O/T speed limits

bloodshed · Mar 3, 2010

55 and 65mph are speed limits that are overwhelmingly slow in California, and studies show that an increase in speed limits tends to decrease accidents and increase compliance in the speed limit, whereas lowering it tends to increase accidents and less people will obey it. Effects Of Raising And Lowering Speed limits

in addition since speed limits have been raised, and the average speed of the roads has increased fatality rates have greatly decreased on the road.
Speed Limit Fears: Lying with Science

I for one am sick of driving the limits that were proposed 23 years ago. if any of you agree with my i urge you to sign this petition and pass it on, maybe someday it will have some effect.
http://www.petitiononline.com/CA75MPH/petition.html

Gunsmith · Mar 3, 2010

Lower speed limits increase accidents because some people drive the speed limit and the rest are trying recklessly to get past them. Who do you place the blame on? the people following the law?

if the spped limits are raised you are still gonna have people that think they can drive 10-15mps over that limit. So if you raise the limit on the 5 in LA to 80mph your going to have people driving 95mph trying to get past everybody else. Now you have greatly increased the impact speeds , greatly increased the distacne it takes to stop and greatly REDUCED the time to have to respond to traffic. The end result is going to be more people dieing and much more accidents

If you have a 20 min commute and the speed limit is 60mph it'll take your 20 min , increase your speed by 15-20mph you have only cut a few min off your time , just leave a few min earlier.

if you seen enough people killed because some dumb fuck thinks the speed limits are to low and don't apply to him then you will appreciate why they are their

FRKNHUGE · Mar 3, 2010

on the same note gunny, i hate the dumbfuck people who cruise in the left lane, when in every drivers handbook its outlined as a PASSING LANE. i blame these people for alot of the shit that happens on the road. unless ur passing or turning, stay the fuck to the right.

frk

Gunsmith · Mar 3, 2010

FRKNHUGE said:
on the same note gunny, i hate the dumbfuck people who cruise in the left lane, when in every drivers handbook its outlined as a PASSING LANE. i blame these people for alot of the shit that happens on the road. unless ur passing or turning, stay the fuck to the right.

frk

your correct , and I have writen tickets for that. For no reason should people have to pass on the right.

I firmly believe that their should be minimum speed limits as well , slow or dissabled traffic causes alot of accidents as well

DrivingForward · Mar 3, 2010

I think speed limits should be increased significantly on highways, but not in through towns or residential areas.

On the same note-- I think state governments should be much stricter on vehicle inspection and driver certification. People drive on bald tires, with cord showing at the edges. People drive vehicles whos brakes are metal to metal and have worn clear into the rotor vents (I saw one come in like that... the brakes were worn out for a year and utterly dangerous for atleast 4 months... the lady said it just started making noise yesterday).

If you can't maintain your machinery, you are a risk to everyone else out there. Also here in FL we have alot of illegals or people w/ DL suspensions who still drive on a daily basis.... They're dangerous and uninsured. I'm all for leniency, but repeat offenders need to go away for a while.

I think thats a better way to relieve traffic, and to reduce accidents and fatalities.

FRKNHUGE · Mar 3, 2010

aound me gunny, the state and locals will pass in the right lane, the people who are going too slow, funny isnt it. but id be damned sure if they wouldnt draw me up a fine if i did it.
frk

bloodshed · Mar 3, 2010

Gunsmith said:
your correct , and I have writen tickets for that. For no reason should people have to pass on the right.

I firmly believe that their should be minimum speed limits as well , slow or dissabled traffic causes alot of accidents as well

i believe there is a minimum speed limit, or not necessarily a minimum, but when someone is to slow they can be cited for obstruction of traffic i believe. i remember about 6 months or so back it was a big story that someone got a ticket for going 34 in a 45 or something to that extent. i think more people should be getting cited for driving too slow.

and to your other comment, the vast majority of the accidents i have seen involving someone driving too fast usually involve someone driving too slow as well, or putting along in the left lane. ive had 3 speeding tickets in my life. one was on the ca-57. i was in the carpool lane, then there was a van infront of me driving 55 in a 65. i had a clear opening on my right for about a quarter mile so i sped up to about 90 to pass then slowed down to about 80, which is a reasonable speed IMO when the road is fairly clear. got a ticket for 88 when i passed while the van 10mph under the limit in the carpool lane on a fairly clear freeway at the time was left alone. my other was on the grapevine at about 11:45pm. at the time i was driving i saw behind me and infront of me spanning my entire vision a total of 3 cars. i was in the left lane cruising at about 89. got a ticket. the other one more recently was when i got off of the 210 towards the 5. i got over to the left lane, going about 85 mph with the road fairly clear being about 11:15pm and again I got a ticket. in none of these circumstances was i driving recklessly or in extreme speeds in which my car could lose control at any moment. i take care of my brakes, i just had them worked on last month. my tires get replaced every 20,000 to 25,000 miles. if you read one of the studies i posted, it showed that when speed limits are raised, the 85th percentile drivers(the ones driving 75-80mph) only raise their speed by abotu 1-2mph. it also shows the 99th percentile drivers actually lower their speeds slightly. what does happen though, is that the low speed drivers, the ones that drive the speed limit or lower, raise their speeds to or close to the new speed limit. this would allow for a more even flow of traffic which would reduce accidents. if everyone on the freeway was driving 75 i would rarely pass anybody. i can live driving 75, its a fair speed and its what the limits should be at. 55 and 65 though is just excessively slow.

bloodshed · Mar 3, 2010

DrivingForward said:
I think speed limits should be increased significantly on highways, but not in through towns or residential areas.

On the same note-- I think state governments should be much stricter on vehicle inspection and driver certification. People drive on bald tires, with cord showing at the edges. People drive vehicles whos brakes are metal to metal and have worn clear into the rotor vents (I saw one come in like that... the brakes were worn out for a year and utterly dangerous for atleast 4 months... the lady said it just started making noise yesterday).

If you can't maintain your machinery, you are a risk to everyone else out there. Also here in FL we have alot of illegals or people w/ DL suspensions who still drive on a daily basis.... They're dangerous and uninsured. I'm all for leniency, but repeat offenders need to go away for a while.

I think thats a better way to relieve traffic, and to reduce accidents and fatalities.

i agree on this. i drive in california, and about half of the cars i see driving on the freeway should not even be driven on residential roads yet they are driving on the highway. in addition some people that should not be behind the wheel are being given their licenses easily. if there are higher restrictions put on who drives, and much higher restrictions being put on what cars are being driven, the amount of accidents would greatly decrease.

maldorf · Mar 3, 2010

All I know is that the State Highway Patrol could not operate without giving out speeding tickets, the revenue is much needed. Im starting to just look at it as yet another tax we pay. The fine amounts are just insane. Drving my family back from Florida this summer I got a ticket in a construction zone in the state of Georgia. the amount of the fine was $750 !!!!

Those cops were handing out those tickets as fast as they could. Good ole Barney Fife came up to my window asking for liscense,registration, and proof of insurance. They had a nice little trap set up with one cruiser using the laser and another down the road to pull you over. I dont care what the police force says, its not just about safety, its about generating revenue.

Another thing that really burns me up is when they run the patrols with the airplane. Ive had 2 of those tickets. The one time they had 8 cars pulled over at the same time in various spots on I75. It was a massive effort on Labor Day weekend. I guess I should have known better!

bloodshed · Mar 4, 2010

maldorf said:
All I know is that the State Highway Patrol could not operate without giving out speeding tickets, the revenue is much needed. Im starting to just look at it as yet another tax we pay. The fine amounts are just insane. Drving my family back from Florida this summer I got a ticket in a construction zone in the state of Georgia. the amount of the fine was $750 !!!!

Those cops were handing out those tickets as fast as they could. Good ole Barney Fife came up to my window asking for liscense,registration, and proof of insurance. They had a nice little trap set up with one cruiser using the laser and another down the road to pull you over. I dont care what the police force says, its not just about safety, its about generating revenue.

Another thing that really burns me up is when they run the patrols with the airplane. Ive had 2 of those tickets. The one time they had 8 cars pulled over at the same time in various spots on I75. It was a massive effort on Labor Day weekend. I guess I should have known better!

a tax is exactly what it is. to be honest, i wouldnt complain a single bit of they tripled the fines for tickets, but changed the guidelines. I.E. removing the speed limit altogether but basing it off of the flow of traffic. so if there is absolutely nobody on the road aside from myself, if i break 110 im doing nothing wrong. On the other hand if the flow of traffic is 70 and im going 80 i get a ticket, or if the flow of traffic is 80 and im going 65 i also get a ticket(unless im in the right lane or something to that effect). i think common sense should guide it....this is just my opinion though.

maldorf · Mar 4, 2010

bloodshed said:
a tax is exactly what it is. to be honest, i wouldnt complain a single bit of they tripled the fines for tickets, but changed the guidelines. I.E. removing the speed limit altogether but basing it off of the flow of traffic. so if there is absolutely nobody on the road aside from myself, if i break 110 im doing nothing wrong. On the other hand if the flow of traffic is 70 and im going 80 i get a ticket, or if the flow of traffic is 80 and im going 65 i also get a ticket(unless im in the right lane or something to that effect). i think common sense should guide it....this is just my opinion though.

I agree. Problem is there is no way to enforce something like that, but it would be a dream world huh.

mikennrg · Mar 4, 2010

bloodshed said:
a tax is exactly what it is. to be honest, i wouldnt complain a single bit of they tripled the fines for tickets, but changed the guidelines. I.E. removing the speed limit altogether but basing it off of the flow of traffic. so if there is absolutely nobody on the road aside from myself, if i break 110 im doing nothing wrong. On the other hand if the flow of traffic is 70 and im going 80 i get a ticket, or if the flow of traffic is 80 and im going 65 i also get a ticket(unless im in the right lane or something to that effect). i think common sense should guide it....this is just my opinion though.

maldorf said:
I agree. Problem is there is no way to enforce something like that, but it would be a dream world huh.

Actually some areas have adjustable speed limits. Cameras monitor traffic and adjust the speed according to how many vehicles are on the road. The only thing is they never raise it above 60mph in my area.