Editorial: Thanks for the ticket

Monday, April 23, 2007 | 7:36 a.m.

This may be counterintuitive, but the next time you get caught barreling through a speed trap, you should thank the police officer who hands you a ticket.

The officer may have saved your life, if not that day, then at some point in the future.

A 441-page study by the independent Transportation Research Board found a strong correlation between speed and accidents.

The board, a division of the National Research Council that advises the federal government, also found a strong correlation between enforcement of speed limits and safer driving behavior.

"There is ample evidence that drivers respond to perceived enforcement by adjusting their behavior, most notably by reducing their speed," the report noted. Additionally, it said, "Safety is the most important reason for managing speed through the imposition of speed limits."

The report noted many ways high speed constitutes danger, including: "As speed increases, each of the driving tasks becomes more difficult - detection of obstacles, recognition of impending danger, decision-making and response selection - and that difficulty contributes to the increase in crash risks."

Las Vegas Sun reporter Abigail Goldman recently saw quite a few speeders being pulled over on Interstate 15 as she flew in a Nevada Highway Patrol helicopter piloted by Sgt. Tony Sabino. The trooper could monitor speeds from the air and radio information about the offenders to troopers in patrol cars.

In a story on Thursday, Goldman reported that Sabino and the patrol officers pull over 10 to 12 speeders an hour during their shifts. Most are driving faster than 90 mph. At that speed, a crash will almost certainly cause terrible injuries or death.

Most drivers probably do not appreciate the potentially lifesaving service that traffic officers provide them and the rest of the public.

But they should. We are glad the troopers are in the air and on the ground, doing their best to increase safety on our roadways.