(Tom Seim) wrote
I think the problem is tunnel vision safety analysis by "experts" that
vastly overrate their abilities. Part of the problem with the speed
limits is that drivers weren't obeying the limits to begin with.

I would suggest that this wasn't part of the problem but all of it.
You're right - speed limits were consistently ignored. Still are.

Draconian enforcement simply won't work, at least not (fortunately) in
the U.S., because law enforcement works only by voluntary compliance.
There simply are not enough cops and jails out there to impose a law
that the vast majority of the population won't accept.

I call bull****. What are you going to do - try to outrun the cop?
Not pay your ticket? Keep driving without a license when it gets
suspended? Join a militia? Get real. You will pay the first few
tickets, and then, when it's a matter of losing your license, you will
comply.

In any case, my point was not that we should have a 35 mph speed
limit. I'm in favor of no speed limit at all on the interstates, just
like the Germans have on the Autobahn. If that ever happens, I will
buy a sportscar again. My point was that a tradeoff between safety
and convenience/fun is reasonable, and anyone who says otherwise is
simply not being honest with himself.

Michael