Today’s Big Story

Are Speed Limits Too High?

Do Americans hit lethal speeds because they're in a rush, or because they think it’s safe?

How fast is too fast? Americans like to drive fast. We’re in a rush, no one likes to wait and going five to ten miles per hour over the speed limit is all but expected, right? I remember driving from Austin, Texas to my hometown in St. Louis and encountering a long stretch of interstate with a posted speed limit of 85 mph. Turns out, that’s the fastest speed limit in America and yet, people still passed me after I set my cruise control to 91.

A disturbing percentage of Americans don't believe speeding is all that dangerous, a new study finds—and until America's safety culture changes, it may be hard to develop political support for the structural solutions we need to slow them down. According to an anonymous survey of motorists conducted by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, only 46.5% of U.S. drivers consider going more than 15 miles per hour over the speed limit on the freeway to be “extremely” or “very” dangerous—with 40.6% openly admitting to doing it at least “a few times” in the last 30 days.

“Speeding really is the standout behavior,” said Rebecca Steinbach, senior researcher for AAA and the lead author of the report. “A lot of folks are not recognizing that it’s dangerous—and even if they do, a lot of them are doing it anyway.”

Ever wonder how these speed limits came into existence or how the state determines what the speed limit is on a given road? Speed limits in America can be traced as far back as 1652, when the New Amsterdam colony, what is now New York, issued a decree stating: “[N]o wagons shall be run, rode or driven at a gallop,” with violators risking a fine of about $150 in today’s currency. Fast forward to 1899, when a New York City cabdriver was arrested for driving his electric taxi at 12 miles per hour. Connecticut then became the first state to pass a law regulating the speed of motor vehicles to 12 mph in cities and 15 mph on country roads.

Now states and cities are finally starting to dial back speed limits, especially on city streets, in an effort to reduce pedestrian deaths. According to Vox, there’s a reason why municipalities are lowering the speed limit to 20 mph: It’s the speed at which most pedestrians who get hit by a car still have a good chance of survival. Above that, risk rises exponentially: A person hit by a vehicle going 30 miles per hour is 70% more likely to be killed than by a car going 25. The average risk of death reaches 50% when the driver is going 42 mph, and 90% at 58 mph—above that, a pedestrian’s chances of survival get very slim.

Biden and Trump Agree to Two Debates

The political intrigue behind the unusually early June debate date

After months of uncertainty, it looks like we’ll be getting debates between Joe Biden and Donald Trump after all—and sooner than expected. On Wednesday, the Biden campaign announced a proposal to have two presidential debates, one in late June, the other in September. Trump quickly said he accepted those dates.

The announcement also confirms that the candidates will buck the decades-old tradition of three fall meetings organized by the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates. The Washington Post says the decision adds “unpredictability to an already close race.” The two debates will happen much earlier than normal, which could decrease their impact on the election or awaken voters who have not yet tuned in.

The Biden campaign said they want the debate to occur inside a TV studio, with microphones that automatically cut off when a speaker’s time limit elapses. And they want it to be just the two candidates and the moderator — without the raucous in-person audiences that Mr. Trump feeds on and without the participation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. or other independent or third-party candidates. According to Axios, the campaigns have agreed to no audience for the CNN debate in June, but they're still negotiating on how to handle cutting off microphones.

Meme Stocks Return

But the trading frenzy is showing signs of fizzling

Do you remember in early 2021, when the stock price of GameStop pumped immensely after a Reddit community of traders started buying en masse? This in turn caused the demise of hedge fund Melvin Capital that was shorting GameStop stock (shorting, in the simplest of terms, is betting on the stock price declining). It also marked the beginning of a trend in which communities of smaller traders were able to substantially move the prices of certain stocks, often opposing the directional bets of larger entities such as hedge funds.

While the trend was short lived, it now appears to be back. On Monday, after nearly three years of dormancy, the trader that started it all started posting a series of memes and crypto video excerpts on X. People took notice and after lingering in the $10 to $18 region for nearly the entirety of 2024 so far, the price of GameStop soared to $80 in less than 48 hours and the price of another meme stock, AMC Entertainment, more than doubled at one point.

But investor appetite for such “meme stocks” may already be waning. CBS News reports that the shares of GameStop, AMC Entertainment, BlackBerry and other companies embraced by retail traders plunged on Wednesday. It goes without saying that such stocks carry risks for small investors hoping to make a profit because such shares tend to be volatile, with large swings in either direction, experts have cautioned. Smead Capital Management CEO Cole Smead described the craze on CNBC as “frankly stupid,” saying it’s just “gambling.”

Do Americans Even Want Vacations?

We don’t take PTO and are overwhelmed by anything larger than a “short trip”

We all know that regular time off is essential to our overall health and well-being. But we’re not doing anything about it. Several new studies indicate that not only are U.S. workers given relatively few vacation days when compared to other countries (we rank almost last), but they also leave a good chunk of what they are given on the table.

According to a Pew Research Center survey, nearly half of U.S. workers said they take less time off than their employers gave them. Why is that? Well, about half of those who don’t use all their PTO said they don’t feel they need to take more time off (52%) or said they’re worried they will fall behind at work when they’re gone (49%). Yet the Pew study found that U.S. workers actually appreciate having paid time off.

Of course, when we finally take time off, a lot of us are overwhelmed by the time at our disposal. Maybe we take so few vacations that we’re deconditioned. Thrillist reports on a slew of Reddit threads filled with people complaining about how debilitating their vacations were: “If waking up at 7 am to walk 15 miles to dozens of crowded places for five days straight sounds exhausting to you, just know you're not alone.” And while on the topic of travel, apparently there’s a distinction most make between a “trip” (travel with a purpose, such as an event) and a “vacation” (travel for relaxation).

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Stay present, stay grateful.