Example debate AC

Adapted from handout by Robert Marmorstein

I. Introduction

Speed Limit laws, while well-intentioned, are ineffective and actually create many problems. Therefore, I believe that

The Virginia state government should significantly change its speed limit laws.

II. Harms

A. Low speed limits cause more accidents

Katy Waldman, "I Can't Drive 85: Do Higher Speed limits cause more car accidents?", Slate.com, June 12, 2012

"Two recent cases helped refute the notion that relaxed speed limits lead to more accidents. After New York raised the cap on its highway traffic to 65 mph in 1995, the state’s total crash rate dropped by 4 percent. And in 2000, the Automobile Club of Southern California determined that higher speed limits in that state did not increase the rate of statewide accidents over a period of five years. A study of Iowa’s 1996 increase of the state speed limit from 55 to 65 mph concluded that this speed hike caused a jump in traffic accidents. In a lengthy literature review of traffic engineering studies, however, it stands alone in its conclusion that higher speed limits cause more crashes."

B. Federal studies show higher speed limits are safer

"Effects of Raising and Lowering Speed Limits", Report Number FHWA-RD-92-084, U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration, October 1992.

"Contrary to public perception that accidents decrease when speed limits are lowered and increase when speed limits are raised, the accident rates in table 9 indicate that this perception may not be true. The data actually indicate that accident rates were reduced at sites where speed limits were raised and increased at sites where speed limits were lowered, assuming that the comparison site accident history reflects what actually would have occurred at the experimental sites. The validity of this assumption, as well as the results of the accident evaluation, are presented in the following paragraphs."

C. Higher speed limits reduce congestion

Rick Jervis, "Super-high speed limits raising hope -- and some worry", USA Today, Dec. 29, 2012 "The highway project, which refurbished and raised the speed limit of the southern 40 miles of Highway 130, was a way to unclog interstates between Dallas, San Antonio and Austin, she said. "Texans no longer need to sit in traffic when driving through Central Texas," Beyer said. "We are providing drivers an option for a more efficient and less congested roadway to San Antonio.""

III. Significance A. Traffic deaths kill more people than guns

Adrienne Lafrance, "America's Top Killing Machine", The Atlantic, Jan. 12, 2015

"For the better part of a century, the machine most likely to kill an American has been the automobile. Car crashes killed 33,561 people in 2012, the most recent year for which data is available, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Firearms killed 32,251 people in the United States in 2011, the most recent year for which the Centers for Disease Control has data."

B. Traffic hurts the environment

Paul Sanders, "How Traffic Jams Affect Air Quality", The Environmental Leader, Jan. 5, 2012

"No one will be surprised to learn that areas with the largest number of cars on the road see higher levels of air pollution on average. Motor vehicles are one of the largest sources of pollution worldwide. You may be surprised to learn, however, that slower moving traffic emits more pollution than when cars move at freeway speeds. Traffic jams are bad for our air."

C. Traffic hurts the economy

Natalie Clarkson, "What is the economic impact of traffic?", Virgin.com, Oct. 31, 2014

"Congestion has an obvious negative impact – you only have to look at a city like Cairo to see that. The Egyptian capital has 20 million people, two million cars, 23,600 miles of road and huge traffic problem. The congestion is so bad that many people socialise through open windows, trading insults, cigarettes and small talk. Traffic laws are ignored and drivers do as they please – with some pretty disastrous consequences. Ambulances get blocked, pedestrians are killed and there are lots of multi car pile-ups, especially on the city’s ring road, which was originally built to ease congestion but is now as manic as the city’s other routes.

A World Bank study on Cairo’s traffic problem in 2010 revealed that the annual cost of traffic in the greater metropolitan area was about 50 billion Egyptian pounds – four percent of Egypt’s entire GDP. Compared to Jakarta, which is as densely populated as the Egyptian capital and famous for its traffic but only loses 0.6% of Indonesia’s GDP to traffic costs."

IV. Inherency

A. Virginia Speed Limits are Determined by the general assembly

"Traffic Information: Speed Limits", Virginia Department of Transportation Web Page, Dec. 19, 2014

"Virginia's General Assembly establishes statewide maximum statutory limits and has granted authority to the commonwealth transportation commissioner, who heads the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), and to cities and certain counties and towns to establish speed limits that do not exceed the maximum allowed by law for highways under their jurisdictions."

B. The general assembly has been lowering speed limits

Marshall Herman, Virginia Department of Transportation Press Release, July 1, 2014

"Effective July 1, a maximum speed limit of 35 mph will apply to all unpaved roads statewide, as a result of legislation passed by the General Assembly this year.

The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) proposed the revised speed limit for unpaved roads to keep the speed limit consistent. Prior to the revision, the maximum speed limit on these roads was 55 mph, though this varied by counties."

V. Plan

A. Mandates

1. The Virginia General Assembly shall pass a law raising the maximum speed limit on highways to 85 MPH.

2. This law will take affect Jan. 1, 2016.

B. Funding Funding for this proposal shall come from general state revenue.

C. Adminstration

The Virginia Department of Transporation shall be responsible for implementing this plan.

VI. Solvency

A. Higher speed limits have worked in Germany

Brandon Gaille, "17 Fascinating Autobahn Accident Statistics", BrandonGaille.com, Aug. 17, 2014 "The annual fatality rate on the Autobahn in 2.7 per billion kilometers traveled. The United States has a 4.5 fatality rate for the same distance and highly controlled speeds to boot. More than 50% of the Autobahn has no posted speed limit, although there is an advised limit of 130 kilometers per hour."

B. Higher speed limits have worked in Ohio

Larry Copeland, "Texas raises speed limit to 85 mph: Other states could, too", USA Today, Sept. 8, 2012

"But John Bowman of the National Motorists Association, which advocates for higher speed limits, says it is possible to safely raise speed limits on highways — as long as engineering studies have shown that the road can handle such an increase. He points to the Ohio Turnpike, which raised the speed limit to 70 mph in the spring of 2011. It recorded the lowest fatality rate in its history that same year — six deaths."