JEFF CAPLAN'S MY MINUTE OF NEWS
Jeff Caplan’s Minute of News: Should your car bust you for speeding?
May 22, 2024, 9:00 PM
New data shows that the amount of deadly crashes in Utah this summer increased from last year. (FILE: Getty Images)
(FILE: Getty Images)
Editor’s note: This is an editorial piece. An editorial, like a news article, is based on fact but also shares opinions. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and are not associated with our newsroom.
SALT LAKE CITY — When you’re driving on the freeway, there are two speeds you need to know. You have the speed limit — and there’s the unwritten number which we’ll call the speed tolerated. Often expressed this way: “Ohhhh the cops leave you alone if you’re only going five miles an hour over.”
But it’s not a hard and fast rule. For instance, at the tail end of rush hour on the freeway sometimes drivers stretch the speed tolerated. But on a holiday weekend, you have to stick to the posted speed or you might have to do the drive of shame onto the shoulder. License and registration, please. The whole thing.
Point is, the speed tolerated is a variable. And if you think it’s awful that I’m saying this out loud, maybe you need to move to California where the state legislature is now in the process of passing a law that requires intelligent speed assistance.
So what’s that? Well, if it gets final approval by 2032, all new cars in California will be required to beep when you do 10 mph over the limit.
Before you start grumbling about the freedom-hating wackadoodle liberals in California, remember that the car market on the left coast is so big that automakers will often install the feature for the rest of us. So in the future, the speed tolerated might be the same as the speed limit. Driving would be slower and safer but when you speed up ’cause you’re running late — instead of a ticket, the punishment might be torture in the form of beeping that sounds like the seat belt warning. And the only way to make it stop is to take your foot off the gas.
Jeff Caplan is the host of Jeff Caplan’s Afternoon News on KSL NewsRadio. Follow him on Facebook and X.
