By pushing for a higher speed limit on Maryland highways, state legislators are laughing at death.
They can argue that today's vehicles and roads are designed for speeds greater than 55 mph. But until the good folks in the bionics lab over at Johns Hopkins develop a more resilient human body, a higher speed limit equals more deaths.
The 40 states that increased speed limits on rural interstates during 1987-88 after the federal government allowed them that option averaged a 24 percent increase in vehicular deaths by 1993. During that same period, deaths dropped 5 percent on the interstates through urban areas that maintained the 55 mph limit.
Supporters of 65 mph contend that the greater limit simply codifies the fact that most motorists already drive faster than 55 mph. An increased speed limit, however, sanctions drivers to push 70 or 80 mph. In states that went to a 65 mph speed limit, three times as many drivers were clocked faster than 70 mph after the change, says the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Politicians behind this move are emboldened by the support of Gov. Parris Glendening, after years of steadfast opposition by former Gov. William Donald Schaefer. The scene last week in the House Commerce and Government Matters Committee was farcical, with delegates endorsing 65 mph while axing safety amendments such as a ban on radar detectors. Radar detector lobbyist Bruce C. Bereano -- yes, the fellow Mr. Glendening suggested steer clear of the State House after his mail-fraud conviction -- described the law-evading equipment as "safety devices"; next, he'll be calling cigarettes "lung exercisers."
The backroom shenanigans on this issue are reminiscent of Annapolis' shameful highway safety record of years past, from the truck-cover bills that became a running joke during their yearly defeats in the '70s and '80s, to the motorcycle helmet requirement that some legislators now seek to repeal even though cyclist deaths dropped by nearly half since the helmet law passed.
Legislators don't seem to understand that higher speed limits mean not only increased auto insurance premiums and more air pollution but more highway deaths. Whatever imagined gains Governor Glendening and supporters see in a 65 mph speed limit, let them explain how it offsets the almost certain loss of additional lives.