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<title> Speed limits- life saver or nuisance? </title>
How can we avoid traffic accidents? Unfortunately, we can not, but we can reduce the number of people getting injured and even killed without too much of an effort. It would not take much from the driver; a couple of kilometres per hour slower and a tragedy is prevented.
In my opinion, speed limits are most definitely a life saver and I will in this essay argue for them to be more carefully looked after.

There has been some debate on this topic lately and politicians, for example, have argued that speed limits should be lower in winter time. Our neighbour in the east, Finland, already practises this principle. Speed limits on certain roads are lowered and the result is that fewer people get killed or injured. This is something that we here in Sweden must take after. Every year in the winter the amount of traffic accidents increase due to bad weather. The roads may seem dry and safe when they are in fact covered with a thin layer of ice. The weather factor and the false feeling of security, almost of immortality, in our new cars are two of the dangers when driving. Of course, speed limits can not be reduced everywhere just because of the fact that it is winter or that we feel safe in our cars. But, for example, on roads that are known for being dangerous the speed limit could be changed from 110 kilometres per hour to 90, or from 90 km/h to 70. This procedure would certainly save many lives.

Another good reason for lowering the speed limits is for the sake of the environment. Cars impose a great threat to nature with their fumes and until more environment-friendly cars are built a slower speed will reduce the damages on nature. This fact might sound a bit strange, but it is true that the faster cars go, the more exhaust fumes are spread.

My third argument on this topic is that people who drive too fast should be more often punished. Every time I go by car on the motorway to Stockholm, I notice that nearly half of all drivers are speeding; some of them go as fast as 140 km/h. That is not acceptable! It is irresponsible because on a motorway, you are not alone and an accident in 140 km/h is a disaster. As I mentioned earlier on, there has been quite some debate about speed limits lately and one terrifying fact that came up was that if the driver is driving two km/h too fast, the risk of getting killed increases with 20 per cent. Thus, the margins are very small. 

So what can we do? We can obviously drive slower, but what if we do not? Should punishments (fines, jail) be tougher? One could hardly argue for that speeding offences should lead to prison, that is taking it a bit too far. Fines however are in my opinion a very good punishment. People love money and may think twice before speeding again after a fine of a couple of thousand crowns. The problem today with fines is that not very many people are stopped by the police and forced to pay. There is simply no money to provide for enough policemen to keep after the drivers. The question is whether the government should put more money into the police force or not. More money would not just make the roads safer but also, obviously, reduce all crimes. That is however a totally different story. One solution to the speeding problem could be to have camera supervision to register cars that go too fast. This way, the need for policemen in the traffic is not so urgent. 

After treating this subject, I see that this is a huge problem and that it can not be easily solved. People like driving and people like driving fast. The motorways are big and the cars feel safe so there should not be a problem, many seem to think. But what if suddenly, a rabbit jumps out in front of the car?
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