Speeding Tickets

To All Drivers: Letter to the Editor:

Speeding tickets are a multi-billion dollar annual business for state governments, municipalities and auto insurers. Politicians seeking to justify the issuance of so many citations frequently turn to statistics that show that "speeding" is the among the most common causes of traffic collisions in the United States. Not true.

Out of 2.7 million traffic accidents recorded in twenty-five states over the course of a year, only 1.6 percent were caused by drivers who exceeded the posted speed limit. The figures come from an analysis of annual state reports by the National Highway Transportation Agency (NHTSA).

Since there is no speeding crisis, why the push to arm municipal police with RADAR? For the money.

Four commonly held, but inaccurate statements about speed limits:
• Lowering a posted speed limit will slow down traffic.
• Lowering a posted speed limit will increase safety and decrease the number of crashes.
• Raising the posted speed limit increases traffic speed.
• Drivers will always travel at 5 mph over the posted speed limit.

There is no guarantee that a speed limit will have any effect on driving behaviors. The fact is, when driving, most motorists choose a speed in which they personally feel both comfortable and safe.

Simply, a speed limit sign should not dictate speed. It should reflect how drivers are actually behaving on the road. The speed at which 85 percent of motorists travel is called “prevailing speed.” Prevailing speed is the major consideration when setting speed limits. Why? Because it is the safest.

In Pennsylvania posted speed limits are 8 to 16 mph below the prevailing speed 90% of the time (FHwA data), making almost everybody a “speeder.” Municipal police will use RADAR to ticket these people who are doing nothing harmful and endangering no one. Tell your Representative to vote NO on Senate Bill 607, RADAR for municipal police.
Sincerely,
Archimedes