Date: Mon, 25 Sep 1995 20:18:37 -0400

The artificially low speed limits have an effect of allowing the
authorities to raise revenue at will, due to the fact that there will
be virtually no motorists that are truly following the posted limits
at all times.  The effective speed limit is really 10 mph over the
posted limits, with the police generally leaving traffic traveling at
10 over to go about their business.

If the limits were raised, making it more difficult for the police to
make traffic stops at will, revenue for the localities would decrease,
so official support for speed limit changes would tend to be less
likely.  Incidences of overzealous speed enforcement on otherwise law
abiding motorists generally give a lowered opinion of police in
general, as the majority of the public will have few encounters with
them in other than those situations.

Enforcing speed limits without factoring in true risk factors dim
public view of the benefits of having police on the road.  Drivers
that weave around traffic, cutting off other motorists, and endanger
others all too often go about their way unchallenged, while the
"speeders" on open roads in good road conditions will be selected for
a stop, mainly due to the preferred method of sitting hidden on the
road instead of driving around, watching for truly dangerous
drivers. 

It's unlikely that cherry picking will be eliminated, when the rich
source of revenue is so easily available.