DRIVER'S SIDE DIATRIBE
By Al Vinikour 

Through the years I have addressed the subject of what determines the speed limit not only on local roads but on freeways. I’m not only old enough to remember what dinosaur poo smells like but also I vividly remember the hysteria surrounding the Arab oil boycott in the early-‘70s when the Federal Government decided in the interest of fuel conservation the national speed limit would be no greater than 55 mph.

The old “Double Nickel” would be the law of the land. It didn’t matter to them that most cars did, and still have better mpg at steady, higher speeds than poke-assing along at the pace of a constipated turtle.

Eventually common sense and plentiful oil capacity returned and gradually the speed limits were increased state-by-state. But wait….what’s this?!!! Some states kept their speed limit on limited access roads (a snooty way of saying “freeways”) at 55 mph. What could possibly trigger such idiocy? Being a freelance psychic I’m beginning to see a vision of traffic court, a hanging judge and a quickly-growing state bank account. I ran these clues through an IBM SuperComputer and lo and behold, out popped the term “speed trap.”

Let’s use the example of the Tri-State Tollway (or as Rand McNally calls it, I-294). Other than the fact it’s a license to steal from travelers because of its horrendous, annoying and usury fees, for most of its 78 miles the speed limit is 55 miles per hour.

Sure, the traffic is heavy; so am I but that doesn’t give the state any reason to put archaic limits on a 3-4 lane superhighway. Granted, most people do NOT drive the speed limit but depending on the revenue need of the state of Illinois, there’s always the possibility that some soldiers in the Illinois State Police are going to be hiding either behind some man-made barrier or even in plain sight and their radar gun is just itching for a fight. Often the troopers work in tandem; one working the radar gun and then calling ahead to any number of chase vehicles to administer the punishment.



Let’s go the other extreme. The Detroit metropolitan area is ringed with interstate highways and unlike Illinois, it does NOT have any toll roads. Several times in the past decades a now-deceased legislator has raised the possibility of making sections of Michigan’s freeways a toll road but the last he was heard from was when he was on their way to have lunch with Jimmy Hoffa. But, as usual, I digress.

The majority of interstate highways around the Detroit area have a speed limit of 70 mph. The only time the speed limits drop to 55 is through the heart of the city…and then it’s only for a relatively short distance.

Michigan doesn’t seem to play the game that it’s “inherently dangerous to have a speed limit higher than 55 when in an urban area.” Lawmakers with that kind of thinking are obviously raising cattle and supervising a large breeding area for bulls (if you get my meaning). And to illustrate further the hypocrisy of many big-city planners, driving on one of Michigan’s highways, especially after a bad winter, is the equivalent of flying through flak that the 8th Air Force had to endure every time they left the beautiful countryside and bad food of England on their way to reunite the population of German cities to their dead relatives.

And like the good citizens of Illinois who traverse the Tri-State, drivers seldom even do the speed limit when it’s 70 mph. But UNLIKE the Land of Lincolners, Detroiters think nothing of doing 80 mph-90 mph on a steady basis whether there’s police presence or not.

I spent so many years living in Indiana and Illinois that it’s a knee-jerk reaction to let off on the gas if I see a police car — parked or cruising. But not in Michigan. About the only thing that state’s drivers do is wave or nod at the policeman driving a patrol car as they pass him at 85 mph. And as long as the drivers aren’t going through a white-out blizzard or racing through a school zone, the police tend to let drives work things out for themselves.

Detroit sounds like a speeder’s Valhalla, doesn’t it? Far from it, Cecil. The only other Hell on Earth I can think of other than Detroit may be Gary, which may or may not be Detroit’s sister city. But that’s neither here nor there. Detroit needs revenue but it’s not getting it off the backs of drivers who are shackled by prehistoric speed limits.

Illinois, particularly the Chicagoland area, likes to think of itself as this sophisticated, friendly and easier-paced answer to New York City. I’m not a doctor but I’ve played one in the back seat of my Ford. I’d prescribe some powerful medication to those with this mentality. Yes, Chicago is indeed all three of those things but LIKE New York City it has limited its speed on urban freeways to 55 mph.

Los Angeles isn’t any better because they have the same speed limit as the other two cities I just mentioned. However, the last time anyone did 55 mph on a Los Angeles freeway was a road inspector who was checking out the repairs made to the 405 when it had been closed to all traffic for the weekend for major renovation. In California’s case the state assemblymen might as well make the speed limit around Los Angeles 117 mph because the fastest anybody is going to be traveling is…55 mph.

Just like water that seeks its own level I feel that unrealistic speed limits should be limited to Go Kart Tracks. Drivers will find a happy medium through experience and won’t need the “guidance and leadership” from legislators who have to depend on the kindness of strangers and lobbyists to keep their jobs.