Speed Scam
In response to the Aug. 20 letter of self-appointed traffic expert Charles Herr, I would like to share a bit of reality with him.
First, as to his assertion that "our highways are engineered for the specified speed limits." If you have been driving for long enough, you will remember when the speed limits on our interstates actually were 70 to 80 mph. These were disregarded by our illustrious President Carter during the "gas crisis" of the '70s.
Then we were shown, with some dubious pseudo-scientific mumbo jumbo, how a 55 mph speed limit would somehow save gas.
No hard evidence was ever offered to prove this position, and some years later apologists came up with the obtuse "55 saves lives" to try to salvage a policy with no merit but lots of easy speeding-ticket revenues.
As for Mr. Herr's statement that "thorough testing for safety" resulted in a 55 mph speed limit, no one ever tested this as a safety measure.
It was sold to the American public as a gas-saving measure and nothing else. The safety angle was created only after the public realized that there was no appreciable fuel savings for most cars by slowing to a crawl on our interstates, and localities feared the loss of revenue if the speed limits were raised back to their originally designed levels.
Today's cars are safer, easier to drive and, yes, faster than cars of 20 years ago.
And it is not just the "high performance" cars that Mr. Herr laments that are capable of speeds well in excess of the posted maximum. Even my father's Honda Accord is now a safe, solid vehicle at 90 mph.
In fact, unless you're a die-hard hippie driving a Beetle or a second-hand Yugo, your car is more comfortable and smoother at 70 mph than at 55 mph.
The 55 mph speed limit was a bad law when it was passed and it is still a bad law today.
It was originally a scare tactic pushed by big oil companies looking for any bogus reason to snow the American public into paying twice as much for gasoline, but it has become a bottomless barrel of pork money that many states are reluctant to pull their hands from.
Only when the public gets wise to the scam and puts some pressure on elected officials will we see any change.
William M. Smith
Baltimore
Parochial Column
Regarding his Aug. 16 column, it's obvious that Michael Olesker is desperate to defend the Baltimore region's God-given right to eternally possess the Governor's Mansion. No other region need apply, according to Mr. Olesker, and he's got proof.
Five years ago a colorful state senator from Clinton said some nasty things about Baltimore. That man has just recently shaken hands with Paris Glendening, candidate for governor.
Well, everybody, let's take the Prince George's county executive out back and shoot him. Twice. So we can all be sure he doesn't get up.
Parris Glendening comes to Baltimore and says he wants to help them city, and then what does he do? He tells people in Prince George's and Montgomery counties that he wants to respond to them as well. The nerve of this guy.
The governor's horizon, as well as Mr. Olesker's, should extend beyond any one city or county line. Mr. Glendening has been an urban "mayor" and a suburban "mayor" and a rural "mayor."
That describes the job he held for 12 years -- a job to which he was re-elected twice with record majorities. It has been a job with challenges that equate -- in population, problems and opportunities -- to your own back yard, be it Baltimore City, Baltimore County or Harford County.
Take two steps back and ask who's emphasizing regional politics for parochial gain here: Mr. Glendening or Michael Olesker?
I'm satisfied that the calm, steady hand at the helm in the Washington suburbs understands the needs of my city and my city's neighboring jurisdictions far better than the rest.
David Paulson
Baltimore
Looking Back
I would like to reply to Bonita C. Williams of Columbia and her letter "Why Fear the Powerless Black Man?" (Aug. 15).
Well, why not ask Jesse Jackson? He made a statement along the lines as follows: "I never thought the time would come where I was walking down a dark street, then hearing footsteps behind me, and turning around, be relieved that it was a white man."
tephen Anthony
Catonsville
Glorious August
Ah, what joy to see lines of traffic heading for the Bay Bridge or taking the northern route to New England.
That's not for me. This is August -- the time to stay home in Baltimore and enjoy special privileges and relaxation not possible at any other time of the year.
Lines are short at the supermarket checkout counters. The clerks smile and seem almost happy to have a customer. "How ya doin'? How do you like this weather?"
And speaking of that, where can you find better weather in August? The person in line behind me joins in. None of us is in a hurry, and this small-town talk is a novelty in our big city.
And parking is a cinch. I find myself making excuses to shop in the city, just for the old-time pleasure of parking on the main streets.
Eleven months of the year you search for a salesperson to advise or show you merchandise. Not in August. The scarce customers are welcomed with smiles. Nothing is too much trouble for clerks bored from the lack of business.
There's no need to make reservations at restaurants. And you can get that table by the window. No problem. One place I went to even offered a first course on the house.
Driving is no longer a hassle. Traffic is light, and no one seems to be in a hurry during August. Often you can have the right-of-way, even if you're not entitled to it.
Go ahead and be tempted by Caribbean cruises, ocean-front hotels, beautiful, cool mountain resorts.
I'll accept an invitation anytime of the year, except, well -- maybe -- even in August.
K. van Hogendorp
Baltimore
A Business Plan for Maryland Business
On Aug. 15, the lead editorial in The Sun reacted with alarm to the startlingly frank language of a widely publicized letter written by NCFREE, a North Carolina business political action committee.
The letter candidly blames politicians for ruining Maryland's business climate, as it called on North Carolina to keep the same thing from happening in their state.
The Sun editorial was in response to the letter from the Maryland Business Council, sent in reaction to NCFREE's hard-hitting letter, which was based on research developed by Maryland Business for Responsible Government.
The letter is alarming. It is an alarm that MBRG has been sounding for nearly 10 years.
The Sun bemoans the fact that "business leaders have never taken the lead to change this atmosphere." And the editorial is generous with its praise for the Maryland Business Council -- Maryland's Chamber of Commerce -- for "moving smartly" in the right direction to correct this dire situation.
There is one major problem with this analysis. Even if the Maryland Business Council is only now taking some initiative, other business leaders have taken the lead to change this atmosphere.
Robert L. Tate, chief executive officer of Tate Engineering Systems; J. Stevenson Peck, CEO of Signet Bank; Bailey A. Thomas, the late CEO of McCormick & Co., and now, B. Larry Jenkins, CEO of Monumental Life Insurance Company, have provided that leadership.
These former and current chairmen of MBRG have been courageous, candid and yet judicious in setting the agenda for change in this state.
For 10 years, MBRG's "Roll Call" has evaluated lawmakers on their votes on issues important to business, and The Sun has reported these results.
However, the publication does more than candidly assess the performance of legislators. MBRG offers clear direction on what must be done to correct the systemic problems with Maryland's business climate.
To quote from this year's issue of "Roll Call":
"[In 1994], legislators did little to address the underlying causes that make Maryland's business climate unattractive and uncompetitive with other states."
The narrative continues:
"MBRG believes that there exist objective conditions essential to a sound business climate. This belief leads, in turn, to certain basic philosophical principles which can serve as guideposts to legislators interested in creating and keeping jobs in Maryland."
MBRG goes on to detail what those principles are:
* Big and expensive government is antithetical to a healthy private sector.
* Maryland business must be subject to regulatory standards no greater or more severe than the federal standards.
* Aggressive measures are needed to reduce the burdens to taxation on both the citizens and business of Maryland.
* Bold decisions are required in education which focus on improved accountability and performance, not increased funding.
* The state's legal environment is highly litigious and a barrier to economic growth.
* The unchecked expansion of state government is particularly in defensible when it fails to provide for such basic government functions as the safety of its citizens,
* Employers cannot afford to carry the economic burden of health care for society.
The only way of "revolutionizing" Maryland's (business) reputation is to create a healthy and confident private sector, the foundation of which is a stable environment that allows business to compete freely and fairly.
Only when lawmakers understand that it is a proper function of government to protect and nurture the private sector will we create the conditions which allow Maryland business to compete in the national and global economies. And only then will we have laid the political foundation for a healthy economic future.
Perhaps most of all, Maryland's elected and appointed officials need to acquire a healthy understanding of and respect for the private sector.
The closer Maryland jurisdictions are to Washington, the less this understanding and respect seem to be, at least among elected officials. This understanding and respect for the private sector needs to begin early in public school education.
For at least three years, MBRG has been calling for "a business plan for business." It is gratifying that the Maryland Business Council and The Sun now agree.
The action plan, as well as the alarm which set them both clamoring, have been a part of MBRG's agenda since its inception.
Now it's time we go beyond recognition of the problem and begin to cut the high cost of the status quo.
Robert O. C. Worcester
Baltimore
The writer is president, Maryland Business for Responsible Government.