On the Road With Jess, Alyssa & Kyle

240 miles. That’s all it took for us to hit our first snag. Pennsylvania does two things well, highway construction and speeding tickets and we’ve had the pleasure to experience both. Driving on Route 80, still in Pennsylvania, we were caught by a speed trap going 80 in a 65 mph zone. Luckily the state trooper who pulled us over wasn’t a huge douche and wrote on his report that we were only going 6 mph over the limit but it still earned us a glorious $127 ticket. And we can’t contest the charges because it’s in bumblefuck Pennsylvania and I have to be back to school as soon as we finish the road trip.
But this raises a larger question, what is the point of speeding tickets? I’m sure the states say it’s to decrease highway fatalities and make our roads a safer place for citizens to travel, but we all know that’s bull shit. The real reason behind speeding tickets is to raise money for the state through a source other than taxes, presumably so they can do even more construction on the roads. I understand the need for public funds, taxes, the greater good blah blah blah but speeding tickets are just backhanded and the laws are ridiculous. 6 mph over the limit warrants $127? How proportional is that? And does this vigilant policing really make us safer? Don’t they have anything better to do?
I recently read an article on a medium sized city in Germany that did away with all traffic signs in an attempt to promote more awareness of the driver’s surroundings. The result was a huge drop in accidents and injuries. I’m not foolish enough to propose that America adopt this policy, I know it’d never work. America’s culture wouldn’t know what to do, we’re a nation of laws guiding our every action. However, I do think the policy makes some sense if you think it through.
There is only so much a person can concentrate on at one time: Other cars, road conditions, things happening inside the car, directions to your destination, all these driving decisions occupy a portion of the driver’s attention and should, that’s driving. But when you must constantly worry about how fast you’re going, look for speed traps and are (now) paranoid about being pulled over because of the shoestring budget for our trip, it takes away from your attention on the road and the goings on around your car. And that’s when accidents happen.
I’ll admit, I’m a fast driver. But i feel if the driver is constantly aware of his or her surroundings and the driving conditions driving at high speeds can be safe. I hate to keep going back to Germany for examples, (their police force and i have other issues) but the autobahn has no speed limit anywhere there’s no construction. And it’s not like Germany is an anarchistic, freewheeling state. There are times i’d love to remove the giant stick from their collective ass. But when it comes to their driving legislation, they understand what helps their population get where they’re going safely and efficiently.
It all comes down to a culture’s views on laws. Do we enforce our laws strictly to the T? or do we decide common sense should play some part in that decision making process? Obviously America falls into the former and sometimes that’s a great thing, our legal system is the model for the world. But on petty things like a speeding ticket, common sense could go a long way. Hopefully we’ve gotten our run in with the law out of the way early and our collective common sense will carry us to the pacific and back

Kyle