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Whatever you, as an advocate of throwing speed limits out the window, may think, the fact remains that the municipality has the legal authority to set the limits, and that was the point of the post in question. It was in response to someone claiming that the municipalities did not have the legal authority to set speed limits and thus the posted speed limits are "illegal", and I was giving an example of a state statute that specifically gives them that authority - legally. I suspect other states have similar statutes.
Just "engineering standards"? Not safety? I hope by engineering standards you're including line of visibility, cross traffic, type of wild life that may enter roadway (deer, moose, elk), and other conditions that may effect driver safety if going too fast.
Just "engineering standards"? Not safety? I hope by engineering standards you're including line of visibility, cross traffic, type of wild life that may enter roadway (deer, moose, elk), and other conditions that may effect driver safety if going too fast.
I was under the impression that all that you mentioned is included in a competent traffic study.
Just "engineering standards"? Not safety? I hope by engineering standards you're including line of visibility, cross traffic, type of wild life that may enter roadway (deer, moose, elk), and other conditions that may effect driver safety if going too fast.
That is taken in account by the traffic engineering studies.
Whatever you, as an advocate of throwing speed limits out the window, may think, the fact remains that the municipality has the legal authority to set the limits, and that was the point of the post in question. It was in response to someone claiming that the municipalities did not have the legal authority to set speed limits and thus the posted speed limits are "illegal", and I was giving an example of a state statute that specifically gives them that authority - legally. I suspect other states have similar statutes.
Are you telling me municipalities can implement a 125 mph speed limit if they desire?
SH-130 is a toll road with somewhat exorbitant tolls that's also quite far out of the way for most people. To give you an idea of the traffic load, I believe that the toll company shall be bankrupt as of April 1, 2014 from what I heard. Very few people use it.
Whatever you, as an advocate of throwing speed limits out the window, may think, the fact remains that the municipality has the legal authority to set the limits, and that was the point of the post in question. It was in response to someone claiming that the municipalities did not have the legal authority to set speed limits and thus the posted speed limits are "illegal", and I was giving an example of a state statute that specifically gives them that authority - legally. I suspect other states have similar statutes.
I thought ram2 meant something different from that, but that's just my guess. I don't think he meant that local pols don't have authority to alter speed limits. I think he might have meant it violated some other rules, but I'll let him explain his own thinking.
Stick it to those politician worshippers - a person should drive at a speed that is based upon the fastest speed on a given stretch of road that is reasonable and prudent, adjusted downwards if desired based on his or her own judgment, and subject to the speed of traffic flow around him/her assuming there is significant traffic. A reasonable and prudent speed remains reasonable and prudent no matter what today's whims of the politicians happen to be.
As for the municipal speed limits, municipalities have the authority to set speed limits within limits prescribed by state law, such as minimums and maximums and the proper procedures for setting and changing those speed limits. Often those procedures require a traffic engineering study to be conducted and for the speed limits to be based upon that (in most instances requiring the 85th percentile speed be used). The rules for setting and changing speed limits are usually ignored in favor of the feelings, prejudices, and whims of local politicians, who often are not only greedy for revenue, but are also in the pocket of the safety lobby*. The violations of these rules is what makes many speed limits "illegally underposted". It should also be pointed out that if a municipality in Massachusetts decides 75 is the right and safe speed for a certain stretch of freeway, it cannot post it at 75, since state law caps all speed limits at 65; these cases apply only to a very small number of municipalities, but many if not most speed limits are pretty much arbitrary, and devoid of any coherent plan or program.
*You know the type - the crowd that whines about the safety of children and wants to pass new restrictions and bureaucratic rigamarole to make themselves feel better, without regard for the costs of the new measure and even usually without regard for whether it will actually make children safer. A hypothetical (I hope?) example would be stepping up enforcement of school zone speed limits in school zones where if you observed for a week you wouldn't even see any pedestrians of any age, let alone children.
absolutely, my auto insurance just dropped $1200 per year because i am a safe driver. i paid a lot for my new Yaris and now i pay even less than what i did for my 1992 tercel even with the safe driver discount that came out in 1993. i don't want anything raising my premiums
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