The essay “Autoliberation” by Brent Knutson is, to me, a
reaffirmation of what I’ve always personally believed in when it comes to
driving – speed does not kill, and as the essay states, “Driving fast… is not a
hazard; speed combined with incompetence, alcohol, or hazardous conditions is
dangerous” (621).
I own a high performance coupe – an Infiniti G37S and I know
that this vehicle, based on the owner’s manual and all the reviews I’ve read,
can be driven safely at high speeds, even in excess of 100 miles per hour. But
here in Hawaii where I live, the fastest speed I am allowed to drive this
vehicle is at 65 miles per hour on two small stretches of highway.
I support the thesis of this essay – “speed limits on the
freeways of the United States should be repealed. “ I’ve always believed that
the US freeway speed limits are asinine but reading about how the insurance
companies are manipulating accident statistics because they have a vested
interest in keeping the speed limits down is an eye-opener to me: “The lifting
of speed limits translates into fewer traffic citations issued by police. Fewer
tickets means fewer points assessed on American’s driving records, which would
remove the insurance industry’s primary tool for raising premiums. Needless to
say, auto-insurance companies aren’t thrilled about the prospect of less money
in their coffers” (622).
We, the drivers, should not let the car insurance companies
get away with this. This practice, under the guise of keeping road accidents
and fatalities down, is nothing but a devious and profit-oriented scam. On the
contrary, as pointed out by this essay, increasing the speed limit lowers
accidents and fatalities. “Rural interstate fatalities over the whole United
States increased 19 percent between 1982 and 1992. But driving increased 44
percent. So the fatality rate is on a definite downward trend from 1.5 to 1.2
[percent].”
The author does not deny that Americans are some of the
worst and accident-prone drivers in the world. But this is not because they
drive fast. Here on the island of Oahu
where I’ve lived for the past 12 years, there have been numerous road
accidents, many resulting in fatalities. From the newspaper reports, many of
these accidents involved speed but almost always in combination with alcohol
and/or drug use. The rest were results
of incompetent or inattentive driving. I
believe that laws on driving while impaired can be better enforced.
I also agree that American drivers need to be better educated
when it comes to driving. The essay
points out that well-educated and disciplined drivers in Germany’s super
highways, or the autobahn, where there are no speed limits, contribute to the
autobahn being rated as one of the safest highways in the world. It’s not too
late. The author believes “Americans’
poor driving habits can be remedied. Through intensive driver-education
programs, stringent licensing criteria, and public service announcement
campaigns, we can learn to drive more proficiently” (621).
But to me, the most compelling argument in favor of repealing
speed limits in the United States is that these speed limits are curtailing the
people’s right to enjoy their cars to the fullest. Cars that are built using
the latest in technology to make them as safe as possible to operate, even at
very high speeds.
A few days after I bought my car, I was driving on Highway 3
to Kaneohe Bay for an early morning round of golf on the windward side of the
island. Highway 3 is a scenic highway
that snakes around and through the Ko’olau mountain range. After I got through
the tunnel and passed a series of winding turns, in front of me was a long
stretch of straight, smooth highway. It was 6 in the morning and there was
nobody else on the road. I wasn’t able to resist the temptation. I pressed on
the accelerator and the 330-horsepower engine instantaneously responded with a
high-pitched whine and the car sped up effortlessly up to 55 mph, then 65, 75,
and yes, 80 mph. The adrenaline surge I felt was indescribable! Coming to my
senses, I eased on the accelerator and back to the legal boring speed limit.
Works Cited:
Knutson, Brent. “Autoloberation” Reading Critically, Writing Well. 7th edition,
2005:619-623.
