Increased speed limits lead to increased highway death rates
Issue date: 12/12/02 Section: Opinions
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Should laws be changed simply because people break them?
Rep. Christopher Rants, R-Sioux City, plans to propose raising Iowa's speed limit to 70 or 75 mph during the upcoming legislative session.
The soon-to-be House speaker recently said, "Iowans obviously want a higher speed limit. It is only the Iowa Legislature and the governor who haven't figured that out yet."
If Rants wants to save himself from being laughed off the House floor, he needs to come up with a new argument for his idea. Students under 21 drink, so why aren't the legislators lowering the legal drinking age? People cheat on their taxes, so should punishments be lessened? If Rants sticks to his line of reasoning, it could be illogically applied to these situations or any others.
Laws are made in the best interest of the public, under the discretion of our elected leaders. Police are in place to punish and prevent people from breaking laws. Changing laws just because people break them is no solution.
A statewide study showed that 89 percent of Iowa's motorists defy the 65 mph speed limit on the state's freeways. Raising the speed limit will only encourage those people to drive faster, over a new speed limit. That opens the door for more highway deaths.
According to the Virginia-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, "People are looking at what the police-tolerance level is. The consequence of this extra mobility is more fatalities."
In neighboring states where limits have been raised, the tragedy has far outweighed the convenience of faster driving. When Nebraska raised its speed limit 10 mph in 1996, deaths escalated, with a record 50 people dying on rural interstate roads this year, a 58 percent increase compared with deaths before it raised the limit. Deaths also increased in Missouri, South Dakota, and Minnesota after limits were raised 5 to 10 mph.
Increasing speed limits sounds good, on the surface, to a public increasingly in a hurry. However, the increased death statistics in comparable states are a speeder's wake-up call. They should serve as a solid reason the Legislature should not waste its time on this issue during the upcoming legislative session.
Rep. Christopher Rants, R-Sioux City, plans to propose raising Iowa's speed limit to 70 or 75 mph during the upcoming legislative session.
The soon-to-be House speaker recently said, "Iowans obviously want a higher speed limit. It is only the Iowa Legislature and the governor who haven't figured that out yet."
If Rants wants to save himself from being laughed off the House floor, he needs to come up with a new argument for his idea. Students under 21 drink, so why aren't the legislators lowering the legal drinking age? People cheat on their taxes, so should punishments be lessened? If Rants sticks to his line of reasoning, it could be illogically applied to these situations or any others.
Laws are made in the best interest of the public, under the discretion of our elected leaders. Police are in place to punish and prevent people from breaking laws. Changing laws just because people break them is no solution.
A statewide study showed that 89 percent of Iowa's motorists defy the 65 mph speed limit on the state's freeways. Raising the speed limit will only encourage those people to drive faster, over a new speed limit. That opens the door for more highway deaths.
According to the Virginia-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, "People are looking at what the police-tolerance level is. The consequence of this extra mobility is more fatalities."
In neighboring states where limits have been raised, the tragedy has far outweighed the convenience of faster driving. When Nebraska raised its speed limit 10 mph in 1996, deaths escalated, with a record 50 people dying on rural interstate roads this year, a 58 percent increase compared with deaths before it raised the limit. Deaths also increased in Missouri, South Dakota, and Minnesota after limits were raised 5 to 10 mph.
Increasing speed limits sounds good, on the surface, to a public increasingly in a hurry. However, the increased death statistics in comparable states are a speeder's wake-up call. They should serve as a solid reason the Legislature should not waste its time on this issue during the upcoming legislative session.
