Everyone has been there; you are driving down a four lane interstate highway miles from the nearest community, where you could easily cruise at speeds of seventy-five or even eighty miles per hour, which you feel is reasonable. But you are unable to do this because the speed limit is only sixty-five or maybe even fifty-five and you are afraid of receiving a ticket. The same situation occurs on two-lane semi residential roads where the speed limit is only twenty-five or thirty-five miles per hour. In both situations some drivers agree to obey the speed limit, while others consistently drive at comfortable speeds for them, which usually results in going ten to twenty miles per hour over the posted speed limit. Let's face it, most of us don't want to be bothered by constantly checking and regulating our speed, and also by obeying speed limits which are unreasonably low when we have places to go, and need to get there.

The question that needs to be posed is: "How can we properly adjust the speed limits?" It should definitely be a question answered by the individual states themselves. The roadways in different states are so diverse. Some have miles and miles of straight and le

There are also creations that make inadvertent speeders slow down in trouble areas, so that although the speed limit has been raised, drivers still travel at a slower speed when approaching dangerous areas. "The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety has come up with an invention that utilizes illusions to make drivers feel like they are going faster than they really are when they are approaching obstacles which require reduced stopping distance or abrupt changes in direction." (Nikkel, pg. 36) They are very useful in areas such as intersections, bridges, curves, or construction zones. The first two techniques utilize a converging chevron pattern or "rumble strips" which both give drivers the illusion that they are speeding. Another alternative is to have the roadway seem to get narrower, by placing the medians and barriers closer to the roadway. These inventions have already been proven to reduce the number of accidents and have saved many lives.

Once the speed limits are adjusted accordingly, police can issue citations in a much more orderly manner, and drivers know exactly how fast they can drive without receiving a ticket. They can enforce the exact limit and do not have to give any leeway. This will slowly bring more and more respect to police officers, and the public will realize that they are merely looking out for their safety. Also enforcement can be stricter. If the new laws are strictly enforced, very few motorists will break them because they would be set at reasonable limits. "The notion is that the number on the signs change, but the approximate average of traffic's speed stays the same, and the slower cars catch up as the faster ones slow down." (Bedard, pg. 24)

After the repeal of the federal maximum last year some states have already increased their speed limits. Montana has even totally done away with its daytime speed limits, and the signs merely read "reasonable and prudent." Montana state troopers are quoted as saying that accidents haven't risen since the daytime speed limit has been abolished. The problem is that mostly all states have not conducted studies to conclude what the eighty-fifth percentile of traffic speed is. With the current limit vehicles are still not traveling at the safest speed at which traffic can travel. As the speed limits get adjusted to the proper speeds, more traffic will move back onto the much safer interstates and abandon the country roads and high-speed two-lane highways.

Palmaffy, Tyce. "Don't Brake for Big Government" Policy Review. Sept.-Oct. 1996.

Bedard, Patrick. "Why the Speed Limit has Nothing to do with Speeds" Car and Driver.

When there are more accidents a "domino effect" of other problems result, such as higher health care costs, more expensive insuran

Some common words found in the essay are:
Highway Administration, Let's Safe, Speed Limit, Commission NHTSA, Traffic Safety, speed limits, speed limit, Driver Sept, Review Sept-Oct, Trend Aug, police officers, 1996 pg, respect police officers, limits raised, federal maximum, eighty-fifth percentile, palmaffy pg, drivers feel, traffic laws, Bedard Patrick, Patrick Speed, speed limits raised, existing speed limits, traveling safest speed, bedard patrick speed,
Approximate Word count = 1861
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)