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Re: Comments from Mr. Traffic



In article <3un54e$ge8@newsbf02.news.aol.com>,
GRichards <grichards@aol.com> wrote:
>This is Mr. Roadshow,  from the San Joses Mercury News. Back when the
>speed limit was 55 on ALL roads, the california highway patrol was among
>the leaders in pushing for the 65 mph limit on rural interstates. The CHP
>czar says he's willing to look at higher limits on some roads, but not
>those in urban areas. Of interest in the Bay Area is I-280 from Cupertino
>to south of S.F. where the unofficial speed is 75-plus. This would be a
>good area to test at a higher limit for a year, see if accidents rise or
>nopt and then decide what to do on freeways technically in urban areas but
>more with wide open spaces

Hi, Gary, I'm one of your would-be contributors who never gets a call
returned. :-)

As a daily commuter on this stretch of road, and one who routinely does
the 75-plus you mention, I think just restoring the pre-Nixonian maximum
freeway limit of 70 MPH would be a big step in the right direction.
Many of the freeways California built in the '60s and '70s were designed
for these higher speeds, and thus are perfectly safe at the design
speeds.

I also wish to point out that in your column of a few weeks ago, you
repeated the tired old claim that "if we raise the limit, the people who
are doing 10 to 15 over now would still be doing 10 to 15 over"
(paraphasing, as I don't have the column in front of me).  Research by
Tignor and Warren (that same paper the National Motorists Association is
hyping so much these days), and others over the years, indicates this
common assumption is FALSE; people drive at whatever speed they feel
comfortable and safe, irrespective of the posted limits.

This leads me to conclude that 75 to 80 is a safe and comfortable speed
for many of the people who use this stretch of 280, and that setting the
speed limit at this level (unlikely as it might seem) would reduce the
number of tickets and accidents issued on this highway.
 -- Chuck Fry, frequent flyer
-- 
Chuck Fry  chucko@best.com  chucko@rahul.net  chucko@ptolemy.arc.nasa.gov
The Communications Decency Act, promoting Internet censorship, passed the
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