As you’ve probably noticed, there’s just about nowhere in the United States where you’re allowed to drive faster than 80 miles per hour. And yet cars can drive much faster than this:
And of course the reason you’re not allowed to go super-fast is that it isn’t safe. A large proportion of car accidents are related to people driving too quickly. Thus, via Ezra Klein comes Kent Sepkowitz’s suggestion that we design cars so as to make it impossible for them to drive over, say, 75 miles per hour. This seems reasonably sensible to me. Ryan Avent adds his endorsement. I don’t think I’ve yet recommended Tom Vanderbilt’s Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us) which is an excellent and engagingly written introduction to a lot of good driving-related issues. Judging on my past week’s excursions, it’s also on sale at every airport in the United States which I hope/think means it’ll be getting a lot of readers.
Previous in TP Yglesias
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