A Modest Proposal

Speeding at relatively low speeds above the posted limit is a “crime” shared by almost all otherwise law-abiding citizens, who have been led to believe that there is a “grace” limit of five to 10 miles per hour above the posted speed limit, and that keeping up with surrounding traffic is a good thing. As a result, anyone having the gall to flout the unwritten limit by driving at or below the posted speed limit is frequently nearly run over, is a cause of lengthy backups, and arguably contributes to hazardous lane-changing, tailgating, and road-rage incidents. Indeed, drivers who are not speeding are told to stay to the right in order to allow faster drivers to pass, all of whom presumably are speeding and thus breaking the law, but none of whom is similarly admonished to slow down. Also, whenever asked, our police spokespeople always sanctimoniously state on camera that driving any number of miles per hour above the speed limit is breaking the law, at the same time that police are routinely observing the same inflated speed limit as the surrounding cars, sometimes even sailing past other drivers when there is no emergency. This collective disregard for the posted speed limit has led to some drivers bumping their speed up even further, which escalates the risk for everyone.

If the police and public officials are serious about the safety ramifications of speeding -- rather than simply focusing on revenue enhancement via the clever placement of speedcams, or waiting until everyone's speed creeps upward and then nabbing a few -- they would raise the posted limits by five or 10 miles per hour and then rigorously enforce the new limits, accompanied by a public education campaign aimed at reeducating drivers that exceeding the posted limit by even one mile per hour may result in a ticket. And the police would set an example by not exceeding the limit unless there is a bona fide emergency. Eliminating the unwritten “grace” speed limit would go a long way toward restoring people’s respect for the posted limits, and would eliminate the public’s understandable feeling of having been tricked by traffic cams or other ploys into suddenly receiving tickets for traveling at relatively low, safe rates of speed that have been treated for years as acceptable by the police and the vast majority of drivers.