Higher speed limits = less speeding

Uh Oh, some common sense is creeping into at least a little part of the govt.

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/27/report-utah-dot-admits-higher-speed-limits-has-worked-out-to-le/

All I can say is "Well DUH!"

Speed doesn' kill - The nut that holds the wheel kills.

In Germany most wrecks are single cars. They are very strict on distance between cars and maintaining your lane. You can get a major ticket for changing lanes w/o using your signal. When was the last time you heard about that happening in the states?

With way too many years of driving on roads like I-95, I truly think the most dangerous thing you can do is change lanes, or be in the way of someone doing that. It is not speed, but inattentive drivers. I always play the mental game of "What is that shiny happy person going to do next?" If they have a cellphone to the ear, or worse yet be texting, you know bad things will soon follow, so get out of the way. Almost all accidents can be avoided if you are totally aware and proactive. Don't let the morons get you!!!!

I had an interesting experience last fall while going to Summit point. I'm driving my Liberty and towing my car and trailer. I normally cruise at 65 when towing. The when I got to a state ,can't remember which, where the speed limit was 70, so I decided I will drive 70. To my surprise, almost no one else was. This was on I-81 from NYS.

In SC it depends on the day. Monday, me driving 80, was getting passed by everything except trucks and little old ladies. Last Thursday, at 74 I was passing everything. Go figure.

FINALLY sense, lets hope its a trend.

Tetzuoe wrote: FINALLY sense, lets hope its a trend.

Silly Boy!

Kia_racer wrote: Speed doesn' kill - The nut that holds the wheel kills. In Germany most wrecks are single cars. They are very strict on distance between cars and maintaining your lane. You can get a major ticket for changing lanes w/o using your signal. When was the last time you heard about that happening in the states?

That's news to me - pushy, aggressive driving is par for the course over here. People tailgate constantly and always want to be going faster than you are no matter what the speed limit (if there is one.) It's gotten to the point where I hate driving out of town at night because there's always some wanker in a Mercedes 5ft from my arse with his high-beams on. I wouldn't say the standard of driving in these parts is significantly better than the U.S. or Canada. Maybe it's an East/West thing (like everything else in this country.)

I've found myself on roads with speedlimits that say 70mph but my vision isn't so great so >0mph is the speed I like to go. When I see a highway sign that says 70mph speedlimit I automatically think there won't be any cops and push the pedal down. But hell modern cars are getting so damned fast even a basic version of a civic or corolla will probably be able to hit 100mph and hold it.

this has actually been pretty well-documented for a while. most people will drive at a speed they find appropriate and comfortable, regardless of the posted speed limit. artificially-low speed limits (i.e., speed limits substantially lower than that "majority" speed) are in place simply to produce revenue.

I've read that in most/many states the speed limit is supposed to be determined by the speed most people drive on that section of road. IIRC that was the genesis of raising the speed limit on that road in Utah.

No, that doesn't mean to always go 100 on the toll road and the speed limit will increase.

I dont know about anyone/anywhere else, but around here I have noticed that the truckers speed waaaaay too much. and more often than some of the driviers. I usually only go about 3 MPH if im going to. I have too bad a record from the past couple years to drive anything over anymore. (insurance is incredibly high, im talking astronomical)

But for instance today, I was going through a construction zone, its supposed to be 55. i was going a hair over, and just about got run the eFF over and i was in that lane for over 15 minutes, its not like i merged in front of him. He had to be going at least 70. He almost hit my rear bumper when he finally got over into the left lane.

Same thing in northern KY. They had some campaign for a couple years that was all over tv/radio saying if you drive over the speed limit or reckless near a truck, they double your fine. last weekend i was coming back from northern KY, and guess who were the ones driving WAY too far over the speed limit down a decently steep grade? The truckers.... Who is watching them? I give respect and all for those that DO drive safe... but I notice this more and more lately.

It seems to me that speeding is time-management in Texas. I live in south-central Texas and this state is so damn big you waste large time-parts of your life getting from place to place in it. I have driven into or out of this state from pretty much every region of the border (except the mexico side) and there is not a way to get out of texas in under about 8-9 hours from where i live. If i chose to do the speed limit over the course of that trip i could easily lose 2 more hours of my life to this wasteland.

Buzz Killington wrote: this has actually been pretty well-documented for a while. most people will drive at a speed they find appropriate and comfortable, regardless of the posted speed limit. artificially-low speed limits (i.e., speed limits substantially lower than that "majority" speed) are in place simply to produce revenue.

I know in IA, one way out of a speeding ticket is to challenge the speed survey. If a speed survey has not been done recently (iirc, w/in 12mo) or if the average speed was greater than yours, case dismissed!

I don't mind I-95 as much as the people in southern GA. Some days, everyone is going 10 over. Some days, 10 under. If it's raining everyone turns on their hazards and slows to 15-20 under! If you really want to cause an accident, turn on your hazards for no reason.

I want to be a cop, just so I can bust people for failure to use turn signals, improper mud flaps, and failure to maintain control when weaving while using a cell phone. Yes, I would be that shiny happy person, and I would be proud of it

In response to Jay: It was something I read a couple of years ago.

OTOH living in the Dallas area where people tend to drive 10 to 15 over the limit on most of the highways. There is one (360 for those of you in the area) The speed limit is 65, I was doing 70 andbeing passed by just about everyone including semis. This area is a little scary sometimes.

In reply to xci_ed6:

on my way to a wedding a couple weeks ago i pull up behind a car with a bumper sticker that says something to the effect of "guns don't kill people, people driving with cellphones do"

and i'll be damned if the moron isn't jabbering away on the phone behind the wheel.

cwh wrote: I always play the mental game of "What is that shiny happy person going to do next?" If they have a cellphone to the ear, or worse yet be texting, you know bad things will soon follow, so get out of the way. Almost all accidents can be avoided if you are totally aware and proactive. Don't let the morons get you!!!!

Exactly. As they stressed in the MSF motorcycle school, always have an out.

I hate driving through Texas. Having made 4 cross state drives I barely had the will to live afterwards.

I think that there is an acceptable speed limit that most common sense wielding people can agree on. Obvious 90mph is out, but 75 or 80 mph on most highways is easily doable.

Where i live the speed limit is 70 in most places (on the freeway), in in reality, you have to drive 75+ to be safe most of the time (sometimes you can get away with it in the middle lane, but the fast lane or the "slow" lane no way).

Drewsifer wrote: Obvious 90mph is out, but 75 or 80 mph on most highways is easily doable.

Maybe I'm a wuss but in my car, I didn't feel good about anything over 70mph. I drive an indicated 76, which was a GPS 70, and it felt like I was cruising. In my truck, indicated 70 is scary. On my bike...well, 85 feels like it's just getting in the groove. Cages scare me.

Oh god... i could just see me trying to cruise at 80 in the Deathscort. It'll do it with no problems, hell, it would probably cruise at 120 with no problems. But:

DEAR GOD THE REVS.

BWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!

"Higher speed limits = less speeding"

DUH... if the speed limit was infinity, no one would be technically speeding.

Drewsifer wrote: I think that there is an acceptable speed limit that most common sense wielding people can agree on. Obvious 90mph is out, but 75 or 80 mph on most highways is easily doable.

90 is out... for now.

As cars keep getting better/safer/faster, I expect the speed limits will keep slowly raising. Even the most lowly econobox sold today will still cruise at 75 and hit 100+, something that couldn't be said 20 years ago.

if only more people could read reports like this, maybe we'd get those rural speed limits back up to 80 or so nationwide. Here in Michigan, we finally got 70mph in some of the more urban freeway sections. 55 sucks, 65 isn't much better.

Drewsifer wrote: Obvious 90mph is out

I guess that depends on where and what you drive. I routinely maintain 95+ on my way to work and I can often do it w/o seeing more than 1 or 2 cars for almost the whole stretch. I don't have to slow down until I get just north of the city - when there is some traffic to be considerate of.