Am I the only one who drives the speed limit?

[bykfixer]

I thought this might be a thread Raggie would start except for 2 reasons. 1) he doesn't own a car. 2) he is in self exile from CPF.

I commute on the interstate, main roads and subdivisions on a regular basis and it seems me and 2 other people drive the speed limit. Not the ones who drive 18mph below it, but I mean the actual signs says 55 so you drive 55 type thing.

What prompted to write this was this one joker in a big ole box truck plastered with a company logo passed me 4 times on the way home today. I'm easing along in the right lane and this guys all up in my rear view mirror. I tapped the brake pedal. Yeah buddy I'm talkin' to you. But kept going the speed limit. He goes whizzing past like a crazy person and commences to weave back and forth between cars on the busy interstate. He disappears off in the distance.

I'm easing along in the same lane going the same speed when "zoooom" he goes flying past me again. Somewhere along the way perhaps another lane was moving slower than me so I must've passed him by. I don't know, I'm just in my own little Idaho with a cool song playing so I do not notice that sort of thing unless I see brake lights. I go to get off on my exit and "zooooom" same guy passes me on the right shoulder to use the same exit.

A minute later I stop at a red light, he's in a lane beside me ahead of me. A dual left. Suddenly I'm moving and the lane next to me is not. I make a left when "zooooom" same guy whizzes past me again. I suppose if I was him I'd be pretty tweaked after having to pass that slow guy with a Hobie sticker on his tailgate 3 times.

I reach my final red light and I'm behind the guy. Light turns green, he takes off in a hurry and the final justice occured when he turned on the first way into my neighborhood. I took the second way. I ease up in front of my house, put it in park and "zoooom" the guy goes passing by my house. lol.

I like to remind people like that who won the race between the tortoise and the hare.

 

[Chauncey Gardiner]

Speaking of speeders, it amazes me how much some people will risk to only gain so little.

Personally, I'm a four MPH under the limit guy, sans any other traffic.

 

[Olumin]

@raggie2.0 Even when I was in driving school my instructor told me to go 5kmh above the limit, as thats what everyone else on the road does. Going slow can be just as dangerous as going too fast, it encourages (often dangerous) overtaking. It that your fault for just following the law? No, but you cant change the way others drive, and deliberately being an annoyance doasnt make traffic any safer either. Best to just adapt & go those 5 kmh over the limit. Some people say raise the limit to 60 because thats what everyone does anyway, but then they'd just go 70. It is what it is.

 

[kerneldrop]

I speed to get off the roads as quickly as possible. The streets here are dangerous.
The longer I'm on the road the longer I'm a target, albeit a moving a target.

 

[3_gun]

YES get out of the passing lane
Speed limits have no effect on the average traffic speed on a section of a road but it was found that the lower 10% of that window lead to more accidents than the fastest 10%.

Point of order; The US highway system was based on military need and called for a 70mph speed for 2 1/2 ton trucks in convoy in the 1950s!! Was there even a single truck in service that could do that? Forget in a convoy?

So why with modern tires, disc brakes, LED headlights, forced drivers ed in most schools, etc are any limits set below 70?

Speed limits are mainly set to raise money

Speed doesn't kill a texting driver running you off the road does.

 

[desert.snake]

Slow driving is never dangerous. Dangerous are those who constantly exceed the speed limit, especially under poor road conditions, when ice, smoke, snowstorm or fog. I always wonder why people do not slow down the speed under such conditions and chain accidents occur? One should not indulge those who strive to quickly go to the next world


If here everyone were moving at a speed of 20-30 km / h, then there would be no accident

 

[Olumin]

Slow driving is never dangerous. Dangerous are those who constantly exceed the speed limit [...]

You are entitled to your own option but personally I have to disagree. As far as I am concerned, if the limit on a road is 50, and everyone does 55, then the limit is 55. Going 20 in a 30 or 40 in a 50 is dangerous when it inevitably annoys other drives, who might get frustrated & recklessly try to overtake you, which can cause accidents even uninvolved parties might get injured or killed in. Now some people will do that no matter how fast you go, there are always black sheep, or someone who's had a bad day, but that doesn't invalidate my argument. There are exceptions of cause, like strong winds, slippery roads, low visibility... but the point stands.

 

[troutpool]

Speaking of speeders, it amazes me how much some people will risk to only gain so little.

So true!

 

[alpg88]

It is not the speeders who are most dangerous on the roads, but those who impede traffic, and drive like they have no idea where they are going, slowing down on entrance ramps, and try to merge completely disregarding traffic around them, they would not speed up or slow down to merge safely, they just switch lanes like they are the only ones on the road.
Oh and brake checking can get you shot here in NYC. extremely stupid move, it is likely to force a driver behind either rear end you, and throw you into other lanes, endangering others, or him swerving to avoid you and endangering drivers in other lines, or both. Imo brake checkers should lose their license. If you believe the guy behind you is unreasonable just driving behind you, do you really expect him to be reasonable and safe trying to avoid rear ending you?

 

[alpg88]

Slow driving is never dangerous. Dangerous are those who constantly exceed the speed limit, especially under poor road conditions, when ice, smoke, snowstorm or fog. I always wonder why people do not slow down the speed under such conditions and chain accidents occur? One should not indulge those who strive to quickly go to the next world


If here everyone were moving at a speed of 20-30 km / h, then there would be no accident

Are you seriously trying to make a point about speeding using a icy blizzard conditions? lol.
Here in usa driving up to 10MPH above is normal, assuming conditions allow, and very few cops will pay attention to that, unless it is a revenue collecting speed trap zones.

 

[desert.snake]

You are entitled to your own option but personally I have to disagree. As far as I am concerned, if the limit on a road is 50, and everyone does 55, then the limit is 55. Going 20 in a 30 or 40 in a 50 is dangerous when it inevitably annoys other drives, who might get frustrated & recklessly try to overtake you, which can cause accidents even uninvolved parties might get injured or killed in. Now some people will do that no matter how fast you go, there are always black sheep, or someone who's had a bad day, but that doesn't invalidate my argument. There are exceptions of cause, like strong winds, slippery roads, low visibility... but the point stands.

This tolerance is a very bad trend in my opinion. The gradual increase in speed and indulgence in those who seek to break the law is like an Overton window and can lead to very bad consequences in the future.
If a person exceeds the speed limit, he/she should be punished (depending on the means of tracking the speed, our radars now allow an error of 10-15 km/h, so many people use this and drive these 10-15 km/h faster than expected, and as a result, they cannot stop in time at a pedestrian crossing or a child who has just run out and knock them to death). If a person is annoyed on the road that someone else follows the rules and speed limits, then he should not have received a license. Ideally, when he gets irritated with other drivers, he should give up his license and not drive for at least six months, and then come back and try to pass the exam again. This is similar to if there is a size limit for catching a certain type of fish, for example, a minimum of 25 cm and a maximum of 40 cm, and the fisherman will catch 23-24 and 41-42 cm fish and not see this as a problem, and the hunting inspector who caught him will not see this as a problem , then after a certain time this type of fish may become extinct.
But in general it is better to remove people from the car control system. If there is a person, then he will make a mistake someday. Or force drivers to pass state exams once a year until the age of 60, after 60 every six months. This will bring good taxes to the state treasury.
After all, electricians take an exam once a year, but drivers don't, so more drivers die than electricians.
I may be reacting too sharp to this topic, as many of my friends have been seriously injured by those who speed. Sorry.

 

[thermal guy]

If the speed limit is 55 do 55 if it's 40 do 40. I have seen just as many accidents caused by slow drivers then I have speeders. When you're in a 55 and grandma is doing 40-45 people turn into idiots. Passing when it's not safe.

 

[orbital]

+

attentive driving is everything..

 

[3_gun]

The US highway system from the day it was started was meant to be safe for military 2 1/2ton trucks to be driven in convoys at 70mph in 1950. No radial tires, anti-lock brakes, adaptive suspension, power steering or brakes, etc. A lower limit was set not because of "speed kills" but gas prices in the 70's. It continues because it generates cash for local governments.

The correct way to set a "speed limit" for a road is to leave it un-posted & monitor it. After enough traffic is recorded the "standard" should be the 85th percentile of the data collected

 

[Olumin]

Im really not trying to encourage speeding, all im saying is that going under the limit might pose dangers aswell, and that going just that little bit over is OK if it helps to keep the flow of traffic. I think thats reasonable enough. We have unregulated roads on portions of the Autobahn here. Of cause there are accidents but less then one might expect, and a lot of them happen during overtaking.

 

[scalpel_ninja]

My brother works for the DMV (road examiner) and my dad is a retired traffic engineer for Caltrans. That doesn't give me any worthy credentials on the topic, but I'll repeat what they've said many times before:

Drive the speed limit and adjust +/- 10mph according to traffic flow and conditions/visibility/etc.

Speed limits on curves and ramps are based on calculations for the curve and bank, so abide by them.

 

[alpg88]

Im really not trying to encourage speeding, all im saying is that going under the limit might pose dangers aswell,

I agree with you, They pose more danger, but slow speed in itself is not a reason, people that drive slow are often not confident behind the wheel, or they are preoccupied with something while driving, that behavior behind the wheel makes them unpredictable, thus pose more danger than a driver who is going faster, fully alert, and is concentrated on driving.

 

[hsa]

Congratulations BYK. You did a good Raggie impersonation.

 

[JustAnOldFashionedLEDGuy]

This tolerance is a very bad trend in my opinion. The gradual increase in speed and indulgence in those who seek to break the law is like an Overton window and can lead to very bad consequences in the future.

Any law, that is based on opinion or "it has always been that way" has little legitimacy in the first place. Vehicle speed limits are far too often arbitrary.

But in general it is better to remove people from the car control system. If there is a person, then he will make a mistake someday. Or force drivers to pass state exams once a year until the age of 60, after 60 every six months. This will bring good taxes to the state treasury.
After all, electricians take an exam once a year, but drivers don't, so more drivers die than electricians.
I may be reacting too sharp to this topic, as many of my friends have been seriously injured by those who speed. Sorry.

Really pass state exams once per year? Professionals generally don't take exams every year, though they may need to take courses to stay up to date or the odd exam on new material. There is no similar requirement for driving. You have a pretty dystopian view of how to live.

If too many people are speeding, then perhaps the speed limit is too low? Don't be so quick to judge your fellow citizen and not the government.

All said, there will come a point, probably not too far in the future, where we will no longer drive our cars. AI will be far better. It will allow higher speeds and much higher traffic density, and eliminate most traffic jams. The elimination of almost all accidents will allow significantly lighter vehicles saving fuel and lowering cost. There will be initial push back, but the vastly improved private transport experience will very quickly win people over. I like driving, but the being able to whip downtown in 40 minutes, not 90+, without waiting for public transit, and still being able to read a book is rather appealing. The percentage of time I spend "enjoying" driving versus commuting is rather low.

 

[desert.snake]

The speed is limited, if I'm not mistaken, by the length of the braking distance, which depends on many factors. I have looked at some online calculators. There is information about the USA, it looks like the speed limits are based on road designs built according to this book :

"A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets"

4.4: A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets, 6th Edition | FHWA

A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets, 6th Edition, 2011, commonly referred to as the “Green Book,” contains the current design research and practices for highway and street geometric design. The document provides guidance to highway engineers and designers who strive to make...

highways.dot.gov

Stopping Distance Calculator

Stopping distance calculator finds the distance your car travels before it comes to a stop.

www.omnicalculator.com

Stopping distance, reaction distance and braking distance

Reaction distance: The reaction distance is the distance you travel from the point of detecting a hazard until you begin braking or swerving.

korkortonline.se

If engineers have calculated that on a road with a certain type of asphalt and construction, the maximum speed is 40 km / h or 100 km / h or other limit, then it is not that they want to annoy fast drivers, but to protect pedestrians, deer / moose and other obstacles that suddenly appeared on the roads from the fact that they crash into them or from the fact that the driver will fly off the road.
If someone exceeds the speed by 5-10 km / h or miles / h, then it increases the braking distance, which means it increases the likelihood of an accident, and this is not about his vigilance and reaction, but about the parameters of the car and the road surface, over which the driver has no influence. According to the distance calculator (if believe), in the wet, the stop length from 100 mph to 110 mph increases from 545 yards to 664 yards, 119 yards is quite a long distance.
If someone is driving slower than the maximum speed limit, but higher than the minimum speed limit, then they are not violating anything, and this does not mean that they feel insecure or anything like that, they can just take their time. We must put up with it, if someone does not have enough patience, then he needs to live with it, and not arrange a dangerous ride. Example, if you are standing in a store and someone in front of you is rummaging through his wallet for a long time to find money (not in absolute terms, but longer than you yourself are used to), do you not make a scandal? If it goes on too long, I've seen the police called, and you can do the same on the road - report a driver who is too slow, but do not start dangerous maneuvers.
Another question is why the engineers decided to build roads in this way and introduce such restrictions. They certainly have a scientific and experimental justification for this. While this may be similar to LED datasheets that state a maximum current of 1.5 amps, but many enthusiasts and some manufacturers exceed this limit without sad consequences for the LED. On the other hand, I've seen hunters add more gunpowder when reloading than it should be for this gun, and as a result, the pressure breaks the gun and fragments fly in all directions.
Definitely need to fight for your rights, if there is any kind of harassment, based on skin color, religion, political position or speed limits, then it is necessary to change the formulas by which the braking distance is calculated and, accordingly, the standards for road construction. That is, go into science or politics and change these rules, or create a social movement and go to court to increase speed limits and introduce serious fines for those who drive too slowly or uncertainly. This must be done in the legal field.