Set reasonable and safe speed limits

As a retired defensive driving instructor with 60 years of driving and over 1 million miles, I have thoughts on raising the speed limit to 70. First, some facts: Every year, police reports of crashes list speeding as the number one cause; distracted driving now accounts for over 20%; higher speeds make for worse crashes; drivers not “going with the flow” create lane-changing crashes. Opinion: there are a lot of drivers who are aggressive, inconsiderate, or poorly trained. I realize that most drivers ignore speed limits generally, but what I have seen happening on my frequent trips to Cincinnati is that as the speed limit out there has gone to 70 and 75, drivers just keep upping their speeds. If you aren’t doing 80, you are in the way. Why believe anything different will happen here? It will create a wider range of speeds and cause an increase of gasoline usage. One gallon burned produces 27 pounds of carbon dioxide. In some sections of I-87, 70 may work fine, but be dangerous in others. Too many drivers do not adjust speed to accommodate road conditions, traffic density, or visibility. Another problem is created when drivers exit the interstate and then try to maintain the too-high speeds on our secondary roads. I would like to hear from law enforcement officials why they continue to allow drivers to drive 10 mph over the limits. Work with the traffic engineers, establish a reasonable but safe limit, then enforce it. Bill Shaw Ballston

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Categories: Letters to the Editor, Opinion, Opinion

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