Does everyone speed? How about you?

A lot of people justify their speeding by stating that everyone speeds. There are a lot of other claims that go with it. I guess it's only fair to ask the question....

Do you habitually (and deliberatly) speed? Do you think everyone does?

Daniel

Yup

Oh, I forgot to say.

No, I no longer habitually speed. I set the cruise control and enjoy the ride. No stress, better ride, better milage, no tickets.....

Daniel

I do, mostly only on the interstate (I-99) to and from work. The road should be 65MPH but do to the fact that it is not completed (further west of here) it is only 55MPH right now. I usually go 70 and the Troppers around here have no problem with going 70, but go 71 and they will pull you over. Even at 70, many cars seem to be flying by me.

I tend to drive at the pace of traffic in the lane that I'm travelling in, whether it be on a street, highway, or limited access road. Which, as you already know, is often above the posted speed limit in this area.

I always try to fit in with the flow of traffic. If you are going faster or slower than the majority, you are hazard to yourself and others. If everyone is going 70 and you insist on going 55 because that is the posted speed limit, you are making a potentially fatal mistake.

No, not deliberately. I know I am a terrible judge of speed so I look at the speedometer frequently. I try to stay within 5 mph of the posted limit. When you look at the time it would save you on a normal around town trip, even an extra 10mph probably only gets you there a couple minutes sooner. Not worth the risk, either a ticket or an accident, IMHO. I'm most likely to find myself speeding inadvertently when I've been stuck in a group of cars going slower than the posted limit for some reason and then when traffic speeds up again, I'm still watching the car in front of me instead of the speedometer.

The greater question here is if the traffic (including speed) laws in your area make sense. I happen to live in one of the "Nanny" states. There are people here who make a living just sitting around and coming up with exciting new rules for residents to have to follow. I assume that the traffic laws in my state are unrelated to the abilities and needs of the actual users. They appear to be set partly to satisfy the whim of people who have never driven here, and partly to provide an easy source of local revenue.

If your question is if I violate the letter of the law, well duh, how can you not? I've been pulled over for passing too close to the curb on a right hand turn. (that's what the officer said, what do I know) I've been stopped and questioned for driving quietly down the road with a silver tea-tray on the back seat. I tell you, I have a heck of a time keeping up with all these laws. If your question is if I am reckless and a hazard to all around me, then no, I am not.

NO. I'm not in such a hurry that I have to speed. If I have a service call 45 minutes away, I allow an extra 10 - 15 minutes to get there, and I go the speed limit. I'm 54 years old, 1 speeding ticket when I was 21 years old, never been stopped for anything since. I drive a 2004 Pontiac GrandAm GT2, rarely use the cruise control. I tend to "jackrabbit" start from red lights, but I really feel that 70mph on I-95 here in FL is way too much. I'm not worried about me, it's the other drivers who are going 80 and talking on their phones, drinking coffee or who knows what else, they follow too closely, wander in their lanes, just generally don't pay attention to a 3000 pound projectile traveling at 80mph+. I happen to live near one of the worst stretches of I-95, between I-4 and Palm Coast, about 30 miles of weekly twisted metal and dead bodies. So for me, it's around 65 in the right lane. I would like to see the speed limit lowered to 55 like in the 70's to conserve gas.
Rob

Sometimes I speed. Usually, I'm driving the speed limit, especially at work. I mostly speed on the freeway coming back from my girlfriends house late at night. I go from 5 to 10 miles over the speed limit.

I just go with the flow unless I have no choice..

I go with the "flow", or set my cruise control to +4 miles above speed limit.

Bill

There are people here who make a living just sitting around and coming up with exciting new rules for residents to have to follow. I assume that the traffic laws in my state are unrelated to the abilities and needs of the actual users. They appear to be set partly to satisfy the whim of people who have never driven here, and partly to provide an easy source of local revenue.

Click to expand...

How does one determine such things? I can see knowing the motivation in a small town where you hear the sherriff brag that he's increased revenue by creating a speed trap, but how in the heck do you find out in a normal sized city?

Unfortunately, the speed limits have to take into account the abilities of some really poor drivers as well as good drivers who are temporarily distracted. Most people believe themselves to be above average drivers
( http://www.google.com/search?num=20...ve+they+are+above+average+drivers&btnG=Search ) ans therefore feel THEY can safely drive faster.

Let me suggest a contrary thought. Predictability is the whole premise that allows millions of drivers to safely share the roads. When you drive on the right side of the road (US) you are assured that you will not find a car aproaching the wrong way. When you pass through a controlled intersection, you are assured that you will not encounter cross traffic. This is what allows mediocre drivers to successfully share the hiways and byways. When people break the laws they do so unpredictably.

When you pull out into traffic (say a right turn from a parking lot driveway) you can do so safely only if you can judge the distance of approaching traffic and the speed at which they are approaching. If it's a 25 MPH zone and some turkey is doing 50, he will reach you in 1/2 the time you expect. The same problem occurs when you pass a car on a two lane road and discover the oncoming car that you thought was driving 65 is really doing 80.

But it's not just speed. Yesterday a car turned left from the center lane. He was in my blind spot. fortunately, I was following the rules and turned into the left most lane, but imagine my surprise when I realized he was inches from my fender on the right. He was driving (he thought) safely, but could easily have cause me to have an accident if I had swung wide.

One reason I don't speed anymore is the realization that I'm not an above average driver, and neither are 50% of the people around me. I'm positive that some of them are in the bottom 10% some days.


Daniel

At or just slightly over on back roads and less then 10 mph over on the interstate. Took me six years of ticket free driving to get all of my safe driver credit points back and it does make quite a difference (like $500) on the insurance bill.

Me? Nope!

A LOT of others? Yep!

Everyone? Not a chance!

Most I'll generally go is 65. I've been known to hit 70 to make a pass on Freeways, maybe even 80 out on two-lanes.

If I'm in one of my cars on the back country roads to and from my house and I'm in the mood, then oh yes I'll speed. Not in my trucks, though, just no point. Never in town no matter what vehicle, and on the freeway I go with the flow.


Cheers. :buddies:

As a passenger, yes. My dad use to speed, but after he got a ticket for going 61 in a 55mph zone, he now takes his 5 mph over the limit and nothing more.

Even the paratransit van drivers keep up with traffic hitting 80mph on the interstates in their monster f450 minibuses.

As a new driver, I can see its hard to watch your speed, so I can understand keeping with the flow and if you keep the right cushion between you and the car in front of you, whats the worry? Sure some roads arent designed to be safe above a certain speed, or for some vehicles, but in general.

In town, I try to stick to the speed limit, but I'm not constantly checking my speedometer either. Sometimes I find it necessary to speed just to make my exit on some of the poorly-designed freeways in Dallas. Otherwise, you can't beat the "big numbers" of light timing, congestion, and road construction consistently enough to make it worthwhile.

On the road, I'll split between keeping it on the limit and up to 5 over if there's little traffic. I'm very consciencious about keeping it at the limit or below in a town - they have speedtraps, little sympathy for outsiders, and almost always crowd the highway as though it were just another street in town and noone actually travels through town...

I try to be very concious of my speed. I will drive 5mph over many times, others right at the limit. I do find myself matching the flow if I become unaware.

It's ironic that I almos bought a Honda Civic, but found the speedometer distracting. It's cool as heck, but being digital and mounted so high up, I tended to just stare at it. Even though it was only slightly below the windshield level, it distracted me on every test drive more than ones located more traditionally. I drove the Civic a lot, but never got used to it. Maybe I would have over time.