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So the answer is, virtually 100 percent of drivers do not obey the speed limit, because the speed limit is seriously flawed. If you are not in the virtually 100 percent, then it is your driving that is flawed, like the flawed revenue generating speed limits. You are the problem, not us.
And yet, when I drive on the roads in the course of my occupation (as an example, I put about 200 miles on my car just today in the course of showing houses to some out of state clients who are unfamiliar with the area and so needed to see several parts of it to determine where they want to live), I have made a point of noticing, and the vast majority of people ARE driving the limit or within a handful of miles of it either way. I would say easily 90% are. Of course, I'm not in New Jersey and that no doubt makes an enormous difference.
This isn't taking a puff of weed, a swig of beer, or any other type of teenage peer pressure activity we're talking about here. If your "high-and-mighty" attitude makes you drive 20 mph under the average speed on the highway, no matter what the speed limit is, you are a danger to other drivers and don't belong behind the wheel.
Well, I don't drive 20 mph below the limit, and I don't really have a problem with people who speed moderately, AS LONG AS they aren't so immature and, to use your term, "high and mighty" as to deny responsibility for being the initiating cause of any problem when they find themselves behind someone who is obeying the speed limit law. If they were obeying the speed limit law, there would be no problem; therefore, they are the cause of the problem.
It's the lack of maturity on the part of someone behind the wheel of a multi-thousand pound potential weapon in thinking that because they don't like the speed limit that it shouldn't and doesn't apply to them that concerns me more than the actual speed.
Well, I don't drive 20 mph below the limit, and I don't really have a problem with people who speed moderately, AS LONG AS they aren't so immature and, to use your term, "high and mighty" as to deny responsibility for being the initiating cause of any problem when they find themselves behind someone who is obeying the speed limit law. If they were obeying the speed limit law, there would be no problem; therefore, they are the cause of the problem.
It's the lack of maturity on the part of someone behind the wheel of a multi-thousand pound potential weapon in thinking that because they don't like the speed limit that it shouldn't and doesn't apply to them that concerns me more than the actual speed.
Replying to the both of you (can't see how to respond to a quote within a quote):
The most righteous of drivers can only aspire to follow established laws, not create their own. No power extends to the operator of a vehicle to travel slower than necessary as to impede traffic. Officers can and will cite drivers traveling slower than the posted limit if done in excess. Areas with no posted minimum speed are open to officer discretion and may even be less generous than areas with posted minimums. To travel the speed limit, established as the high limit as not to be in violation of traffic laws, was explained in driver education classes as something to be adhered to as closely as possible, erring on the conservative side if nothing else. To pass the interstate driving portion, we had to maintain speed at posted speed or a maximum of 5 mph under. No more, no less, or we'd have to start again.
A certain division of AT&T that buries service lines and equips technicians with a truck and trailer sets GPS (with other added technology) to report to management each time a truck passes 55mph. Technicians are not to exceed this speed, else a discussion will take place and subsequent occurrences will result in disciplinary action. This includes travel out of state when being loaned to areas in need. This includes interstate highways. A technician was pulled over for traveling 55mph in a 70mph zone. When asked why the tech was traveling so slowly, he responded "because it is company policy". The tech was instructed to program his GPS avoiding highways and the officer remarked that the policy is "stupid" and "dangerous".
I am a firm believer that cars traveling in non pedestrian areas are safest traveling at the lowest speed relative to other vehicles, not the posted limit, except when traveling too fast for conditions. But laws do not reflect this. My doing so is my own risk I take when traveling from A to B. In urban areas with crosswalks, sidewalks, and parking lots emptying onto the main road, being conservative with speed is essential.
"But, Moooommmmm, everybody's doing it!" Shouldn't have worked when you were five, REALLY shouldn't be used as an excuse by any reasoning adult these days.
The engineering standard for setting speed limits is the 85%" rule; the limit should be set at the speed below which 85% are not speeding in flowing traffic. So "everybody's doing it" does have some meaning. The politically set "drive 55" should be consigned to the dustbin of history. Even with the so-call 65 m.p.h. limits those are used on very few roads. Back in the day the 60 m.p.h. limit was extremely common for limited access roads not within a major city. Those should come back.
Well, I don't drive 20 mph below the limit, and I don't really have a problem with people who speed moderately, AS LONG AS they aren't so immature and, to use your term, "high and mighty" as to deny responsibility for being the initiating cause of any problem when they find themselves behind someone who is obeying the speed limit law. If they were obeying the speed limit law, there would be no problem; therefore, they are the cause of the problem.
It's the lack of maturity on the part of someone behind the wheel of a multi-thousand pound potential weapon in thinking that because they don't like the speed limit that it shouldn't and doesn't apply to them that concerns me more than the actual speed.
If traffic is flowing at 75 mph on a highway posted at 55 mph, and one person is causing disruptions toddling along at 55 mph, who do you think is in the wrong?
Location: Removing a snake out of the neighbor's washing machine
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rstevens62
Why would say that? If its due to cars being built differently today, well, that doesnt matter, the 55 mph speed limit is more for the human error part, they felt 55 was the fastest speed most drivers could handle, it doesnt matter if they are in a ferrari or a focus, speed is speed.
*The vintage of car does matter* I see maneuvers in cars built since 2000, on highways and in city traffic, that would get one killed if they were attempted in something from 40-60 years ago! I also believe that to modern cars, 70mph is the 'new 50'. A recent Charger could maneuver the panties off ol' 'Christine'.
(K-Man checks front windows of house for dozens of '58 Furies he has awakened from the dead with that comment, lol!)
*The vintage of car does matter* I see maneuvers in cars built since 2000, on highways and in city traffic, that would get one killed if they were attempted in something from 40-60 years ago! I also believe that to modern cars, 70mph is the 'new 50'. A recent Charger could maneuver the panties off ol' 'Christine'.
(K-Man checks front windows of house for dozens of '58 Furies he has awakened from the dead with that comment, lol!)
Other improvements since mid-1970s that DO matter:
If traffic is flowing at 75 mph on a highway posted at 55 mph, and one person is causing disruptions toddling along at 55 mph, who do you think is in the wrong?
D00d! Great to see you in this thread, especially considering how much I have admired your past driving record...
I’ve driven some poor handling vehicles. I drove them as fast as I felt safe to do so in the right lane. Those speeds ranged from 55 to 65 mph depending on the vehicle and road conditions.
My problem with some speeders on the highway is the tailgaters. These are the drivers who, at over 70mph, will come within a few feet of the vehicle in front of them. I was in the process of passing a truck doing 65. Guy in a large truck ran right up to my bumper and was angrily honking his horn and flashing his lights. Sorry, an Elantra doesn’t accelerate as fast as your huge engine. I was accelerating and I was passing the slower truck. He really became angry after I cleared the slower truck’s front bumper expecting me to cut off the slower truck. Instead I kept going until I could see the slower truck’s tires in my rear view mirror and then changed lanes so as not to cut off the truck. Wish a state trooper had been around to see that road rage truck’s behavior.
Drivers in my area tend to drive at or below the speed limit on the interstates with a few fast ones going 90+, but speed on city streets and residential neighborhoods. Also they speed in parking lots and disregard any stop signs. Just yesterday I was coming home from work on I-79, driving the speed limit, passed a car driving below the speed limit, and we got off at the same exit onto a semi rural state road. The car I passed on the interstate started to tailgate me closely as I was driving the speed limit. They then whip around on a no passing zone and probably were travelling 60 in a 45 down the road.
I don't understand. They are docile on the interstate but aggressive elsewhere.
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Why Not 60 mph?
