GO 40!
A campaign for
sanity on the road and reduced energy use
What is "GO 40!"?
GO 40! is an approach to
improving highway safety, and reducing injuries and fatalities on the
road. It will also help people economize on fuel, and lessen our
dependence on fossil fuels and Middle East resources. It will minimize
the incentive by runaway government to undertake genocidal wars such as
the current conflicts it started and continues to fuel in Iraq,
Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Yemen. It will facilitate the
return of soldiers to civilian life, where their lives can most
productively bear fruit. These goals are furthered with one simple action under the control
of the average citizen.
Motorists are encouraged to travel at
40 miles per hour in lanes with posted speed limits exceeding 40 miles
per hour, where legally permissible and when other
factors do not make it unsafe. We hope New York State will adopt this
program by making 40 mph the legal speed limit throughout the state on
all roads.
*WARNING: This program should never be
carried
out by a motorist where conditions make it unsafe, or where minimum
posted speed limits exceed 40 mph. In these cases, it is recommended
that motorists adhere to the minimum limit. It
is up to motorists, and/or local, state and federal agencies, to judge
in each particular circumstance and at any time, the appropriate
vehicle speed, based on legal restrictions, safety, or any other
criteria such as those that are a part of the "GO 40!' campaign. This
program is not meant in any case whatsoever to replace the judgment or
responsibility of the driver to operate his or her vehicle safely and
legally at all times. This program should only be carried out
intelligently, thoughtfully and responsibly, and should as much as
possible not interfere with those who wish to travel at safe and
legally permissible speeds exceeding 40 mph.
WHY "GO 40!"
1. Forty miles per hour as an upper
speed limit represents an appreciable reduction in speed. This
reduction reduces the air resistance encountered by an automobile, and
thus, reduces the energy, and therefore, the fuel, that the car
requires to move forward. When this factor is multiplied by the
millions of vehicles that travel across New York State and across the
nation, the gesture would represent an appreciable contribution to the
reduction of air pollution.
In terms of highway safety, such a
gesture is a way of significantly reducing traffic accidents, and the
large number of accompanying deaths and serious injuries. Not only does
a reduction in speed reduce physical damage
during an accident, but it does so out of proportion to the reduction.
A speed reduction of a third reduces the capacity for damage by over
half. There are so many other factors contributing to accidents that
are reduced substantially by even a small speed reduction that it is
hard to list them all. Reaction time is the primary one. Road
conditions such as curvature of the road, and wet or icy roads are
others.
2. Consumers are facing economic
hardship due primarily to government malfeasance and plain old
fashioned
criminal mismanagement. Fuel savings by reducing vehicle speed, and the
accompanying economic benefits to the average citizen, will be
appreciable.
3. Reduction in the need for fuel also
reduces foreign dependence on a natural resource. This will help us in
our international balance of trade.
4. It will also prevent the dollar
from being artificially propped up due to the world's dependence on
oil, and the fact that oil is priced in dollars.
5. It will also reduce our dependence
on oil from foreign sources, and thus reconfigure the relationships the
U.S. has with major oil producing nations. In the past, it is apparent
that the U.S. government has felt the need to conquer and control oil
producing nations, committing horrible war crimes and crimes against
humanity in the process, and allegedly even killing its own citizens to
create a pretext for invading and occupying Middle Eastern countries.
We can thus contribute to peace on the planet through this seemingly
small gesture. It will thus reduce the bill for eventual reparations
which America will have to pay as a result of its destruction of human
and animal life and infrastructure due to its conquest of the Middle
East.
6. With a diminished demand for crude
oil, crude prices are likely to go down in an attempt to increase
demand, thus benefiting the consumer.
7. Dwindling petroleum resources worldwide will be more efficiently
utilized, on a basis of need rather than on the basis of profits to the
oil companies and gasoline retailers. Thus, these resources will last
longer.
8. Pollution due to the combustion of
fossil fuels will be considerably reduced. Automobile exhaust is one of
the largest contributors to pollution, including toxic gaseous and
particulate emissions
that are a direct threat to the health of humanity.
In general, citizens adopting the
goals of this campaign will opt to take less traveled roads, roads with
lower speed limits posted, or lanes in which travel at reduced speed is
acceptable by convention. Motorists will make their traveling plans and
schedules more carefully as a result, planning ahead to make sure they
meet their appointments in a timely fashion, taking into consideration
the reduced speeds of their vehicles. The use of blinker lights may be
appropriate under some circumstances to indicate that a motorist
intends to maintain a speed appreciably lower than the speed limit
posted.
If we care about people, we will do
all we can to stop the loss of life that occurs due to automobile
accidents. The extra speed is not worth it.
BACK TO PETER'S
NEW YORK
