Speed limits are frustrating obstacles us drivers have to face. Roman offers an alternative solution by promoting decriminalizing city speed limits.

By Roman Rickwood

Speeding is the number one traffic violation in the United States (blinetrafficschools.com).  For me, speed limits within the city are pretty much necessary because of the amount of cars on the road, as well as the numerous amounts of pedestrians, commuters, and cyclists. Thus, when I first began thinking about decriminalizing speed limits, I quickly ruled out decriminalizing city speed limits. Speed limits in and around city streets make sense to me. As someone who has been a licensed driver since December, I am just now learning how to judge when the light will change. So, speed limits should be based on how long it would take someone to safely decelerate and come to a complete stop. In my opinion, when speed limits are being set it is based on a few things. These include 1) the condition the street is in, 2) the number of stoplights, 3) foot traffic, of course, 4) congestion. I inevitably came to the conclusion that speed limits on roads with street lights and pedestrians are necessary. With all that being said, let’s talk about highways. 

Most highways in California have speed limits from 60 mph to sometimes 75 mph.  I will be blunt when I say that these limits are far too slow. Most major highways within California have four lanes. It is generally known amongst drivers that the furthest left lane is known as the fast lane, and the three right lanes are generally going to be for slower traffic. When you go down the highway you see almost all the semis in the first two right lanes. This is because the majority of semis are governed at 60-65 mph, so, for example, on the I-10 the only vehicles you see in the first two right lanes are either semis, or people that are hauling trailers. This system works well because it allows these massive machines to be more safe and they have less worry about being cut off and having to brake rapidly. However, if we go two lanes over, we see a completely different story. We see people going with “the flow of traffic.” To see a different model of traffic flow, I looked at the autobahn between Berlin and Hamburg in Germany. This is famously known as the “Highway with no speed limit.” There have even been records of 300 kph hit on the autobahn. As it is explained, it seems that there are certain lanes with speed limits that are done for the protection of 18 wheelers and regular commuters who don’t have cars capable of hitting these incredible speeds. The autobahn has a 26% lower chance of having a deadly accident than other roads and highways with speed limits, a 2017 study shows (motorbiscuit.com). Knowing all this, I think we can all come to the conclusion that while decriminalizing speed limits sounds radical and dangerous, once you look deeper into it it makes more sense. 

If I still don’t have you convinced that an unregulated lane on major highways is a good idea, then this argument might.

Even with speed limits in place, people will still speed and drive recklessly, so you could think of this lane as a place where reckless and fast drivers can perform these actions without putting the lives of everyday commuters at risk. While there are a million gray areas, the main idea is this. There can be one or two lanes where people can drive as fast as they want without having fear of being pulled over. Here, people may take risks. Those adverse to risk can drive in the other lanes. I justify all of this with the argument of personal freedom and free will. After all, this is America. 

Decriminalize/Criminalize Editor: Evan Spry

Sources:

https://www.idrivesafely.com/defensive-driving/trending/it-time-american-autobahn