Doomsayers missed mark on speeds

Thursday, Feb. 29, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

IT could be the weather or just good luck. Or, just maybe, motorists are a lot smarter than they've been given credit for.

Whatever the cause, the death toll has not risen on Nevada's highways since speed limits were increased in December. In January, it actually dropped from 13 fatalities in 1995 to eight this year.

And that's not all. Speeding tickets are on a downward trend. In January, 5,000 tickets were written statewide, compared with nearly 7,000 last year.

That's the opposite of what critics predicted would happen when Nevada limits were increased on freeways from 65 to 75 mph and other highways from 55 to 65 and 70 mph.

State officials are rightly cautious about the figures. The relatively dry winter has reduced hazards and, no doubt, helped made roads safer. Moreover, a three-month period is insufficient to reach a conclusion on the effects of the higher limits.

But weather can be discounted as a principal factor on Southern Nevada highways. Interstate 15, which has been dry most of this winter, recorded a January accident decline from 143 to 116. On U.S. 95 through Las Vegas, a similar drop was noted, from 146 to 112 wrecks.

Highway Patrol acting Chief Mike Hood, who travels around the state in an unmarked car, notes that fewer people exceed the new speed limits than the old 55 mph limit. That might explain why fewer tickets are being issued. Drivers may realize that 70 mph is fast enough and don't want to risk an accident.

Previous national traffic studies have indicated most drivers won't exceed the safe limit on a highway, even when it isn't posted. If so, 55 mph was obviously too slow for Nevada highways, which could explain why there were more tickets in 1995.

Today's speeding tickets also are expensive and automatically go on the driver's record. Gone are the conservation of resources citations that cost little and meant less to motorists. Now, a ticket can be serious, especially if you accumulate too many. Could it be that good sense finally has settled in behind the steering wheel?

Summertime traffic could make liars out of anyone who predicts faster speeds will make safer, more law-abiding drivers.

But the figures nevertheless fly in the face of the doomsayers who predicted immediate carnage on the highways.