search
May 25, 2010

Our View: Westbrook police
send speeders right message

Not just a harmless infraction, speeding puts both the driver and the public in serious risk.

We all have done it. A little extra pressure on the gas pedal because we were running late, bored with our commute or just in the mood to get where we were going.

We've come to think that a speed limit of 25 means 35, as Westbrook police chief William Baker pointed out last week, 35 means 45 and 45 means 55. Baker found that vast majority of the cars traveling through his city were out of compliance with the speed limit -- and Westbrook is no anomaly. Disregard for speed limits is so common it seems that only the vehicles that follow the law are out of step.

Baker took the right step by instituting a vigorous enforcement campaign. Helping the crackdown was the city's "speed spy," a device
that records passing vehicles' speed.

When stopped, motorists complained to police officers asking why they weren't out catching "real criminals," but they were missing the point. Speeding is much more of a threat to a motorist's safety than most of the seemingly more serious crimes that people are concerned about.

According to a study by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety, excessive speed was a factor in one-third of fatal accidents.

Why that is should not be hard to understand. Higher speeds reduce the amount of time a driver has to avoid an obstacle, making a crash more likely. It also makes the consequences of the accident more severe, making injury and death more likely.

Given that reality, what is hard to understand is why so many of us speed so routinely and why we are so tolerant of other drivers who go too fast.

Perhaps tools like the speed spy will help police do their job and enforce speed limits, but there will never be enough police around to
watch every street. It's up to all of us to realize that speeding is a threat to our safety and we are not going to tolerate it any more.
 

Were you interviewed for this story? If so, please fill out our accuracy form

Send Question/Comment to the Publisher




Further Discussion

Here at PressHerald.com we value our readers and are committed to growing our community by encouraging you to add to the discussion. To ensure conscientious dialogue we have implemented a strict no-bullying policy. To participate, you must follow our Terms of Use.

Questions about the article? Add them below and we’ll try to answer them or do a follow-up post as soon as we can. Technical problems? Email them to us with an exact description of the problem. Make sure to include:
  • Type of computer or mobile device your are using
  • Exact operating system and browser you are viewing the site on (TIP: You can easily determine your operating system here.)


Most...