Thursday, Jul 21, 2005 at 15:12
"Higher Speed Limits, Lower Death Rates
Statistics surprise many observers of state's highways;
Regional -- When California revved up speed limits nearly three years ago, critics predicted highway carnage as drivers sped past the new 65 mph signs -- and into trouble.
It didn't happen. Fewer people died in California auto wrecks last year than in any year in the past four decades, despite a doubled state population and triple the number of vehicles
on the road.
A total of 3,671 people died, far below the peak of 5,503 in 1979 and 5,500 as recently as 1987. This year, the death toll is running nearly 300 lower than the same period last year, California Highway Patrol Commissioner D.O. Helmick said.
``I for one am not going to tell you that raising speed limits in California has created a major problem,'' he said. ``We have never seen this kind of reduction in my 30 years on the highway patrol.''
The reduction is part of a nationwide phenomenon. As Congress debated ending the national 55 mph limit on most freeways in 1995, the Center for Auto Safety predicted an extra 6,400 people a year nationwide would die in addition to the 41,000 killed in 1994. Instead, the federal government reported last week that the death rate on the nation's roads fell to a record low in 1997. And California's death rate is even lower.
``Traffic safety in California is great. . . . It's a model for the nation,'' said Paul Snodgrass, spokesman for the San Francisco office of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
To find out what's gone right with the new speed laws may be more a matter of looking at what was wrong.
Despite the government-imposed 55 mph cap, drivers sped along freeways before the change at an average of 67.1 mph. Drivers on those same freeways now posted at 65 average 68.8 mph.
``The speed limit has changed, but I don't see people's driving habits have changed all that much,'' said CHP Officer John Heckenkemper.
As Heckenkemper prowled the Peninsula in a shiny black and white, one possible explanation for the falling death rate was obvious on Highway 101 -- traffic was creeping along for
miles. It was another story on Interstate 280, as he spotted a driver whose luck appeared to have run out.
But Heckenkemper gave only a warning to Jonathan Strickling, who was pushing 80 mph near San Bruno. A claims representative for an insurance company, Strickling said the Bay Area's fast-paced lifestyle keeps people on the move.
``People are going to drive fast regardless of what's posted. They have
places to go.''
``Everybody was going faster than the speed limit anyway,'' said Pat Monaghan, owner of Cross City Express, an East Bay trucking company.
Monaghan, who logs about 50,000
miles a year, sees the real problem as the difference in speed between cars and light trucks versus commercial trucks, which are still limited to 55 mph.
``People zoom down the road at 65 and cut in front of the trucks in the right lane,'' he said.
Dave Phillips, a driver for Gateway Limousines in Burlingame, said he hasn't seen much change in speed but thinks drivers are more impatient, probably from growing congestion.
``More and more people are
on the road. You can look at the bridges and see that,'' he said. "
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