ISLAND VOICES
Increase speed limit to 70 mph
By Paul Flentge
Paul Flentge is a Halawa business owner who lives in 'Aiea.
Plenty of hoopla and little thought will go into creating the radical measures of control intended to curb speeding.
Ignoring the fact that slow does not equal safe, our lawmakers will propose reincarnation of the spy-cam vans (a stupid idea the first time, completely desperate the second), speed bumps on pothole-filled streets, fines that would make bus-riding paupers of the middle class, and possible overnight incarceration for anyone breaking the Mainland speed limit by 15 mph.
Flentge
Has anyone considered that the 55-mph speed limit may be the cause rather than a cure for speeding? It's the 21st century and we all drive marvels of technology, complete with anti-lock brakes, power everything, ergonomic controls, more safety features than a childcare center — in short, a vehicle designed for safe travel at 70 mph.
I believe we suffer from repression. We spend all kinds of money on road-hugging, fast-stopping, fast-accelerating, super-safe automobiles and we're not allowed to participate in a highway cruise that demands any more modern technology than what came standard on a 1936 Chevy. That's why we speed. We can, but we're forbidden. And our lawmakers' only solution is more repression.
Another consideration is that when we're traveling 55 mph, we're lulled into complacency, thinking we can multi-task while driving. I see people driving while they're on the phone, applying makeup, shaving, reading, writing, using the laptop. When we are doing 70 or 80 mph, we concentrate on driving. Survivalist skills kick in. Driving becomes a full-time job. No distraction equals safer driving.
Why not raise the speed limits on the H-1, H-2 and H-3 to a respectable 70 mph? We can't go that fast anyway during peak times, so what's to lose? Then I could understand harsh consequences for doing 30 mph over the speed limit. But going 85 mph shouldn't be a life sentence, as some are proposing. Some might say that if the limit is raised to 70, then everyone will be doing 90. By their reasoning, to keep everyone at 55, the speed limit should be 35.
If we're allowed to go 70, which most of us do now, we won't have to keep looking ahead for the police. We can pay more attention to safer driving. If we're all doing 70, it's called traffic flow. If only a few do, it's called racing.
