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Dems' latest oil answer: Speed limits

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by HackyMcHack, Jul 25, 2008.

  1. Pastor

    Pastor Active Member

    I was asking about the statistics proving that accidents went down after raising the speed limit.

    I was able to find a 1986 Heritage Foundation article that said:

    Day one of driver’s education class in high school, the teacher stood in front of the class and said, “Driving is a privilege. It is not a right.”

    The reason for this is simple: You need a license to drive. It is illegal to just jump in a car and drive around the streets. It is largely understood that a car, if improperly operated, can cause serious damage and harm to multiple of individuals.

    You don’t need a license, a document provided by the state that says that you are legally allowed to do something, to walk or ride a bicycle. As such, it is your right to ride a bike or walk. A car, however, is much different.
     
  2. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    2much/Pastor, Perhaps I wasn't clear. We regulate people's right to drive to make sure they do it in a safe manner. The idea that started his thread -- regulation for other ends -- has nothing to do with safety, or passing laws to make sure I drive in a safe manner that doesn't impinge on other's rights. Driving, by it's very nature is not a privilege. It's something anyone has the right to do, provided they can prove they can do it in a safe way -- by reaching a minimum age in which it is thought people can drive responsibly, passing tests that show their skill and adhering to rules of the road designed to protect others. The basic idea behind the social contract our government was predicated on, is that anything is a right (we don't live under a set of privileges we are arbitrarily given), provided it doesn't impinge on other's ability to seek the basic rights of life and liberty.
     
  3. Smallpotatoes

    Smallpotatoes Well-Known Member

    From what I've seen on the roads lately, it seems like many people are already taking it upon themselves to drive 55 or sometimes 40 or 45.
    Sometimes it's old people, sometimes it's somebody engrossed in a cell phone conversation, but I wonder if there are people who have made a choice to slow down to save gas or because they think it's safer or maybe there's some other reason.
     
  4. PopeDirkBenedict

    PopeDirkBenedict Active Member

    Pastor,

    Look at the research of Charles Lave and Patrick Elias. They have been studying this for years. In 1987, Congress allowed states to raise the limit to 65 on certain highways. Lave and Elias showed that statewide fatality rates went down 3.4 percent in states that were allowed to increase the speed limit.

    After the 1995 change, Lave showed that fatalities dropped .14 percent even as people drove more.

    Interstate highways are the safest roads we have. There are very few stop-starts, they are generally fairly flat, etc. Yes, the accidents are more likely to be fatal, but there are fewer of them. If someone is going to go 90 miles per hour when traveling, no law is going to stop them and all things considered, we want them on the interstate where it is unlikely that other vehicles or pedestrians will cross in front of them. We also want them on the road with drivers who are traveling at high rates of speed. Most interstate accidents occur when cars are overtaking/passing each other. Large variances in speed make that more likely.

    When we lower the speed limit to 55, those drivers are more likely to either crash into someone who is doing 61 in the left lane (trying to pass someone going 55) or simply skip the interstate all together for back roads that are much more dangerous for everyone involved.
     
  5. Pastor

    Pastor Active Member

    If you are caught drinking and driving, the privilege of being able to operate a motor vehicle is taken away. If you do not pay for insurance on your motor vehicle, you are not allowed to drive.

    There are no civil rights involved in this. You have legs that allow you to walk from point A to point B. A car is not required.
     
  6. GB-Hack

    GB-Hack Active Member

    I didn't even know what Rush was until I came to the states. It's much more likely to be Muse or Franz Ferdinand.
     
  7. Batman

    Batman Well-Known Member

    [​IMG]

    GB-Hack enjoys a leisurely drive to work.
     
  8. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    Another brainstorm. You drive some infernal combustion engine, your speed limit is 55 mph.

    If you drive an electric car, you can go 80 if you feel like it.
     
  9. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member



    Once again, those are laws designed to protect others. We only regulate behavior when we are trying to protect OTHERS' rights. The idea that started this thread is not about the safety of others. It is regulation for social means. That isn't totally unprecedented, but it is where we have gotten into trouble the last 75 years or so because it gets away from the ideals of our country.

    The bottom line is still that anyone has the right to drive, provided they adhere to rules of safety. It's not a privilege arbitrarily given out.
     
  10. HackyMcHack

    HackyMcHack Member

    The original post I made was actually a libertarian argument. These days, the way the two main parties are going, we're not going to have any freedoms remaining before too long.

    That said, I'm liking Ace's idea....that will get Detroit off it's keister, really quick.
     
  11. GB-Hack

    GB-Hack Active Member

    To be fair, as you can see, there's a tractor in the way up ahead. I'd be going 50 if only allowed to by my farming friend.
     
  12. Bob Cook

    Bob Cook Active Member

    Outing alert: Hacky McHack is Sammy Hagar.
     
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