Speeders deserve to be issued tickets

Thomas J. Kopecky's Sept. 8 letter 'Drivers have plenty of space to stop” was insightful and correct. The speeders deserve the tickets.

Where did the 1,000 foot idea come from? Was there data or engineering calculations to support the 1,000 foot requirement? Or was it established in a political maneuver to put Cedar Rapids cameras out of business?

If there is something sacred about the 1,000 foot requirement then how about applying it to the speed limit sign placements at the entrances to all the towns and cities of Iowa. I would venture that there have been many tickets issued when the speed limit drops from highway speed to town speed limits with less than 1,000 feet of warning. And in a lot of those cases the speed change can be as great as 20 mph or more far exceeding the 5 mph drop from 60 mph to 55 mph in the Cedar Rapids case. Maybe the Iowa laws should require reducing speed limits in 5 mph increments with 1,000 foot warnings for each increment. To go from 55 mph to 25 mph (school zone at the outskirts of a town) would require over a mile of warnings and slowing down. That would go over well with the driving public.

Lewis Staley

Marion