Speed Limits

[Boozy]

Raising speed limits on some roads don't affect accidents. All that proves is that those two roads were able to handle a higher average speed of traffic.

[smileyeagle1021]

It also though raises the question of if those two roads can handle higher speeds, what other roads can handle higher speeds also, and why aren't we exploring that. Time is as they say money, and in the rural west 5 to 10 mph does start to make a huge difference when travelling such long distances.

[Stormraven]

My only problem with speed limits lies in the enforcement of them. At least where I am, you're damned if you do, and damned if you don't.

To be more clear, on almost any highway in California, you cannot go 60-65 MPH. You have a choice of 70-90 or 45-50.

Attempting to travel at 60-65 in any lane will result in:
a) Having to brake and driving at 45-50 if you're in the far right lane.
b) Getting tailgated by dozens of cars if you're in any other lane.

And if you do drive that speed in one of the 'faster' lanes, you'll get people backed up behind you, and you'll get ticketed for 'obstruction of traffic'.

Like I said, damned if you do, and damned if you don't.

So why not just cruise at 45-50 in the slow lane? That's your entrance and exit lane as much as a slow lane, and cruising in there will not be conducive to any form of sanity.

[otakuneko]

Just getting your driver's license in Germany is much harder and more expensive than it is in the US. German cops also enforce traffic laws other than speeding a lot more vigorously. I imagine that might also have something to do with Germany's lower highway deaths per-capita.

That said, I generally treat speed limits as guidelines, and consider the posted limit to be of little importance. It's way, way down my list of priorities when driving. Going with the flow of traffic, IMO, is the only sane way to drive. Fighting it--either above or below--is absolutely nuts. It's not the fast drivers I'm worried about at all though: they're easy to predict, and if I can predict them, I can avoid them. To me, it's the "slow" ones who are dangerous. Cruising along in lane two or three, is he going to hop over and exit, or stay where he is? If not right, will he change lanes left? Will he change lanes at all? No clue! Sure hope he signals or otherwise telegraphs his intent!

American drivers by and large are too dumb to do without the speed limits to at least give them some inkling of roughly what speed they should be going. I'd just rather see other, more dangerous moving violations enforced: failure to signal, tailgating, aggressive, distracted ('lo cell phone drivers), and shitfaced driving in general, these are what cause accidents. Sure, speed makes the accident more likely to be lethal, but speed alone is rarely the cause.

And you know what? It's been years since I've gotten a speeding ticket, and my last one happened when I just ran outta luck: I got nervous sitting between two trucks, and accelerated hard to get out from what I perceived to be a bad situation--I hate not being able to see shit around me, and the trucks were giving me tunnel vision. Cop nailed me doing 80ish (~20 over, and average speed on the highway at the time was 68-70) as I was passing the trucks.

[DesignFox]

otakuneko, there's a lot of things you said that I agree with.

It's the unpredictable people I have a problem with, not necessarily the fast ones.

I try my best to stay with the flow of traffic. If conditions do not permit me to go crazy speeds like some people in this state are known to do, I get over to the slow lane and let them pass (there are some days that conditions really do not permit the speeding that goes on on the parkway/turnpike).

I hate to break it to some people, but by obstructing the flow of traffic, going slow in the center or left lane, etc...YOU are becoming the hazard. If everyone on the highway is trying to manuever around you, YOU need to speed up or get out of the way.

Same for that one dude going 90 when everyone else is going 75. YOU are now the hazard. Slow down before you run someone off the road!

The speed limit in most areas can be either 55 or 65. If everyone is going 75, the cops won't bother anyone staying with the flow, being steady and predictable. They *will* however pull over the jerkoff that's weaving, trying to speed ahead of everyone, or even the jackass mooing along in the left lane 20 mph slower than everyone else- regardless of whether they are doing the limit or not.

[EricKei]

She was upset because NDOT was quote "raising the limit because everyone went over the old limit anyway".

That is -- by far -- the most common rationale I have always heard for raising speed limits. To me, it sounds like they're saying "Well, these drivers are always breaking the law anyway, so let's just change the law." I will grant, however, that there ARE situations (like the one SE cited) where it IS a good reason to raise the limit.

Just getting your driver's license in Germany is much harder and more expensive than it is in the US.

I have always heard the same about German DL's -- that they are expensive and arduous to get; you "can only get one" (meaning that, if you lose it, you cannot drive/it is exceedingly difficult to get another; and that driving without a license will get one in serious hoo-hah there...Unlike in the US, where driving without a DL is, sadly, all but inconsequential. This is anecdotal, of course via my old German teacher and some recent visitors. Anyone from the area, or who has more relevant knowledge, able to clarify?

[Vagabond]

I am in Germany now and the Autobahn has a recommended speed limit of 130 KPH (Kilometers), about 80 MPH or so. It is posted as a speed limit sign, and is sometimes ignored or just used as a guideline. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobahn]
Also, roads that are not autobahn, or autobahn within city limits do have speed limits on them.

[jackfaire]

So why not just cruise at 45-50 in the slow lane? That's your entrance and exit lane as much as a slow lane, and cruising in there will not be conducive to any form of sanity.

Doesn't work everywhere. I used to work in an office where my commute took me on the freeway. I would always drive the speed limit and piss people off behind me.

Driving in the slow lane was not an option if I actually wanted to go home. That freeway was three lanes in that spot each lane would split off into a different ext that joined a larger freeway. Depending on which lane you were in would decide your destination. Either of the other two lanes would send me the opposite direction of my home.

[Stormraven]

That was basically my point. Cruising in the slow lane isn't really an option. Even if it doesn't eventually become an exit only lane, you won't be able to cruise at any speed - you'll be braking, speeding up, braking, speeding up, ad nauseum.

[BlaqueKatt]

main reason for speed limits

stopping distance

and

Reaction time


Stopping distance on dry pavement-(thinking distance/reaction time+braking distance)
At 60 MPH=240 feet
at 80 MPH=400 feet

are you looking for hazards that far away?

Stopping distance on wet pavement
At 60 mph=420 feet
at 80 mph=720 feet

Can you even clearly see 720 feet away?(that's almost the length of 6 semi trailers)

[smileyeagle1021]

Can you even clearly see 720 feet away?(that's almost the length of 6 semi trailers)

in the west desert?
Yes, can and do.
On a mountain pass, not even close... hence why I drive slower in a mountain pass than in the west desert.

[BlaqueKatt]

in the west desert?
Yes, can and do.

that's wet pavement-you can clearly see 720 feet ahead of you in a monsoon? Wow!

[HYHYBT]

Your math is off: semi trailers are nowhere near 120 feet long.

[Stormraven]

that's wet pavement-you can clearly see 720 feet ahead of you in a monsoon? Wow!

While a monsoon may cause wet pavement, the two are not equal.

If I can see 720 feet, I'm watching for issues - I watch as far forward as I can.

If I can't see that far, I'm not going that fast.

[smileyeagle1021]

that's wet pavement-you can clearly see 720 feet ahead of you in a monsoon? Wow!

wet pavement does not monsoon make. Anyone who has spent time in the Great Basin Deserts knows that flash storms are common... it can sunny and clear and still have water on the road... and in those conditions, yes, 720 feet is easily achievable. Hell, for your dry pavement numbers I can likely justify over 100mph as it is that visibility at times is measured not in feet or yards, but miles. I have before gone through valleys where I am one of two cars in the valley, and the other car is going the other direction separated by a rather large median.