 1978 (where I learned that you could also stay alive at 120 mph, if you paid attention while driving the no-speed-limit autobahns in Germany), the 65-mph speed limit was reduced to 55 mph in the name of fuel economy and safety.

During the past 14 years since I have returned to the United States, I watched the majority California motorists drive consistently at or beyond 65 mph.

The only noticeable change that I observed during the reign of the 55-mph law was that more people were being ticketed and getting to spend a day in the “everyone wants to be in show business” comedy traffic school--and spending money on the associated fees.

Now that the speed limit has been raised back to 65, the only change I’ve noticed is that there are fewer Highway Patrol officers pulling drivers over to issue those embarrassing speeding tickets.

For the most part, drivers are negotiating the highways at the same speeds they always drove, at speeds based on the traffic conditions of the particular road they are on. That is, under 55 mph when the highways are clogged, and between 65 and 70 when the roads are clear and safe.

I’ll grant you that the logic that speed kills is true. But common sense and the survival instincts of the majority of the people are such that they do have the ability to determine, as a collective driving force, when it is safe and appropriate to drive faster and not jeopardize their own lives, nor the lives of others.