Does Anyone Drive the Speed Limit Anymore??

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Swanny1172 @ Jun 1 2007, 07:16 PM) [snapback]453644[/snapback]</div>

Too bad you didn't have the opportunity to drive behind our Governor on the GS Parkway. You could have been doing 90mph to keep up with him--and maybe share the room in ICU. I'll agree that speeding isn't the problem. It's the careless and reckless driving that IS the problem. IMO it's unfortunate that when the police are called to the accident scene they don't just scrape the wreckage off the road and open it up as quickly as possible for the rest of us. Just curious, what other laws do you feel you can ignore "just because everyone else does"?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JimN @ Jun 1 2007, 08:51 PM) [snapback]453666[/snapback]</div>

If, as you said, speeding isn't the problem, but careless and reckless driving are, then what do you care how fast I choose to drive so long as I do it in a controlled manner? I regularly drive about 10 MPH above the posted speed limit on controlled access highways, which in my neck of the woods means I am keeping up with traffic. I don't drive aggressively. I don't tailgate. And, I don't talk on my phone while I drive.

 

I usually do except on this occasion. <_<

Wildkow

p.s. I miss those days in Montana when they change the speed limit on highways to "Safe and Sane." B)

 

It's the speed differential that makes things dangerous on our highways.

Individuals that speed are part of the problem... well actually they are part of a number of problems. Increased fuel consumption, increased pollution, increases in the severity/frequency of accidents, and road rage(ing) to name a few. Fast drivers also increase the danger to themselves and others by necessitating otherwise unnecessary lane changes either due to their weaving in and out or from others having to get out of the way.

If everyone drove the limit as the laws are written it would be a safer experience. I don't believe the previously stated "study" from 1990 that faster drivers are safer. The results are already horribly askew because the slower driving category is polluted with impaired drivers. A responsible study would sift out the groups into categories that allow for an apples to apples comparison.

<-- Opinions tempered by a Law Enforcement Family and the realities inherent to that life experience.

 

Ok, so I skipped reading all but the OP, so .....

Anyways, I drive speed limit or less, as an average. Sometimes I do speed, only 1-2 MPH over if the speed limit is 40 or less, or if I'm going downhill. Actually on the highways around Atlanta I hardly ever see anyone get pulled over for speeding. IN FACT, I once was driving in my Rodeo, a long while back, and was going 15MPH over next to a cop, and BTW I wasn't the fastest one out there, AND HE DIDN'T PULL ONE DAMN PERSON OVER.

On highways they doesn't seem to give a crap, unless they are higher than the local PD, but on the local roads if you go more than 5 MPH over for any reason you are gone. In fact, I've seen people get pulled over for no apparent reason sometimes, but I don't know all the laws.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Alexstarfire @ Jun 1 2007, 10:15 PM) [snapback]453716[/snapback]</div>

From what I have heard most State Troopers in NJ won't bother you if you're speeding during rush hour, *unless* you're doing something obviously stupid. Pulling people over for doing 5 or 10 miles over the speed limit during rush hour is just going to slow everyone else down. Rubbernecking is a huge factor in that, sad but true.

Local cops, they're another story. Around town, I always do the speed limit. On the highways, I always go with the flow. I don't want to be one of those people that screw up everyone else's commute.

 

I have been told by several police in the past that they will typically not focus on anyone doing less than 20% over the limit unless they are weaving through traffic; as a matter of fact, that it was they key on most when they're using radar.

 

I followed a guy in a Crown Vic all the way across town yesterday.

He repeatedly changed lanes and charged away from stoplights in a vain attempt to get somewhere faster than me. At every stoplight I caught back up and I ended up turning off into my neighborhood when he was alongside me.

Stoplights are the great equalizer, why rush to get to the next one just so you can stop again?

 

I'm an 55 plus defensive driving class instructor, the class when after you take it you get a 10% reduction in your car insurance premiums, and after four hours of talking about and stressing safe driving techniques I ask class members on a survey form if they will change their driving habits. More than half indicate they will not. It's a sad comentary that people even after they are reminded of safe driving ideas, seem to reject changing their driving habits.

We stress three habits for safer driving: 1- drive the speed limit, 2 -wear your seat belt and 3- leave at least three seconds following time between you and the car ahead.

Driving the speed limit gives one a more relaxed trip, lower cost for fuel and less need to stress out watching for law enforcement.

Sorry about the soap box, but these things make sense.

 

The biggest problem on our roads is not speed. It is task loading.
Have you done one of the following things while driving?

- talking on the phone
- painting nails
- shaving
- reading
- eating
- drinking
- smoking
- watching a DVD

I have seen drivers doing all of these things on my morning commute. All of them take up space in a driver's mind, and leave no room for calculation when something unexpected happens.

Speed alone is rarely the only factor in an accident. I am a safer driver at 10 MPH over the speed limit than someone obeying the speed limit while engaging in one of the activities above.

 

Interesting Canadian report on driver distractions....


http://www.safety-council.org/info/traffic/distract.html

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Swanny1172 @ Jun 2 2007, 05:35 AM) [snapback]453843[/snapback]</div>

Actually, I don't drive over the speed limit much these days. But when I did, the faster I drove, the more alert I was. When going slowly, it was easier to get bored and distracted.

Dave M.

 

well i drive the speed limit and have only started doing so about 6 months before i got my first Prius in June of 04. did it to save gas. to be honest with ya, in my neighborhood, ( we have a lot of traffic and unlike seattle, we dont have a whole bunch of lanes to drive in so about 20-40% of my driving is waaaay below the speed limit) about 35 % do drive the speed limit or less (it is the MAXIMUM LEGAL speed that is posted mind you) then about 55% drive 5-10 over and 10 % are 10+ mph over.

so, if accidents are caused by people who drive at different speeds, then who is causing the accidents???

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(thebrattygurl @ Jun 1 2007, 04:18 PM) [snapback]453486[/snapback]</div>

Was it a Plymouth Fury?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Swanny1172 @ Jun 1 2007, 07:57 PM) [snapback]453671[/snapback]</div>

Swanny, under your conditions, I don't. I've taken 3 trips through Ohio into Indiana. Most of the driving is on I-70 and other major roads. I have noticed less speeding and less tailgating than I see in NJ. Perhaps population density is a major factor.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Swanny1172 @ Jun 1 2007, 04:43 PM) [snapback]453512[/snapback]</div>

Sure would be nice if you could quote a source other than your own opinion. The actuaries of the auto Ins. Industry, for one, disagrees w/ you. Here's a list of the 7 quickest ways to avoid accidents. Among them, "SLOWING DOWN" . . . interestingly enough, you don't find, "go faster, and keep up w/ traffic" as one of the cures to accidents:

http://www.autoinsurancetips.com/7-ways-av...raffic-accident

Further, if you go the the California Highway Patrol website (state of most traffic stats), it is often speeders who blame "slow driver" for causing their accidents.

To answer the thread, yes, I drive the speed limit or just below average flow of traffic in the slowest lane. My mileage has gone WAY up. My stress level has gone way down. My DMV record is now spotless.

At age 33, I bought an '89 speedster porsche, and prior to that I a had a nitros 750cc motor cycle ... and enjoyed pushing the envelope. Funny how age puts things in perspective as to what wisdom is.

 

I agree with this idea. Let's install a unit in every car, a wi-fi transmitter of sorts, that transmits the car's VIN and license plate information on a cellular band. Have monitoring units installed on each cell tower that will monitor each car's average speed, and alert the popo of folks who go above a certain speed by showing red dots on a GPS map on the popo's computer screen, or just automatically register the violation by computer and send a ticket in the mail.

This would result in an exponential increase in speeding tickets, and a vast new source of revenue for law enforcement. I drive the speed limit, so I'm all for it. The only ones who would oppose something like this are the ones who stand to lose the most -- the speeders!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(douglas001001 @ Jun 1 2007, 02:25 PM) [snapback]453543[/snapback]</div>

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(PriusBoyAZ @ Jun 3 2007, 02:36 PM) [snapback]454500[/snapback]</div>

Many years ago NJ implemented automatic speed traps on an Interstate using cameras and radar. So many tickets were generated that the speeders complained to the state and legislature and the devices were removed.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(spideyman @ Jun 1 2007, 04:07 PM) [snapback]453470[/snapback]</div>

Apparently the speed limit is just a suggestion.