speed limit

Contact Governor Gavin Newsom TODAY about AB43- Traffic Safety Bill

National Motorists Association (NMA). California Immediate Attention: Contact Governor Gavin Newsom TODAY about AB43–the Traffic Safety Bill Dear California NMA Members, AB43 is a “hair on fire” situation. The bill, generically titled “Traffic Safety,” was passed by the state Senate and Assembly earlier this month by votes of 30 to 5 and 68 to 5 respectively, with a few abstentions in both chambers. AB43 was forwarded to Governor Newsom on September 17th and is awaiting his action. That’s why the urgency. (Please send this out to family and friends as well). Members should email their opposition to the bill to: Governor Gavin Newsom c/o Ronda.Paschal@gov.ca.gov –Deputy Legislative Secretary The main issue is that the bill would reverse nearly 100 years of California speed limits being based on fact-based engineering by allowing the lowering of limits without any particular rationale. By disregarding proven traffic engineering standards and posting unrealistic limits, many more drivers traveling at conventional, safe speeds will be stopped and ticketed for noncompliance. Police and community relations will be poorly served by a dramatic increase in traffic stops that serves no safety purpose. Speed traps will become much more prevalent. The forced lowering of speed limits will also create a surge in traffic accidents. Most drivers obey their instincts of what is a safe rate of travel on a particular road. That’s why the prevailing methodology for setting the safest speed limit is based on the prevailing behavior of 85 percent of drivers. Studies have shown repeatedly that the 85th percentile rule for establishing speed limits minimizes crashes. By reducing speed limits below those levels, there will be a wider variance of driving speeds on the road, some obeying the new numbers on the speed limit signs and more following natural driving patterns. The result will be more vehicular […]

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The German Autobahn is under threat

By Cameron Kirby from https://www.whichcar.com.au The last bastion of high-speed driving freedom could soon be outlawed There is a new plan to kill the Autobahn as we know and love it. If a minority party in Germany’s federal parliament has its way, a new national 130km/h limit could replace the unrestricted sections of the Autobahn. Currently there are 5353km of Autobahn which have the ‘unrestricted’ advisory speed limit. The Alliance90/The Greens political party, often referred to simply as The Greens, is behind the move, and is pushing the lowering of limits as part of a package of new measures intended to reduce emissions. “A speed limit would be a commandment of reason for an enlightened society in the 21st century,” said Green politician Cem Özdemir. It’s claimed that enforcing a 130km/h limit would lower Germany’s carbon dioxide emissions by between one and three million tonnes per year. In 2018, Germany produced 725.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. Lowering speed limits to 130km/h on the autobahn is supported by the German police union, with the head of the federal trade union Michael Mertens stating: “For us, a speed limit for transport policy reasons is urgently needed”. A vote on the proposition will be held in Germany’s national parliament, the Bundestag, on October 13. The federal parliament has 709 seats, with the joint Union alliance, made up of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU), Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU), and Social Democratic Party of Germany (SDP), holding a majority with 398 members. The Greens hold 67 of the 311 seats in opposition. The Union has previously defended the unrestricted speed limits on the Autobahn, including when they were attacked earlier this year. In January a leaked report from a government-appointed committee called the National Platform on the Future of Mobility

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