Raising The Speed

Everyone who has ever gotten behind the wheel in Maryland knows full well that the state's 55 mph speed limit isn't working. And Marina Sarris' story in Friday's Evening Sun, which describes I-97 between the Baltimore Beltway and U.S. 50 as "Maryland's autobahn," offers more evidence. Sarris reports that drivers routinely speed there, as they do on I-95 north of Baltimore and I-83 south of the Pennsylvania line.Officials should have seen this coming. The 55 mph limit was mandated by Congress in the oil-squeezed '70s, when drivers were routinely hitting 65 or 70 mph on the interstates, and gas conservation was a key national goal.

How is traffic safety improved by telling people that traveling 12 mph above the posted speed limit is acceptable? I suggest Increasing most speed limits by 10 mph instead. That would stop the practice of slowing down otherwise safe traffic flows simply for the purpose of raising revenue. Drivers obeying speed limits that are set too low cause accidents when other people are forced to change lanes trying to get around them. Dan Griffin, Perry Hall Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

A vast majority of respondents to The Evening Sun's informal telephone survey favor raising the speed limit on many of Maryland's interstate highways to 65 mph.Of 1,396 callers to SUNDIAL, 84 percent (1,166 respondents) said the speed limit should be raised; 230 callers favored keeping it at 55."It's Your Call" represents a sampling of opinions from certain segments of the community, but it is not balanced demographically, as would be done in a scientific public opinion poll.

Ehrlich Was Right: One Man's ExperienceRegarding The Sun's quote of Rep. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., who supposedly said "all or most of us resent having poor people move next door," meaning "us" to be the public. And, the follow-up letter on Jan. 11 from a Towson constituent concerning poor people being moved next door. Here's an example of "real" Democratic arrogance.My personal experience:An unwed mother had eight children, all born on welfare. She received monthly welfare checks (deposited to her bank account)

Interstate highways were built for high-speed travel, which is why efforts to enforce the 55 mph speed limit often seem to be a losing battle -- especially on those long, deserted stretches of rural interstates. So maybe it's time for a closer look at raising the speed limit in some areas of the state. Last Friday the House of Delegates approved such a bill, raising speed limits to 65 mph on rural interstates; the measure now deserves a strong consideration in the Senate.The Maryland State Police have traditionally opposed the higher limit for safety reasons and Governor Schaefer is also on record as opposing any change.

It is not even a close call. Gov. William Donald Schaefer shouldn't lose any sleep over the issue of increasing the maximum speed permitted on Maryland's "rural" interstates. The bill on his desk richly deserves a gubernatorial veto, the same treatment it received last time.The governor has scheduled a hearing tomorrow so representatives of both sides can discuss raising the speed limit from 55 mph to 65. He won't learn anything new. Statistics clearly demonstrate that a higher speed limit leads to more deaths.

Don't raise speed limit to 65 mphThe Dec. 23 editorial, "Raise the speed limit," said Governor Schaefer ignored "broad support" for raising the speed limit to 65 mph last year when he vetoed a bill that would have done just that. That's not true.More than 6,000 Marylanders called and thousands more wrote to the governor on the speed limit issue - the vast majority in support of retaining the 55 mph limit. It was the first- or second-most calls and letters ever received on one issue, according to a Schaefer aide.

ANNAPOLIS -- Gov. William Donald Schaefer will veto today a bill that would have raised the speed limit to 65 mph on rural interstate highways in Maryland, the sponsor of the bill has been told.At a bill-signing ceremony today, the governor will sign a bill he had resisted, strengthening the state's open meetings law, his aides said yesterday.But he is also expected to veto a bill that would have kept open the Lida Lee Tall Learning Resources Center, an experimental elementary school at Towson State University.

Would raising the speed limit on Maryland's rural highways from 55 miles per hour to 65 mph make them less safe?It's a controversial idea that has puzzled traffic experts even before the federal government authorized states to increase speed limits on their less densely populated interstate corridors in 1987.The answer, according to the folks at the Virginia Department of Transportation, may surprise you.The people who build and manage the Old Dominion's roads say studies show that their highways are no more dangerous as a result of a higher speed limit.

Edwin Cox thinks Maryland's 55 mph speed limit undermines safety, while fellow Baltimore resident July Schilling "shudders" at what would happen if the limit were raised.They represented some of the divergent opinions of Maryland's commuters when it comes to the issue of raising the speed limit to 65 mph on rural interstates. It is a move that has been supported by the state legislature but opposed by Gov. William Donald Schaefer."The governor is presently telling us that we should travel as fast on the Beltway as we do on Interstate 68 west of Cumberland, even though the congestion is radically different," Mr. Cox writes.

Hypocrisy. . . Did we not have in 1860 a president named Abraham Lincoln who took exactly the same political position on his breakaway republics (we call them states) as Boris Yeltsin has taken on his?And is not Mr. Lincoln portrayed in our history books as a hero for doing so?Also, why are bombing deaths of civilians in Grozny "atrocities" when the ones we caused in Baghdad were only "collateral damage"?And how does Russia's attempt to protect its oil supply in Chechnya differ from ours in Baghdad?

Edwin Cox thinks Maryland's 55 mph speed limit undermines safety, while fellow Baltimore resident July Schilling "shudders" at what would happen if the limit were raised.They represented some of the divergent opinions of Maryland's commuters when it comes to the issue of raising the speed limit to 65 mph on rural interstates. It is a move that has been supported by the state legislature but opposed by Gov. William Donald Schaefer."The governor is presently telling us that we should travel as fast on the Beltway as we do on Interstate 68 west of Cumberland, even though the congestion is radically different," Mr. Cox writes.

Would raising the speed limit on Maryland's rural highways from 55 miles per hour to 65 mph make them less safe?It's a controversial idea that has puzzled traffic experts even before the federal government authorized states to increase speed limits on their less densely populated interstate corridors in 1987.The answer, according to the folks at the Virginia Department of Transportation, may surprise you.The people who build and manage the Old Dominion's roads say studies show that their highways are no more dangerous as a result of a higher speed limit.

Don't raise speed limit to 65 mphThe Dec. 23 editorial, "Raise the speed limit," said Governor Schaefer ignored "broad support" for raising the speed limit to 65 mph last year when he vetoed a bill that would have done just that. That's not true.More than 6,000 Marylanders called and thousands more wrote to the governor on the speed limit issue - the vast majority in support of retaining the 55 mph limit. It was the first- or second-most calls and letters ever received on one issue, according to a Schaefer aide.

Everyone who has ever gotten behind the wheel in Maryland knows full well that the state's 55 mph speed limit isn't working. And Marina Sarris' story in Friday's Evening Sun, which describes I-97 between the Baltimore Beltway and U.S. 50 as "Maryland's autobahn," offers more evidence. Sarris reports that drivers routinely speed there, as they do on I-95 north of Baltimore and I-83 south of the Pennsylvania line.Officials should have seen this coming. The 55 mph limit was mandated by Congress in the oil-squeezed '70s, when drivers were routinely hitting 65 or 70 mph on the interstates, and gas conservation was a key national goal.

Trooper William McMeins pulled his State Police cruiser onto Maryland's "autobahn" and began searching for prey.In less than a minute he found it: an 18-year-old shampoo attendant who was late for an appointment with a friend. Late enough to hit 70 mph on southbound Interstate 97, just before it dumps onto U.S. 50 outside Annapolis.McMeins swung his big Chevy Caprice across the median and pulled the teen over."I hate this road now!" she exclaimed. "Everybody speeds. Most of the traffic on I-97 does between 65 and 70."

State Sen. Philip C. Jimeno first felt the need for speed while driving between his Brooklyn Park home and his native West Virginia.Crossing into Maryland's western neighbor, Jimeno's foot pressed down on the gas pedal. His car surged as he accelerated from 55 miles per hour to 65 mph, the legal speed limit there on rural interstates.Jimeno, a second-term Democrat, is trying to rally support in theSenate to adopt the 65 mph limit on Maryland's rural highways. The House of Delegates approved the measure, 96-36, two weeks ago. The county's 13-member House contingent voted, 5-3, with the majority.

Hypocrisy. . . Did we not have in 1860 a president named Abraham Lincoln who took exactly the same political position on his breakaway republics (we call them states) as Boris Yeltsin has taken on his?And is not Mr. Lincoln portrayed in our history books as a hero for doing so?Also, why are bombing deaths of civilians in Grozny "atrocities" when the ones we caused in Baghdad were only "collateral damage"?And how does Russia's attempt to protect its oil supply in Chechnya differ from ours in Baghdad?

ANNAPOLIS -- Gov. William Donald Schaefer will veto today a bill that would have raised the speed limit to 65 mph on rural interstate highways in Maryland, the sponsor of the bill has been told.At a bill-signing ceremony today, the governor will sign a bill he had resisted, strengthening the state's open meetings law, his aides said yesterday.But he is also expected to veto a bill that would have kept open the Lida Lee Tall Learning Resources Center, an experimental elementary school at Towson State University.

A vast majority of respondents to The Evening Sun's informal telephone survey favor raising the speed limit on many of Maryland's interstate highways to 65 mph.Of 1,396 callers to SUNDIAL, 84 percent (1,166 respondents) said the speed limit should be raised; 230 callers favored keeping it at 55."It's Your Call" represents a sampling of opinions from certain segments of the community, but it is not balanced demographically, as would be done in a scientific public opinion poll.