Lower speed limit was safer
After nearly being side-swiped
by a cement truck barreling unbalanced down Highway 75 in a recent rainstorm, I
thought about how the speed limit for this widened stretch is being raised and
considered this teetering ‘near-miss’ a bad omen.
Equally unsettling
were the reactions of two motorists who decided to speed up and buzz by the
hydroplaning truck as it overcorrected, and then almost toppled over on them as
they passed in the slick right lane. I suspect that these law-bending speeders
are part of the majority who were ignoring the limits anyway; which is a major
reason why the Idaho Transportation Department decided give up on its prudent
attempt to keep the speed lower and us safer.
The area near the
hospital is well known as an active wildlife corridor, and raising the limit there
goes against the grain of an insightful WRHS applied physics class study on the
effects of vehicle collisions with wildlife at 45 mph versus 55 mph.
Moreover, motorists turning left into traffic now need
to cross over an additional lane before merging.
Sadly, it's easy to
predict that bad vehicle crashes will likely increase when the highway soon
turns icy and numerous motorists continue to show a lack of respect toward the speed
limit. And since Idaho is a state without annual vehicle safety inspections for
tires brakes and steering systems some of the same people who pay little heed
to basic traffic rules on treacherous roads probably will be piloting vehicles
that are not even roadworthy for new season.
