Implicit in the editorial position that the speed limit on Ayer Road should be “reduced to 30 mph” is the assumption that “speed kills” and the 29 accidents enumerated were caused by speed.
I would challenge you to look at the record and see if speed was a factor in any of them, let alone all of them. That is easy to do, and one of us will be right.
Accidents at intersections are caused by inability to drive, distraction, and not being very bright, in whichever order. The fact (and it is a fact, as distasteful as it may be to “speed kills” advocates) is that in Germany and even Montana, whose speed on highways are or were essentially unregulated, the statistics on accidents are not much different than here.
Further, there is a legal process to set speed, where 100-plus cars are measured, supposedly surreptitiously, and the 85th percentile is the speed posted. This is to avoid “safety Nazi’s” from posting 15 mph everywhere, or speed fanatics posting 70 everywhere. It works.
Based on 40 years of driving, I believe accidents are caused by inattention or distraction in the car, poor skills, and blocking the left lane on highways by self-righteous individuals. That forces others to pass in unsafe ways, and that is what would happen on Ayer Road with 30 mph. Further, people would ignore it as unreasonable, causing mayhem.
Drive now, talk later is another aspect. (See “not too bright,” above.)
John Grady
Slough Road
