Speed limits can serve several purposes. One is safety, right? Speed kills. Slow down, save lives. School zone. So on. Sometimes it’s simply to generate revenue. Speed traps. A third is to pander to those with delusions of living in quieter, slower, more genteel times. And, so, we have speed limit signs. And speed limit enforcement signs.
If you think about it (like I do while wandering the country), the threatening signs are essentially low-cost substitutes for a cruiser at the side of the road scaring drivers into slowing down. But the signs mean it’s highly unlikely there are actually any cops watching—on the ground or in the air. The signs are there because people haven’t been slowing down—because there’s no officer to stop them. If there were, a simple speed limit sign would suffice.
What you really need to watch for are speed cameras. Ah, technology. Recording
every speeder,
every day, sending it off to the central computer, issuing tickets, mailing them out, all with dispassionate robotic efficiency. Ironically, the companies operating the camera systems want people to
keep speeding. In fact, their contracts usually contain clauses prohibiting their customers from raising speed limits or reworking traffic flow in ways that might naturally slow drivers. Because the companies get a cut of the fines. More speeders = more profit. Ah, public-private partnerships. Ah, capitalism.
But it’s all about safety. No, really. I swear.
New (to me) information. I will mull over my feelings about that. Perhaps it is not so bad that my vehicle is underperforming.
ReplyDeleteI love your analysis! Wonder if I can remember it next time I see a speed enforcement sign?
ReplyDeleteThose seem to be minimum speed signs here in Texas.
ReplyDeleteThey spent hundreds of thousands of dollars installing cameras at intersections throughout the city (ABQ). They issued so many tickets -- which many chose to contest and/or simply declined to pay -- that the increase in the issuance of subpoenas, processing of those who appeared to contest the citations and accepting payment from folks who just paid up, completely overloaded the system and they shut it down. That was several years ago. The cameras are still there...rotting in the sun.
ReplyDeleteOver the preceding two years we got a non-functioning mass-transit system that cost us (along with "grants" from the U.S. Dept of Transportation ) a few billion. Many small businesses along Central Avenue, the main thoroughfare to the University and downtown, closed due to customers' inability to access.
One can surmise the contractor(s) who installed the system made a fortune.
Rumor has it speed limit signs are made by prisoners serving time in state and federal prisons and the metal is a major source of shivs.
One of the "unexpected consequences" of self-driving cars is that, without speeding and other traffic tickets, lots of municipalities are going to be deprived of income.
ReplyDeleteHmmm...a domino effect: insurance companies' profits will drop as penalty-related premiums fall. Stock prices will plummet; economic collapse!
DeleteInsurance companies will raise rates anyway. Increases are almost never because they had to pay out a lot of claims. It's usually because of their investments going bad. And because of greed.
DeleteWhile I enjoy your philosophical musings, you're not leaving out the part where the RST got a speeding ticket are you?
ReplyDeleteLOL. Nope, no speeding ticket. Yet.
DeleteAl, Looks like a big dump of snow in the next few days here in the west. Are you safe and stocked?
ReplyDeleteI'm down nearly at sea level, so no snow. It's raining right now, so there might be some mild flooding where the highway dips through washes, but it will drain off quickly. It did after the mid-week storm which was a lot heavier. I stocked up yesterday.
DeleteRelieved to hear. Free car wash? Late night outside shower? :)
ReplyDelete