First, I’d like to thank those select few who don’t speed and tailgate around town.

I’ve noticed that there has been an increase of police presence in front of the school, which is good since the average speed through the school zone seems to be about 40 [miles per hour] and heaven help those who aren’t also going 40 [mph] because the speeders will get less than a car length on your tail if you dare hold them up.

The same holds true for going through Pine Cove on the highway. The speed limit is 30 [mph], but if you aren’t going 40 [mph], you’re going to have someone right on your tail.

The consensus seems to be it’s not only OK to speed, you should be speeding.

I was on the freeway a few months back and not speeding because there was a California Highway Patrol (CHP) [vehicle] right next to me. There was also someone one car length behind me and the CHP was oblivious to this.

I yelled at him and pointed to the tailgater and got a “Huh?” from the officer. He finally dropped back and watched the tailgater for a few minutes, giving her the chance to change her ways, but she didn’t.

My point is that the consensus that it’s OK to tailgate includes the police. To me, police should focus on what’s dangerous first and what is easy to enforce and makes money second.

Someone tailgating, especially behind a motorcycle, is threatening the driver or, at the least, demanding that they speed, too. If they’re not going to enforce speeding and tailgating laws, let them take the speed limit signs down and I’ll go 40 [mph], too.

Eric Townsend
Idyllwild