"The Law of Unintended Consequences"

I had a fairly good day! I was able to do something that boosted my self esteem academically. ..well, here I was, sitting in Microeconomics, and our teacher gives us a question, and we are supposed to come up with a solution. He said that the individual who was able to come up with the correct solution would be awarded with 5 bonus points!

The question had to do with the subject of Prufrockian Economics, a.k.a. "The Law of Unintended Consequences."  This particular question was dealing with the speed limit in the USA:

    'When the speed limit was allowed to be greater than 50 mph, analysts predicted that the increase in speed would cause an increase in number of accidents. After a certain amount of time, actually the opposite proved to be true. Why might this be?'

After several (incorrect) guesses, he gave us a clue, stating something about the interstate being introduced, compared to the already existing highway system. This then put the idea into my mind... so I bashfully raised my hand and presented what I believed may be the correct answer. It did indeed prove to be the right answer! I nervously explained to my class that the benefits of driving on the interstate were greater than riding on the highway, because of the increase in speed, so more drivers were choosing to use the interstate. The cost of driving on the interstate was less than on the highway, because the traffic is one-way, not two-ways like on the highway, therefore allowing for a decrease in the number of accidents! (My teacher tells us time and again, it's all about costs and benefits; we want to be able to increase benefits while decreasing costs).

My teacher was so glad that a student finally answered it right, he actually got down on his knees in the front of class, and started to pretend to worship me for knowing the answer... "oh great one, almighty.." it was rather comical! He keeps class pretty upbeat. :) It made me feel good, since I am just starting out in a new major, and I feel like I know nearly nothing concerning the new material. But I am in school, and that's where I should be to learn these things, right? :) Yes, learning is quite a process. Quite a process, and well worth the effort, I might add.