Some Meat to Go With Your Bread

    One of my colleagues posted a commentary on their blog titled, “Is faster Really Better?” The basis for this article is the author’s criticism of the increased speed limits in and around Austin, Texas. The author left out a variety of useful data and information that could have shaped and backed their argument. The commentary gets the author’s opinion across, but leaves much to be desired.
    My colleague poses a simple question right from the start. “What is with the increase with speeds?” I don’t have an issue with the posing of such a question in the beginning of the commentary. The problem I have is with the author not answering the question, nor giving the reader enough substance to answer it themselves. The author should have pointed out that the foreign company that operates the toll road offered the Texas Department of Transportation an exorbitant amount of money to set the speed limit at 85 mph. The author could have also mentioned the incentive that was offered to TxDOT to lower the speed limit on I-35, both of which TxDOT accepted. The manipulation of these speed limits was done to make the toll road look more attractive, so the toll roads would generate more revenue.
    The author of the article states: “People die all the time in vehicle accidents.” Rather than stating the obvious, and to produce a more constructive argument, my colleague could have pointed out that the American Trucking Association feels that the toll road speed limit is excessive and dangerous. So much so that the American Trucking Association has asked the Texas Transportation Commission to rethink its 85 mph speed limit on the toll way.
    There are plenty of facts and opinions that the article could have included to better convey the author’s opinion/argument to the reader. At the very least traffic fatality statistics, loss of fuel economy while driving over 50 mph, and maybe the cost of the toll road and how expensive it is would have been a nice touch to add to the commentary.