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| Thursday, September 2, 2010 |
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Put this idea away for now
Published April 14, 2008
An article in Friday's edition of The Daily Sentinel outlined a plan being bandied about in the state legislature to lower speed limits on Alabama roadways in an effort to save lives and reduce fuel consumption.
Lower speed limits (65 MPH proposed on interstates, 60 MPH on other four-lane roadways and 50 MPH on two lane roads) won't save enough fuel to matter. By some estimates increasing speed limits by 10 MPH would only increase fuel consumption by less than .2 percent.
Saving lives, on the other hand, is a worthy goal. But, again, reducing speed limits isn't the answer. Today's automobiles are capable of safe travel at current limits. It's the driver not the speed limit that is the culprit in most accidents.
I was made keenly aware of that on a recent early morning trip to neighboring Huntsville. I hit that city during rush hour.
Traffic was backed up bumper-to-bumper for at least two miles before I reached Chapman Mountain. Impatience was obvious. Some drivers attempting to enter the roadway from side roads were trying to almost force their way into traffic while others were obviously not going to let that happen.
Two incidents got my attention. The first occurred on my way out of Scottsboro and continued off and on to the Rocket City. The other, which I'll cover first, I observed while moving at a snail's pace in the aforementioned bumper-to-bumper traffic.
Just beyond the McDonalds Restaurant entering Huntsville I saw a lady driving a large SUV. This woman was alternately eating a biscuit and drinking a large cup of coffee all while holding a bouncing chihuahua in the crook of her left arm, which was propped high on the door.
The sight didn't give me a lot of confidence in this driver's ability to maintain control of her vehicle. She only had a portion of her left hand on the steering wheel (and remember the dog was occupying a big portion of that arm).
The other incident started in Scottsboro when I passed a young lady on the way out of town. She was traveling 50 to 55 MPH while talking on the cell phone. Several minutes later this woman passed me like I was standing still (I was doing 65-70 MPH).
Then as I neared Huntsville, about at the Moontown Airport, there she is in front of me again going about 50-55 MPH. This time she is having a hard time keeping the car between the lines in the slow lane. In other words she's weaving a bit — almost like a drunk.
When I passed her this young lady was putting on mascara. She was looking into the rearview mirror, applying the beauty with her right hand while holding the steering wheel and a compact with her left oblivious to everything around her. I tell you she was more dangerous doing that than she was when she passed me earlier at 80 MPH. At least then she was paying attention, focused on the road and her drive.
Changing the speed limit isn't the answer. Enforcing it, and a bevy of other laws like following too closely, driving in the passing lane, improper lane changes, failure to yield and on and on the list goes, is.
Alabama legislators are just doing what they so often do — countering a problem, perceived or real, with another knee-jerk reaction. Boys and girls it's time to put this half-baked idea on the shelf.
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