Ye Ol’ Leadfoot
I try not to drive too fast. Even though my spouse says I drive like a grandma, I am going perhaps 10 mph over the speed limit. And that’s because you do not arrive at your destination much quicker when you speed. There’s still highways, and red lights, and grandmas to tango with on the road, truly one of the greatest acts of trust the public has with each other. Real, actual professional drivers are few and far between, I promise you you’re not as good of a driver as you think, so easy on the pedal there, Mario Kart.
Trust, I have gotten my fair share of speeding tickets. Two, almost three. First one, following a friend home after spring break senior year of college. I rented a car and visited some friends at teir schools. I subsequently became sick as a dog, because college me was dissssss-gusting!!, and I did not mail in my payment until the very last day. My mom found out because moms always do, and I rightfully was yelled at yayyyy. The next time, I was driving home from a huge civil litigation trial out of state, and on those Kansas highways, all long smooth and flat, you can’t help but speed. And since Kansas is a trash state, YES’M I SAID IT, I’m sure it depends on revenue from speeding and other traffic tickets to make up for budget shortfalls. No, I will not provide sources. Anyway, I got pulled over, fine, whatever, b/c I was in fact speeding. Then, a bit afterwards, I was pulled over again!! I got out of it because the nice trooper asked if I had already been stopped that evening, and I said, “YES. WE ARE DRIVING HOME FROM A TRIAL <waves to boxes in the back>, WE LOST, AND I JUST WANT TO GET HOME, SIR.” He let us go, I switched seats, and now I am a huge proponent of cruise control when it can be used safely. I also went on to put that speeding ticket in my work’s expense report. Alas, I was not reimbursed for $129.00.
Today, I read The American Addiction to Speeding, by Henry Graber which then prompted this post. It is wild what politics drives forward in this country.
It turns out that calculating the relationship between the speed limit and road safety is surprisingly complicated. In the years since the national speed limit was repealed, both supporters and opponents of speed limits have managed to marshal ample evidence to make their case. On the pro-limit side: In 1984, the National Academy of Sciences reported to Congress that the national speed limit saved 4,000 lives and prevented 3,500 severe injuries and 50,000 minor injuries each year. A study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety concludes that subsequent increases in speed limits over two decades have cost 33,000 American lives. Annual auto deaths kept falling after repeal, they argue, thanks to unrelated improvements in car safety.
Fascinating read. Until then, wear your g.d. seatbelt at least!! And I’d totally submit a speeding ticket to work again for reimbursement, fuck that.
