Argument Against the Limitations of Speed Limits - Course Work Example

Road accidents claim thousands of lives every year. Most of traffic accidents are attributable to over-speeding, although other causes like reckless driving, mechanical faults, and unsafe roads contribute to deaths caused by vehicular accident. While the government has ensured that drivers do not over speed by strategically placing traffic patrol police on the roads, drivers are still exceeding the set speed limits in highways and populated urban areas. Consequently, there are occasional reports of traffic accidents, meaning that traffic control measures have not yet seen the full light of day. It also implies that limiting the speed has limitation that I will explore in this paper. In a nut shell, speed limits help to reduce road accidents and lessen congestion on the roads, but also contribute to air pollution.

Speed limit is the maximum speed that vehicles are allowed to use on different sections of the roads. For instance, in populated areas, the government may set the maximum speed at 50 km/hr. and allow the speeds of up to 120 km/hr. on freeways. Additionally, different types of vehicles are allowed different maximum and minimum speed limits. In any case, adherence to the recommended speed limits can significantly reduce death caused by over-speeding. However, slow moving vehicles emit smoke at faster rates that speeding vehicles.

Vehicles in traffic jam move at an average of 5 km/hr. These cars emit more smoke than those speeding on freeways. The increase in air pollution from vehicles contributes to global warming and climate change in the long run. In turn, climate change leads to famine due to excessive drought on floods from high rainfall. Traffic jams result when slow moving cars meet at the roundabouts and road intersections.

At the road junctions, the rate of vehicular clearance is dependent on the speed of vehicles on freeways. When the speed limit for vehicles on the highway is too low, its takes them more time to get to the urban centers, and in the process, many cars meet at the entry to the city centers causing traffic jams.

In conclusion, speeding causes road accidents, while low speed limits lead to congestion and air pollution. Low speed limits in the freeways contribute to high traffic in urban centers, meaning that the vicious cycle of pollution begins at low speed limits. Therefore, the government should avoid setting very low speed limits for vehicles.