A policeman wrote me up today for driving 35 in a 25 (In a bit of irony, it was for speeding on the same residential street where last week I bit the dust when my wife made me prove to her I could run faster than Michael Scott by sprinting past an LCD speed sign put there to warn people to drive slower!). The story is I was in a lose-lose situation. My California plates had expired last week so I decided it was time to register the car in Utah. Of course, at the DMV I was told I needed both the car title and a safety and emissions test before that could happen. And of course I didn’t have either. So when a policeman pulled behind me later that afternoon, I had a decision to make. Either I slow to 25 mph and reek of guilt, or I pretend I don’t notice and drive like normal so he doesn’t suspect anything. Well, I drove like normal and got busted. Warning for the registration, ticket for speeding, not bad.
Here’s the thing that bothers me. The officer emphasized twice that I had passed two 25 mph speed limit signs on that road (which I happen to be on for 2 blocks). I couldn’t argue that. I did notice them, but I didn’t heed them. Here’s why.
It’s because I don’t believe in speed limit signs.
Speed limit signs are an attempt to treat the symptoms of an almost incurable disease called poor city planning. When a residential road gradually becomes an arterial, more people drive on it and speeds increase. Since concrete and asphalt are fairly permanent, the only way to patch the problem is with a speed limit sign. City planners should take advice from Julie Larsen-Green, the main architect of the Microsoft 2007 Office Suite and one of the core Windows 7 design managers. Windows should be a “system with manners,” she says, “not one that constantly interrupts with bubbles, boxes and warnings that, data showed, people ignored or raced to close.” Our streets should be the same way. Design roads and communities such that the street layout dictates the speed limit. Narrow roads for slower speeds, wider roads for faster speeds, and so on. But because software is easier to fix than roads, we have to live with the patches. And occasionally, they make us pay.
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2 comments:
if you had stayed on your feet Clark, you would have been around 18 mph. that is my guess. i have run alongside my friends car and got to 17 mph, and i think you could beat me in a race.
I got a ticket for going 35 in a 30 in Sandy once. Again, largely due to poor city planning. When I payed the fine though I wrote on the memo line "for the crooked Sandy police". So I think we know who came out on top.
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