Blasting the myths and making the case for reasonable speed limits

By Declan O’Scanlon

speed limitThe Asbury Park Press editorial board recently took a position AGAINST setting speed limits based on engineering criteria and FOR setting limits based on the hunches of unqualified elected officials and bureaucrats.  The position is so fundamentally flawed, so based on decades-old defunct myths, so devoid of any basis in actual fact, that it’s hard to decide where to begin.

My speed limit initiative is a simple one – set speed limits based on sound engineering criteria.  I would remove uninformed or profit-motivated elected officials and bureaucrats from the process. Traffic laws shouldn’t be based on the random hunches of any of us. Setting any law by hunch only diminishes the public’s confidence in ALL laws. That’s not a way to enhance safety anywhere. Why should the public take a 25 mph school speed limit seriously when we randomly post such speed limits all over – including stretches of roadway that should be posted at 40?  Don’t even get me started on the damage random limits have on the image of our police – who become the face of these arbitrary laws.

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Declan O'Scanlon
About Declan O'Scanlon 21 Articles
Declan O'Scanlon (R-13) is a member of the New Jersey State Senate and former Assembly Republican Budget Officer hailing from Monmouth County, New Jersey.

1 Comment

  1. O’Scanlon writes: “The suggestion is that New Jersey is a death pit compared to other states. Sorry to disappoint the editors, but New Jersey’s roads are consistently some of the safest in the nation.”

    Agreed. I now live in Pennsylvania – about an hour west of the Delaware River – and I can tell you authoritatively that PA drivers are among the dumbest, most slow-witted people I ever ever encountered on highway pavement.

    They see only what’s in from of them and their reaction time can be measured with a calendar. They believe the left-hand lane is for leisure travel and the right-hand lane is for passing at a velocity only marginally over the speed limit.

    Overall, PA drivers are a menace to motile society.

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