subject: Why Do We Need A Speed Limit?
[print this page] Several years ago, a stoplight was installed where the road going to the power plant turned off. A few years ago, the state decided to reduce the speed limit. Past a couple of businesses and on through the intersection. After nearly 20 years of driving through that intersection at least twice a day, it was hard to adjust to the lower speed limit, and many still haven't. Several have complained bitterly about officers parking in the store parking lot and waiting for speeders after getting tickets, although the reduced speed is clearly marked.
The primary reason for the reduced speed was that people were driving to fast to stop when the light changed. as a result there were a number of serious wrecks when people coming off the other road pulled out after receiving the green light and were hit. The reduced speed has reduced the number of such accidents significantly. The small inconvenience of having to reduce ones speed is far outweighed by the increase in safety.
Think what traffic would be like if there were no speed limits. People would drive as fast as their car could possibly go on good roads. Descriptions of driving on Germany's autobahns are startling. People driving sports cars run into the backs of other cars at nearly 300 miles per hour, and no one survives. The impact is as great as if two cars in the United States hit head on at 100 miles per hour. Cars pulling into the highway have no chance to avoid a vehicle traveling at such a speed, and a vehicle traveling at such a speed doesn't have enough time to safely swerve in many cases.
Many today complain of the old fashioned moral standards. There has been a consistent effort over the last several years to eliminate such standards, especially as regarding sexual behavior. Some have insisted that such standards were just society trying to control people, and have pushed for rebellion against all restraints. Just as the speed limit provides a considerable increase in safety, those moral standards provide some safety.
Suppose that no one had moral qualms about murder? It is uncommon because most people believe it is wrong. As that perception has diminished, our murder rate has increased. Statistics Indicate that about 80% of all murders are committed by someone who has done it before. The biggest reason most of us do not live in fear is that most people have a moral abhorrence for murder and so don't do it. Those who do tend to continue to do so. That moral standard protects our lives.
A moral standard against sexual promiscuity protects one from unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Less often recognized, it also protects from jealousy, fights and murder by others over a partner. It protects children by providing a more stable home life. Homosexuality is touted as an acceptable lifestyle, but it is fraught with all the dangers of sexual promiscuity. Studies have shown that a Lesbian is more than twice as likely to be killed by her lover than is a woman is by a male lover. Male homosexuals have similarly higher murder rates. They also tend to have higher rates of sexually transmitted diseases.
In every person there is an innate moral standard or conscience. If one does what his conscience tells him not to for a while, his conscience becomes inured to the action, and ceases to trouble him. A person who imagines doing things against his moral standard also becomes desensitized. Movies, books, and discussions can focus our attention, weakening our moral standard. As the moral standard weakens, immoral behavior becomes more common, with increased levels of danger.
During the 1970's a federal speed limit was enacted reducing all traffic to 55 miles per hour. Supposedly this would reduce danger of future oil shortages. It had no real effect on safety of drivers and resulted in increased resentment of the speed limit. Sometimes moral standards can be adopted in a similar arbitrary manner. They usually cause more problems than they prevent, and as such are not legitimate.
The book of Deuteronomy describes the Moral standards Israel was to live by. Notice the promised rewards in Deuteronomy 4:40. "Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, for ever."
Development of a strong and legitimate moral code is one of the most valuable things we can do for our children. It will protect them from many of the serious problems in our modern world. Doing so will require standing against the trends of society and popular psychology. It will require adults to maintain such a standard themselves, which is hard, but the rewards will be huge. Notice what Moses told Israel would be required for the development of a strong standard by their children.
"And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates." (Deuteronomy 6:6-9)
