Remember former US President Richard M Nixon? Tricky Dickey. President of the United States from 1969 until he resigned over the Watergate scandal in 1974. He was absolutely hated by the liberal left and the news media.
In his defense he did end the war in Vietnam and opened the doors to China on his historic visit there.
There is also one other thing Nixon did. He reduced the speed limit on interstate travel to 55 mph.
I bring this up in light of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission decision increasing the turnpike speed limit to 70 mph. Pittsburgh wrongful death, medical malpractice, car accident and criminal defense attorney Bernie Tully thinks this is a terrible decision.
Why?
Because speed kills. It is as simple as that. The faster cars go the more likely the accident will cause you greater injuries or even death.
If I was a cynic I would think, great, faster speeds, bigger accidents, bigger injuries. Great for my business as a Pittsburgh auto accident attorney.
But hopefully by now you know I am not a cynic and don’t want the increased legal business if it is going to cause someone’s death or permanent injuries.
As hard as it is for some people to understand, even attorneys have to sleep at night. Even attorneys have to look themselves in the mirror once in a while.
If cars and trucks would just go 70 mph this ruling would be fine.
But, you know as well as I do, that is not going to happen.
What’s going to happen, almost certainly, is the following.
Cars that are now doing 70-75 mph are going to go 80-85 mph. If police are unofficially letting motorists drive 5 miles over the speed limit that means the average turnpike speed will be 75 mph.
Again, that is the average. So if you are in a bit of a hurry, you’re going to want to pass those cars going 75 mph. That means you will have to go 85 mph to pass average speed cars.
So who is pushing this increased speed limit? Start with the Pennsylvania Motor Trucking Association and go from there. They say the speed limit changes will have no effect on big-rig drivers.
Does that get past the laugh test to you?
Even the small 5 mph increase in speed for a big- rig truck may mean the difference being badly hurt and being killed for drivers like you and me.
Again, it is great news for auto accident attorneys and truck accident attorneys but it is terrible news for the population in general.
Well, what can we do about it? If you talk to your local state rep and tell them your concern we can get this decision reversed.
Speed kills. It’s as simple as that.
Thanks for reading.
Bernie the attorney