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From: tw8023@pyuxii.UUCP (T Wheeler)
Newsgroups: net.auto
Subject: Re: freedom
Message-ID: <290@pyuxii.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 26-Dec-85 09:11:49 EST
Article-I.D.: pyuxii.290
Posted: Thu Dec 26 09:11:49 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 28-Dec-85 01:10:06 EST
References: <483@imsvax.UUCP>, <1485@jhunix.UUCP>
Organization: Bell Communications Research, Piscataway N.J.
Lines: 79

I always enjoy seeing articles extoling the virtues of the
drivers of West Germany.  I lived in West Germany for two
years and I don't recall seeing so many wonderful drivers.
I do recall seeing dozens of fatal smashups in which the
driver had been inattentive, driving too fast for conditions,
and just plain speeding.  I saw quite a few German drivers
who THOUGHT they were god's gift to the autobahn.  I see the
same types right here on the Garden State Parkway.  The
myth about drivers in West Germany is just that, a myth.
As a percentage of the population, West Germans have fewer
accidents, BUT, as a percentage of the DRIVING population,
West Germans have more accidents than we do.  There is
nothing mystique about German drivers, nor for that matter,
drivers from any other European country.  

Why don't we just lay all of this attempt at creating a
rationale for speeding aside and say what is really on
your minds; you want to go fast.  If you will just admit
that you enjoy speeding along a nice highway, we can eliminate
all of this roundabout reasoning and get to the nub of
the argument.  There is nothing inherently wrong with wanting
to go fast.  Man has been improving on his ability to go
faster since the invention of the wheel.  I have no problem
with this.  It is fun to go fast.  The only place I have
a problem is where the person going fast disconects his
brain from his foot.  That is, he ignores the weather, the
amount of congestion, and, above all, other vehicles in
his path.  To do these things here in the Northeast
corridor can often lead to fatal results.  Too many drivers
do not take into account the other driver.  

Sure the 55 mph law should be reevaluated.  But, to say
that everyone can just do their own thing is just not
realistic.  What do you tell folks who drive at a speed
they feel comfortable at, say 60, and there is no speed
limit?  Stay off the highways?  I don't think you want
to do that, right?  What do you say to someone who feels
comfortable at 85?  Have a nice day?  I suppose you could
say that, but do you want him blowing you off the strand
if you feel better at 70.  Where do you set the standard?
How do you control the standard?  Do we all drive cars
of different colors according to our speed preference?
Do we build highways according to how fast you wish to
go?  This one's for 55, that one's for 65, etc.

This is not an argument for keeping the 55 speed limit.
This is an argument for having different speed limits
according to the time, place, and conditions.  I happen
to think the Garden State Parkway around here could go to
60 during the rush hour and perhaps 65 other times except
when conditions call for a lower speed.  Since this highway
is becoming more and more crowded, an open speed limit
would be an invitation to disaster.  Believing in the
advertising for your hot car is just plain dumb.  Don't
forget, the car is built in one place while the advertising
comes from Madison Avenue, even those writeups in the
magazines are mostly hype from the agency.  Do you want
to believe in hype from the same place that gave us
the Smurfs, Cigarette ads, and Slim Whitman albums?

Think about it for a moment.  If you like to go fast,
just say so.  I feel a lot more respect for someone who
admits that speeding is fun than for someone who is trying
to rationalize their passion with a bunch of stacked statistics
from Europe or some other place.  We are here, not overseas.
We have different problems on our highways than do most
European countrys.  We have to face our problems with
our solutions, not try to transplant someone else's solutions
to our completly different problems.  The blanket imposition
of a 55 mph speed limit did not solve the problems, but
neither did prohibition and it got changed.  Therefore,
calling for an open speed limit, I feel, will not solve
anything either.  It will just change the set of problems.
There is no easy solution for those who like to go fast.
And, on the other hand, there is no easy solution for those
who feel more comfortable at lower speeds.  

T. C. Wheeler