by Paul Maxfield contributing writer

There’s something about drivers in Texas, especially Corpus Christi, that gives me road rage. Is it the way they tend to drive beside you instead of passing, making it difficult to change lanes? Is it their total failure to comprehend the concept of a fast lane? Is it the way they dart out right in front of you and then proceed to drive 10 miles below the speed limit? Is it the woman who suddenly made a left hand turn from the right hand lane this morning without even indicating, almost causing me to hit her? I blame the speed limits.

Corpus Christi’s speed limits are lower than I’ve been subjected to any other place, and the devotion that Texan traffic cops have to their jobs is more zealous than I’ve witnessed anywhere else (I’ve been pulled over three times since I moved to Texas two months ago, as compared to... never in the rest of my life). But aren’t the low speeds they enforce so passionately really what is responsible for all the bad driving? Just think about it...

If the speed limits were higher, several things would happen: It would train people to think and act more quickly. They would be forced to become more decisive as drivers. If the limits were boosted by 10-20 miles an hour, people like me who generally use our vehicles as a mode of

transportation (instead of as means of sightseeing, or as a combination mobile phone booth and makeup studio) would be less impatient in getting where we need to go, and would therefore become less aggressive drivers.

On the other hand, raising the limit, would also up the stakes for the consequences of stupid driving. There’s going to be a huge difference in the force of impact if I hit you doing 40 miles per hour instead of 20.

It’s hoped that this increased sense of risk will correlate with an increased sense of caution while driving, and lead people to pay more attention to what’s going on around them on the road. That goes for school zones too. Children need to learn that the street is no place for playing.

If not, then raising the speed limits will certainly lead to an increase in traffic fatalities, and that will work just as well. That’s when the principles of Darwinism take over, and we thin the herd a little. Survival of the fittest, friends. When the weak perish it leaves the group stronger. It may take some time to really see the effects of all the bad drivers dying off, but in the end we all (at least those of us who are left) will benefit.