Re: 鈥淗igher speed limits an obvious danger,鈥� letter, Nov. 8.
The point raised in the letter is an obvious law of physics: The higher the speed, the more damage in a crash. Using this logic, if we went back to horse-drawn speed, 20 to 30 km/h, there would be few serious crashes. However, we live in a modern, industrialized society.
In everything we do there is a risk, and most accept this as a fact of life. Modern cars are substantially safer than only a few years ago, but there will always be people who do stupid things and cause problems no matter what the speed.
In the last paragraph, the writer states that most drivers exceed the limit, which indicates that the speed limits are too low, as studies determine that traffic sets its own reasonable limit.
An example of this is the 400-series of highways in Ontario, where the limit is 100 km/h, but the de facto limit is 120. It is very unlikely that you will get a ticket at this speed and you will be severely tailgated if under.
Make the roads safer and keep speed limits reasonable.
Barry Lurges
Colwood
