Rethinking Speed Limits

It has occurred to me that our enforcement of the speed limit system is completely ineffective. In fact, I think it accounts for a good portion of the total road rage experienced on a daily basis. Allow me to identify the issues:

1. Many are way too low. 55 on a major highway/expressway is ridiculous.
2. There are usually no minimum speeds posted. This is as much an issue as maximum speeds.
3. There is absolutely no consistency from one state/city/neighborhood/street to the next in terms of what is tolerated in excess of the speed limit. I can drive 20 mph over on the expressway on the way to work with no issues, but I’ll get a ticket for literally being 1 mph over it in my friend’s neighborhood.
4. There never seems to be a cop around when some schmuck in a Mazda starts weaving through traffic and cutting people off while going 110 and doing a line of coke off his dashboard, yet I can get pulled over for driving over the speed limit at 3am on an open road.

So, I propose a complete speed limit reform. It works like this:

All posted speed limits will be rethought as far as what is a reasonable but safe range (not just limit) of speeds. This range will not account for any “grace” overages or underages. Police will enforce the maximum speed precisely. If you are 1 mile over, you are speeding. Warnings, of course, are still acceptable for cases that seem unintentional. Anyone caught going more than 20 mph over the maximum speed will have the option of having their license suspended or being fined heavily. On the 3rd such violation, your license is suspended for 5 years with no exceptions. The minimum speed will be enforced similarly but with obvious exceptions (traffic, stop lights, etc.). If you are elderly and do not feel comfortable driving at even the minimum speed, do the world a favor and stay home and knit.

This should be implemented by the federal government so it is consistent across the country. Canada and Mexico are invited to adopt it as well.

Someday…

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