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On the way to work, early AM, little traffic, I do 60 and stick to the right lane. On the way home, mid afternoon, I don't like to drive in the right lane due to idiots who slow down to 40 mph as much as a half-mile before their exit. Hence I move over to the left lane and do 65-70 to avoid becoming a rolling blockade lefty camper.
Five above is best bet and safer than radar detector. Also, got to know some areas where police has NO tolerance and stay dead on SL. Esp in 25mph areas. They are very vigilant there.
If its a residential or non highway I go 5 over max. School zones I go the speed limit when the flashing lights are on. On an interstate I might do 80 to 85 in a 65 though as everyone is going the same speed. If some idiot is blocking the left though I will give them a nice downshift as I pass them on the right
As someone in the industry, I always respect a 'cone zone'. Just because it is after hours or a weekend doesn't mean there aren't contractors there. It is NEVER 'obvious'. One lone worker could be off to the side and you don't even see him.
And yes, I usually go 7-9 MPH over any posted speed limit. In the case of a construction zone, the posted limit is the posted limit, AT ALL TIMES.
Conditions never require exceeding the speed limit, in spite of what the "keep up with the rest of the idiots" crowd says.
That isn't always true. Never be fooled into thinking that slower = safer. Glad you walked away from your accident.
I do NOT respect speed limits. For one simple reason... they are simply a guaranteed stream of revenue for the states. Issuing speeding tickets is like shooting fish in a barrel. If the states determine they need more money, what do they do? Send out more officers and write more tickets. A lot of people in here just admitted they go 5-9mph over the limit regularly. That is technically illegal, and if the state decided they need more cash, they could very well start pulling people over in masses for doing 1mph over. That's roughly $250 a pop (in California). It's also the reason that the freeway speed limits are permanently set by state governments. On surface streets, speeds are set by the 85th percentile speed after an engineer conducts a survey. You better be willing to bet if you have engineers conduct surveys on some freeways here in Southern California and the rural central valley the 85th percentile speed would be well over 65mph. Judging by commuting everyday I'd say it'd probably be at least 80. Probably even 85-90 on i5 in the central valley.
A lot of times these professional studies in America skew information to portray that speeding is dangerous. Saying things such as, "in 30% of crashes, speed was a factor." Speed as a factor in collisions can only be assumed. I'll try and work on a source, but I read somewhere speed was a sole factor in only about 5% of crashes. edit: hmmmm, can't seem to find that article Most crashes today with technology are attributed to distracted driving and poor driving training.
I take the limits with a grain of salt. I travel at speeds that I feel are safe and reasonable for the conditions. If the limit is 25 and school just got out, I might do 18. If the speed limit is 70 and no one's out, I might do 100. If the speed limit is 65 and traffic opens up I might do 78. If the speed limit is 40 and there's bicycles around I might do 33. If the speed limit is 50 and and I'm out on my motorcycle going around some beautiful curves I might do 70. So on and so forth.
If I only feel comfortable traveling at or below the limit (like my first example) and there's people behind me, I will pull over and let them pass so I do not impede their progress. And, to be frank, I expect the same courtesy in return.
Last edited by 2live&dieinLA; 10-23-2013 at 02:52 PM..
I didn't always, but I got tired of getting pulled over, going to court, and paying fines. So now I drive in a manner not likely to get me pulled over. Problem solved!
Once all my old tickets dropped off my record (a dozen+ in my driving career), my insurance costs literally dropped by half.
It also saves gas, and it's a lot less stressful because I don't have to watch out for cops and speed traps.
And if I do get pulled over, I'm more likely to be treated like a human being than a scofflaw. I've now experienced this first hand.
The other night, I was driving home from work. It must have been about 4:00 AM, and I was the only one on the road coming or going for at least a quarter mile if not more. My mind wandered at the wrong moment, and I forget to kick off my cruise control before the limit dropped from 55 to 45 (I had the cruise set at 60 and was about to slow down anyway because the freeway ends, and my turn is at the first stop light). OOPS, there's the cop that sometimes sits there, and the limit already dropped! Ruh-roh! Like any cop just doing his job, he pulled me over.
Well my clean record earned me a written warning instead of a ticket. Nice! The cop literally said "because your record is clean, and there's nobody else on the road, I'm giving you a break," implying that if I had other recent violations, he'd be happy to give me another.
I don't really respect speed limits. I slow down in construction zones, school zones, etc. But on the highway, I have no problem going 30 mph over the speed limit under the right circumstances. I think speed limits are often set artificially low. I got a speeding ticket a few months ago, but it was my first ticket in almost 15 years, so I'm not too worried about it. I plan to continue to speed when it feels right.
As I've stated in other threads on this forum, too much attention is paid to speeding (relative to tailgating, texting, etc). Personally, I usually drive 25-30 mph in residential areas. Obviously, depends on the specific area, but I'm never excessively speeding in residential areas (that's truly dangerous).
If the speed limit is 45, I usually push it to around 60.
If the speed limit is 55, I'm around 65-70.
If the limit is 65, I go 75.
Never have gotten a speeding ticket by following common sense measures. Don't speed if it's just yourself in the area. For example, when I drive home at 2 AM, I only go 5 over the limit max. With other cars on the road, I try to trail someone really pushing the limit. Overall, I try to never lead the pack.
In terms of safety, speeding on a crowded highway is definitely unsafe. The other day I saw a van change lanes and cut off a car going way too fast. Who's to blame? The car that got cut off beeped for a good 10 seconds because it was such a close call, but did he learn from this? No, he passed on the right and continued to weave in and out of traffic. Speeding in and of itself is not necessarily dangerous, but when it's compounded with distractions, bad conditions, too much traffic, it becomes dangerous and stupid. If people used common sense, driving would be a whole lot easier and relaxing. Sadly, this is not the case and we have to be even more attentive when we speed because of those around us.
I didn't always, but I got tired of getting pulled over, going to court, and paying fines. So now I drive in a manner not likely to get me pulled over. Problem solved!
Once all my old tickets dropped off my record (a dozen+ in my driving career), my insurance costs literally dropped by half.
It also saves gas, and it's a lot less stressful because I don't have to watch out for cops and speed traps.
And if I do get pulled over, I'm more likely to be treated like a human being than a scofflaw. I've now experienced this first hand.
The other night, I was driving home from work. It must have been about 4:00 AM, and I was the only one on the road coming or going for at least a quarter mile if not more. My mind wandered at the wrong moment, and I forget to kick off my cruise control before the limit dropped from 55 to 45 (I had the cruise set at 60 and was about to slow down anyway because the freeway ends, and my turn is at the first stop light). OOPS, there's the cop that sometimes sits there, and the limit already dropped! Ruh-roh! Like any cop just doing his job, he pulled me over.
Well my clean record earned me a written warning instead of a ticket. Nice! The cop literally said "because your record is clean, and there's nobody else on the road, I'm giving you a break," implying that if I had other recent violations, he'd be happy to give me another.
How did you get pulled over so much? Were you careless about looking out for enforcement?
I work an overnight shift. Our roads are open with very little street lighting. So yes in the dark I can not pick out a fully marked State Police Car I do drive very near the limit.
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