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Re: speed limits



In article <3t6nki$2s1@newsbf02.news.aol.com> vector95@aol.com (VECTOR95) writes:
$Speed restrictions are made law by elected officials,  presumaby because
$that's what his or her constituents demand. 

   The vast majority of these same constituents clearly demonstrate
their regard for said laws by routinely ignoring them.  Actions, it
is said, speak louder than words.

   But then again, apart from specific areas of specific roads, I
don't recall having heard of the general public demanding speed
limits be lowered.  It's a moot point, of course, to ask whether
the general public wishes to see speed limits put in place, as they've
been in place on all of our public roads around here for decades
anyway.

   An initial study of Ontario's photo radar showed that at six sites
selected for the study, the percentage of all vehicles which exceeded
5 km/h over the speed limit prior to the introduction of photo radar
were roughly 65%, 75%, 70%, 70%, 55%, and 65%.  Note that these
results also include all hours of the day, including the heavily-
congested "rush" hours.  Obviously, when roads are not congested,
the number of speeders will increase, and if you define "speeder"
as "one who exceeds the legal speed limit" rather than "one who
exceeds the legal speed limit by at least 5 km/h" (the former being
a more reasonable definition), the numbers will increase again, so
it's probably safe to say that given the opportunity to speed at
these sites, 75-80% is a conservative estimate of the proportion of
drivers who do speed.
-- 
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