Dear Editor:
The July 18 column by Brendan McAleer about the new speed limits needs a response.I can't disagree with him strongly enough. The raised limits are a disaster waiting to happen.The week before the increases I drove to Kelowna via the Coquihalla. My speed on cruise was between 115 and 118 km/h. Some people passed me. I passed some people. Very seldom was the speed differential very much either way except on uphill grades.I came back the day the new signage was installed. I set my cruise to the same speed as always. It is comfortable. But this time there were speed demons around me. No one was going my speed or less. The only times I had to pass people was up the hills. Down the hills, on the flats, every place the speeds were way up. Trucks, buses, and grandma in her little city car were all going over 120 km/h. I am not an old fuddy duddy from the farm. I have driven the autobahns in Europe, usually about 180 km/h but now and then a bit faster; 235 km/h in southern Germany.To those who think the new speed limits are just a reflection of reality, I hope your dreaming does not put me, my family or anyone I know in jeopardy or worse.Walter KnechtNorth Vancouver
