Testa 1

Michael Testa

Professor Kellner

ENGL 0099 004 Argument 1

November 15, 2019

"Highways Should Not Have Speed Limits"

I believe that highways should not have speed limits because most people disregard

posted speed limits anyway and drive at a speed they feel is safe and as cars become safer and

more modern they are better suited to handle high speeds. Anyone who has driven on the

highways can tell you there are often people flying by at high rates of speed and the majority of

the time you don’t think twice about it. Speeding has become so common place most people are

not even away when they are doing it, the only reason they notice and slowdown is due to fear of

a ticket from law enforcement. If speed limits were lifted on highways people would be free to

move about as they already do, just there would be no fear of having to pay fines.

In February of 2019 California State Senate Bill 319 was introduced by Senator John

Moorlach, this bill proposed an addition of 4 lanes of traffic to state interstates "I-5"and

"Highway 99" that would have no upper speed limit restrictions. This bill was drafted with the

hopes that a portion of highway with no speed limit would help to ease gridlocked traffic and

dramatically reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses put off my cars idle. Senator Moorlach

sighted the German Autobahn as a golden standard for highways noting that American roads

have a much higher death rate per mile when compared to the German system. With some states

already moving their highway speed limits upwards of 85 miles an hour I believe California's
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SB319 to be on the cutting edge of this topic and that if this passes it with be considered in other

states as well.

In the USA Today article by Chris Woodyard titled "Is the American Autobahn next?

How states are pushing highway speeds past the limit" Woodyard covers the introduction of the

California SB319 by Senator John Moorlach he writes "In California, Moorlach doesn't think

safety will be a showstopper when it comes to his no-speed-limit plan. He said crash concerns

haven't dampened enthusiasm for the German Autobahn, a haven for speedsters for decades. In

announcing his plan, he pointed to a World Health Organization report that estimates road traffic

deaths at 4.1 per 100,000 people in Germany compared with 12.4 in the U.S.". I believe that

coverage like this can only help to strengthen and support the argument for removing speed

restrictions on the nation’s highways and interstates. If speed limits were to be removed law

enforcement would be free to focus on distracted and or impaired drivers that are the root cause

of most highways’ accidents, there for making our roads safer, all be it just a little bit faster.

Work Cited

"https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/02/22/america-autobahn-california-
legislator-proposes-no-speed-limit-plan/2946374002/"