I'm quite pleased that Interstate 675 will be getting 65-mph limits posted by June 28th. As the only citizen who traveled to Columbus and testified in favor of 65-mph limits in 1987, 1990, 1992, and again this year, I think I have reason to be pleased.
Actually, this was started by a speeding ticket issued to me on I-675 just north of U.S. 35 back in 1986. When the patrolman handed me the ticket, his standard lecture had just gotten to the part about "half of all accidents being caused by speeding." "Stop," I said to him. When police issue a so-called speeding ticket after an accident, it's for "speed excessive for conditions." The key word is "conditions," such as rain or curves in the roadway. My reply to him continued: "Excessive speed" is just a politically-correct label for when the police are uncertain what caused the accident. "So," I pointed out to him, "what you've just admitted is that half the time, Ohio's Finest don't know what caused the accident."
As he started to sputter, I took the ticket and left. At that point, I decided I would volunteer my spare time to be Ohio coordinator for the National Motorists Association.
As a professional engineer, I know decades of research show no linkage between travel speeds and accidents per travel-mile. Traffic safety is far too complex to be sloganized into "speed kills" -- unless you benefit from writing speeding tickets. The logical conclusion of "speed kills" is a return to Ohio's speed limits of 1913, that is, 20-mph in rural areas.
However, decades of traffic engineering research show that most people are reasonable and prudent. The actions of the prudent majority should be legal, so the speed limit on I-675 should be at least 70-mph.
But 65-mph will be improvement enough for this year.
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Updated June 04, 1997