Nearly every driver in our country has been stopped by a police officer for speeding, or knows someone who has been. Whether or not a ticket is given to them is up to the discretion of the officer. Even if someone is lucky enough to escape the speeding ticket, their actions still have a cost associated with them. This cost comes in the form of environmental harm, economical damage, and the compromising of the safety of citizens of the United States. Unlike a speeding ticket, there is no way of getting out of this trouble. The easiest, simplest, and most efficient way of preventing such damage is by lowering the speed limits of roads across our country. Such an action occurred in the 1970s due to the OPEC oil crisis. Slower speeds may upset
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This change may appear to be a meaningless inconvenience on the surface, but in actuality it has the ability to greatly benefit the pedestrians in the city. The reason that this five mile per hour decrease is so important is because it decreases the likelihood that a pedestrian will be fatally injured when struck by an oncoming vehicle (George). The article titled “Why Lowering NYC’s Speed Limit by Just 5 MPH Can Save a Lot of Lives” published in the magazine WIRED cites AAA researcher Brian Tefft’s thoughts on the subject. Tefft is quoted reporting that “…a person is about 74 percent more likely to be killed if they’re struck by vehicles traveling at 30 mph than at 25 mph.” He also comments on the difference that a 10 mile per hour change makes. According to his research, a pedestrian fatality is three times more likely when the oncoming vehicle is traveling at 35 miles per hour as opposed to 25 miles per hour (George). Input from Doctor Peter Orner, a physician and former engineer helps to further validate this claim. His expert insight is line with the findings of Tefft. The reason for these drastically different fatality rates stems from the fixed amount of impact our bodies are able to withstand (George). Many cities and communities could save the lives of pedestrians by adopting such changes on roads of similar speed limits. Any rational human being would be more than willing to drive just 5 miles per hour slower to potentially save another persond’s life. If such a display human decency does not cater to an individual, surely a greater chance of avoiding spending money on a lawyer in a vehicular manslaughter suit
This change may appear to be a meaningless inconvenience on the surface, but in actuality it has the ability to greatly benefit the pedestrians in the city. The reason that this five mile per hour decrease is so important is because it decreases the likelihood that a pedestrian will be fatally injured when struck by an oncoming vehicle (George). The article titled “Why Lowering NYC’s Speed Limit by Just 5 MPH Can Save a Lot of Lives” published in the magazine WIRED cites AAA researcher Brian Tefft’s thoughts on the subject. Tefft is quoted reporting that “…a person is about 74 percent more likely to be killed if they’re struck by vehicles traveling at 30 mph than at 25 mph.” He also comments on the difference that a 10 mile per hour change makes. According to his research, a pedestrian fatality is three times more likely when the oncoming vehicle is traveling at 35 miles per hour as opposed to 25 miles per hour (George). Input from Doctor Peter Orner, a physician and former engineer helps to further validate this claim. His expert insight is line with the findings of Tefft. The reason for these drastically different fatality rates stems from the fixed amount of impact our bodies are able to withstand (George). Many cities and communities could save the lives of pedestrians by adopting such changes on roads of similar speed limits. Any rational human being would be more than willing to drive just 5 miles per hour slower to potentially save another persond’s life. If such a display human decency does not cater to an individual, surely a greater chance of avoiding spending money on a lawyer in a vehicular manslaughter suit