Does Anyone Drive the Speed Limit Anymore??

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Swanny1172 @ Jun 4 2007, 04:47 PM) [snapback]455166[/snapback]</div>

I would agree that when someone who is driving recklessly by exceeding the speed limit encounters someone who is driving responsibly at the speed limit, the driver that is recklessly exceeding the speed limit is likely to make additional reckless manuvers that result in an accident.

I would further agree that when a cluster of drivers who are driving recklessly by exceeding the speed limit encounter a driver who is driving responsibly at the speed limit, then the chances are increased that at least one of the reckless drivers will make additional reckless manuvers that results in an accident.

In either case, the responsibility for the accident belongs to the reckless drivers who are exceeding the speed limit.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Marlin @ Jun 5 2007, 11:32 AM) [snapback]455803[/snapback]</div>

Very well spoken.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Marlin @ Jun 5 2007, 01:32 PM) [snapback]455803[/snapback]</div>

And, I suppose you feel the same way about the reckless drivers who drive below the speed limit? So, why don't we just give everyone tickets if they are driving above or below the speed limit? :blink:

The real problem is that the speed limit is just too slow on most highways. For years, traffic engineering texts have supported the conclusion that motorists ignore unreasonable speed limits. Arbitrary, unrealistic and nonuniform speed limits have created a socially acceptable disregard for speed limits. Unrealistic limits increase accident risks for persons who attempt to comply with limit by driving slower or faster than the majority of road users, Unreasonably low limits significantly decrease driver compliance and give road users such as person not familiar with the road and pedestrians, a false indication of actual traffic speeds.

So, how do you fix it? Well, research indicates that the speed limit should be set at the 85th percentile. Most motorists travel at about the same speeds, so setting the speed limit at the 85th percentile legalizes the vast majority of motorists. About 70% of motorists travel in a 10-mph grouping (called the "pace"), which generally covers all but the fastest 15% and slowest 15%. If the speed limit were set at the average speed, only 50% of motorists would be legalized. Setting the speed limit about 5-mph higher (at the 85th percentile) legalizes the vast majority of motorists. Raising the speed limit another 5-mph wouldn't legalize that many more drivers, because the fastest 15% slowest 15% tend to more widely dispersed in traffic speeds.

The theory is that traffic laws that reflect the behavior of the majority of motorists may have better compliance than laws that arbitrarily criminalize the majority of motorists and encourage violations. The latter kinds of laws lack public support and often fail to bring about desirable changes in driving behavior. An example is the federally-mandated 55 mph speed limit that was removed in part because of notoriously low compliance.

Most U.S. jurisdictions report using the 85th percentile speed as the basis for their speed limits, so the 85th-percentile speed and speed limits should be closely matched. However, a review of available speed studies demonstrates that the posted speed limit is almost always set well below the 85th-percentile speed by as much as 8 to 12 mph.

Source for data: http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/nchrp/nchrp_rpt_504.pdf (**see page 88 specifically).

So, if you want to make all of us happy and safe, raise the speed limit another 10 MPH.

 

I don't think raising the limit would help, then people would just go 8-10 mph over that limit. Either keep it the same, or lower it, then only ticket people going 10mph above or more. I think people go as fast as they think they can get away with, not everybody, but the majority. I think people have to drive more like Europe though, respect people wanting to go faster, and make passing on the right illegal. If you're not in left lane, I don't think going the limit is a problem. I've had people give me the finger for going the limit (usually during rush hour), seems ridiculous, since the traffic usually slows down again, and they're only 2 or 3 cars ahead.

 

I no longer drive the speed limit

I just bought a Harrier Jump Jet on ebay will be flying by with radar gun getting all those speeders on the ground


oh well until I pick it up gotta drive the speed limit maybe 5 under even or 7

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(cyrus69 @ Jun 5 2007, 09:14 PM) [snapback]456163[/snapback]</div>

Your supposition that raising the speed limit will result in people just going "8-10 mph over that limit" is purely anecdotal, and in fact is dead wrong. In its report, "Effects of Raising and Lowering Speed Limits", The U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, found that:

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Source: http://www.ibiblio.org/rdu/sl-irrel.txt

 

cyrus has ya there Swanny.

if thats not true then WHY don't most drive the LIMIT that is in BLACK AND WHITE on a sign on the side of the road!

NEXT

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priussoris @ Jun 5 2007, 09:40 PM) [snapback]456188[/snapback]</div>

Did you even bother to read what I posted previously about the 85th percentile? Evidently not, because if you had, you wouldn't be asking such a rhetorical question. Your ignorance is profound.

I'm not sure how strong your statistical skills are in the area of standard deviations, so I will try to make this as basic as possible. A 5 MPH difference in posted speed has a dramatic effect on driver compliance. If the speed limit is set at 5 MPH below the 85th percentile speed, at a minimum, 67 percent of the motorists would be in voluntary compliance. However, if those limits are lowered to 7 MPH below the 85th percentile, only about 40 percent compliance would be achieved.

 

Swanny if you want to have q pissing contest LET'S DO IT Dont stoop to the name calling oh yeah you can do anything laws dont matter to you oh my

And your right I did not waste my time to read I thought it was 22 yrs old again

Here this is from your post
"* Based on the free-flow speed data collected for a 24-h period at
the experimental and comparison sites in 22 States, posted speed
limits were set, on the average, at the 45th percentile speed or
below the average speed of traffic"

In 24 hours that is the time a traffic engineer spent WOW what a thorough test a lot of time spent there
24 hours.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priussoris @ Jun 5 2007, 09:55 PM) [snapback]456200[/snapback]</div>

Lighten up, Francis. :lol:

I provide facts and sources, and you provide nothing but your own opinion.

And, you are right. Speed limits don't matter to me when they are arbitrary and unrealistic. I've had exactly 1 speeding ticket in over 20 years of driving, so while I break the law, I am not stupid about it.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Swanny1172 @ Jun 1 2007, 04:25 PM) [snapback]453496[/snapback]</div>

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Swanny1172 @ Jun 5 2007, 09:44 PM) [snapback]456190[/snapback]</div>

Isn't it wonderful when folks have to result to name calling? It sends nice people away from the site. I apologize to any / all of the offended party(ies) and note even at FHOP this issue has been raised.

Trying now, to bring thinks back to nice-ville . . . who among the readers hasn't heard that statistics can be written to prove any point . . . and my earlier post was aparently missed, but my point was that on this issue: Stats "prove" both points . . . and that stats generally prove the point being raised.

For example . . . a certain ratio will always MURDER, RAPE, ROB, KIDNAP, etc, though it's not legal. The same argument has been made for illegal drug use . . . or illegal immigration. Hell, make crime legal, and NO one will break the law

Or, make beter enforcement. Fact was, that when 55mph WAS the law, and folks did the 55mph thing, fatalities did drop. 55mph WAS put on the books to save fuel, and colaterally it saved lives. Who among us doesn't know how much better our Prius' do when we go slower?

Back to the thread. Some of us do the speed limit. Hopefully in the slow lane.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hill @ Jun 5 2007, 10:52 PM) [snapback]456250[/snapback]</div>

How is pointing out that someone is ignorant name calling?

Ignorant means that one is unaware because of a lack of relevant information or knowledge; "he was completely ignorant of the circumstances"; "an unknowledgeable assistant"; "his rudeness was unwitting".

Rather than reading what I had researched and posted, priussoris made an unfounded statement. Sorry if my calling him ignorant offends your delicate sensibilities, but it is not name calling.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Swanny1172 @ Jun 5 2007, 09:35 PM) [snapback]456186[/snapback]</div>

No matter what the speed limit is most people exceed it by 5 - 10 over. Back when I was a teenager and first started driving it was 55 on the interstate so I drove about 62 (flow of traffic), then it was raised around the time I turned 18 to 65. I instantly started driving 72. I went down on vacation recently and went through WV and NC and the speed limit was 70 and most people were driving 80 or more. I rarely get passed in OH by someone travelling those speeds and our interstate roads are in just as good of condition.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(morpheusx @ Jun 6 2007, 12:16 AM) [snapback]456311[/snapback]</div>

And that is because speed limits are usually arbitrarily set by some engineer in the state DOT office. The correct way to set a speed limit is to study how fast people travel on that particular road and then set the upper speed limit at the 85th percentile. Now, I understand that they need to set some speed limit to begin with, but that limit needs to be revised. The problem is, they rarely are, and you end up with situations like we have now with the majority of traffic travelling above the posted speed limit.

Beyond that, it is a matter of enforcement. Most of the cops I have talked to on this subject have told me that they usually give motorists 10 MPH of slack on the speed limit--except in school zones. Couple that with the studies that show that most highways have speed limits 5-10 MPH below the 85th percentile and you begin to see the problem and the solution. Raise the speed limit by 10 MPH and then heavily enforce it.

No wonder the OP asked, "Does Anyone Drive the Speed Limit Anymore??", because if you drive the speed limit, you are in the minority.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Swanny1172 @ Jun 6 2007, 12:28 AM) [snapback]456317[/snapback]</div>

I'd liked to see it raised, but more importantly I'd like them to ticket people who ride in the left lane impeding faster moving traffic especially in urban highway environments with 3 or more lanes

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(morpheusx @ Jun 6 2007, 12:33 AM) [snapback]456321[/snapback]</div>

Amen to that brother.

Seeing that you and I are from the same neck of the woods, you can definitely relate when I say that this is a major problem in Northeast Ohio. There is not a day that goes by that I don't get stuck behind some yokel doing the speed limit (or less) in the passing lane. Four or five cars will pass them on the right before they even begin to get the idea to move to the right. Usually, it is because they are talking on a cell phone or doing something else that is distracting their attention from the road.

 

I am under the impression (from speaking with an engineer who claimed he worked on the roads) that the recommended speed limits for entrance and exit ramps (yellow signs here in NJ) are set to their maximums based on the lowest common denominator, i.e., the least skilled driver in the worst-handling vehicle. Obviously, an 90 year-old in a Yugo cannot take these ramps safely at the same speed as a race car driver in a Porsche.

Is there any reason to think that this is not factored into the setting of speed limits on the highways themselves?

 

Out here in Northern California I get passed by just about everyone when I am doing 70 in the slow lane in a 65 zone.

I find it interesting that in Germany, if your car breaks down on the autobahn, you get a ticket.

I think George Carlin had it right when he said something to the effect of everyone who drives slower than I do is a moron, and everyone who drives faster than I do is a maniac.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Swanny1172 @ Jun 1 2007, 05:17 PM) [snapback]453587[/snapback]</div>

Illinois does have this law and the next time I see someone pulled over for it will be the first time.

I'd rather they go after the a**es who weave in and out of lanes like they were at Le Mans and go 90. And then there was the guy I saw a couple of weeks ago driving 20 under and chugging a MHL as he drove :angry: