Prudent Is As Prudent Does

For some reason, Montana Attorney General Joe Mazurek was huffy last month after 15 Mercedes-Benz test drivers were caught speeding at 100 mph near Billings.

Fumed Mazurek: “I think it shows a real lack of respect, not only for the law in Montana but also for the rights and safety of Montana drivers and tourists from other states and countries.”

What it really shows is a lack of understanding for a poor law.

The drivers testing cars for performance in Montana’s high altitudes had more reason than Mazurek to be upset about the episode. After all, they - and many of us outsiders - had heard Montana doesn’t have a daytime speed limit. They’re wiser now - and $70 poorer.

If anything, the state law, which specifies only a “reasonable and prudent” speed for conditions, has transformed Montana into the nation’s biggest speed trap for motorists who “put the hammer down.” And a $20,000 information campaign to warn visitors of the law isn’t going to change that.

The Montana Legislature should end the confusion by adopting a daytime speed limit with numbers. In keeping with the state’s Wild West image, legislators could limit speeds to 80 mph or 85 mph along open stretches and something more reasonable in areas with heavier traffic.

Montana returned to its pre-1974 law last Dec. 8 when the U.S. Congress did away with mandatory federal speed limits. At first, Montanans didn’t like the new law. But now that they understand it - unlike the rest of us - some 61 percent of them support the lack of a stated speed limit.

But Col. Craig Reap, commander of the Montana Highway Patrol, doesn’t. His troopers are on the hook to interpret the new law daily on a case-by-case, even an hour-by-hour basis. (Montana’s rapidly changing weather has a big impact on driving conditions.)

Reap also has to be concerned that his patrol officers are spending a lot more time in court, defending citations before a judge. Now, speeding tickets count against a motorist’s driving record and can cost from $70 to $500, many times the $5 penalty typically imposed when Montana had mandated limits.

For 85 percent of drivers in Montana, the new law has added only about 2 mph to their speed - an average of 75 mph on interstates and 65 mph on two-lane highways. But more and more of the remaining 15 percent, many of whom are out-of-staters, are zipping along at speeds topping 90 mph and 100 mph.

That’s too fast.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = D.F. Oliveria/For the editorial board