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Opinions: Limits? More like suggestions


If I actually drove according to the posted speed limit, I'd be run off the road.

I try to be a good driver and actually go the speed limit, but I get sick of having other cars tailgating me, so I speed up to go with the flow of traffic, which is always higher than the legal, or more like suggested, speed.

Not much seems to happen to speeders. Police enforcement of the speed limit is hardly practical. If there are 10 cars speeding, one officer can't catch all 10, so who would they chose to go after? It's a battle that's lost before it has even begun.

No wonder people don't want Gov. Janet Napolitano's extra speed-enforcement cameras to be put up on Arizona highways — since nearly everyone speeds, everyone in a group of speeders can be caught. It would be a guaranteed money-generator for the state, but no one outside of the State Capitol seems too keen on that idea.

Back in 2006 when the photo speed enforcement cameras were being tested on the Loop 101 in Scottsdale, the multiple camera flashes went off like camera flashes in a stadium. Not surprisingly, an analysis of the data according to an East Valley Tribune article showed that more than half the drivers on the 101 speed.

I think the cameras would catch more drivers if they didn't have signs warning drivers that photo enforcement is ahead. However, if people slam on the breaks because they've just noticed a radar van or mounted cameras, it'd be more dangerous than drivers speeding in the first place.

When I drive five miles an hour over the speed limit, or sometimes more to keep up with the flow of traffic, I don't feel like I'm driving recklessly. I still feel in control of my car. I feel less safe when I'm driving slower (usually at the speed limit) and other cars are zooming past me and weaving across lanes to avoid slower cars.

After driving or being a passenger for a combined total of more than 24 hours on my spring break road trip through California, I got to experience plenty of reckless driving, and speeders were the least of my worries.

One in particular was getting on the freeway in front of the vehicle I was in, but they were driving less than half the speed limit, veering to one side and texting.

I didn't mind the drivers going 90 on the open road, but the semi trucks going 65 or slower and trying to pass each other did bother me. Situations like this became especially nerve-wracking when impatient speeders in front of me weave back and forth anxiously until the truck finally moves into the right lane so it can speed off once more.

When road conditions are ideal, I don't see anything wrong with people driving faster than the speed limit as long as they're in control of their vehicles. However, once rain or other negative conditions become a factor, speed is an issue.

Unfortunately, Arizona drivers aren't very used to the phenomenon called "rain," and they tend to drive a bit recklessly. But with over 300 days of sun, conditions are usually fine for driving a little faster than the laws recommend.

Speed limits do have their place, especially in residential areas where more pedestrians are present. But with the disregard for speed limits in general — because they seem unrealistic — people don't usually take them seriously when they're actually important.

Monique never wants to drive through Los Angeles again; it gave her nightmares. Share your road-related horror stories with her at: monique.devoe@asu.edu.


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