Quote:
Originally Posted by KIS
Again, my point is simple. The law already exists, it is called speeding. It is against the law to exceed the speed limit whether you are driving in New York City or Wyoming. If you can not ever drive legally above 80 mph in the USA, why is it easy to obtain a vehicle that can double that speed?
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Our court system typically takes a relatively conservative view, and strikes down laws (nationwide) that it finds too restrictive, unless there's a compelling public safety reason. Thus, a law like "everyone in the front seat must wear a seatbelt" can pass muster, since they can show that wearing seatbelts is highly correlated with lower accident fatality rates. It is much harder (or impossible) to prove that there's a compelling safety reason to prohibit someone from owning a car that can exceed the speed limit, so a law like that would likely be struck down.
This is painting US law in broad stripes, but I think generally speaking, in the US you are presumed to have the right (whatever it is), unless there is a compelling public safety reason to deprive you of that right. Unless someone can prove that restricting cars to 80mph will lower fatalities, it is unlikely a law like that would make it through the courts. A lot of it really comes down to how a judicial system balances public good with individual good, and the US system leans toward individual good, and is usually far less restrictive on individuals, even when it might make sense.