May 11, 2016 1 min read

Your May 4 editorial about how increasing speed limits must be accompanied by stepped-up enforcement ignored the fact that enforcement, in reality, can cause more accidents.

You stated that after a study, Pennsylvania found increasing the speed limit had no effect on increasing the accident rate on highways where the speed limit was raised. That’s not surprising, since the speed limit was 70 mph before President Richard Nixon reduced it to 55 mph amid the 1973 oil crisis, and he did it without any study then.

Most people drive at a speed that they feel is safe. However, some will observe the speed limit and go slower, causing a difference in vehicle speeds on the same road, increasing the chance of accidents. And then there are those who exceed the speed limit. Do you think if the speed limit was posted 120 mph everyone would go 120 mph? However, when you put a police car on the road, guess what happens? The normal flowing traffic comes to a screeching halt in order to meet some arbitrary speed limit, and that increases the chance of accidents.

Tom Galownia

Cecil