Hitting the Road...But One Year Later Than Usual?

I blame both the cops and the state traffic sign people. Why? There aren't enough police pulling people over for speeding. There should be more speed traps set up not only to catch people, but to scare other drivers into slowing down. Coming from Washington, DC, I can attest to the effectiveness of speed traps. VA troopers would be set up every two miles for a ten mile stretch. On some nights, you could trace your way home by the police lights along the highway. In the Boston area, the only time I see police lights is when they're eating donuts while attending to road maintenance crews.

At night, Mass state police seem to be scarce especially along Rt. 3. You can go 65 in a 55 mph zone and have a car come out of nowhere at 95 mph and pass you. On top of this, there is a lot of weaving in and out of lanes from impatient drivers who don't like the fact that you're going slower than 80.

And lest I forget, the state sign people are also to blame. Has anyone ever figured out what the "No Turns" signs mean at the end of an off ramp. And with MA's confusing intersections involving more than 5 spokes, why aren't there yield signs? Not that it matters. I've noticed people in the Boston area don't really understand yields anyway.

In any case, age is not the problem. It is the culture in which these teenagers are brought up in that causes these problems. Teenage driving accidents don't seem to be as bad elsewhere as they are here. If drivers, of all ages, don't learn the consequences of dangerous high speed driving, raising the age limit isn't going to solve the real problem.