Tell me about highway speed protocol in AZ (Phoenix, Scottsdale: neighborhood, construction)

[fluffythewondercat]

Originally Posted by jnojr

I'll do that when my stupid-expensive CA registration is close to expiring.

Up to you, but you can get a refund if your vehicle has left the state.

[ScottsdaleMark]

On local roads: I rarely see PHX police doing traffic stops, they seem to have more important things to attend to; in sleepy suburbs, they may have less other things to worry about, and can spend more time on traffic enforcement. Just what I've observed as someone who primarily drives in Phoenix and Scottsdale.

On freeways: I find you are much more likely to see people pulled over on rural interstates than on urban freeways, as well. In the city, with hundreds of thousands of cars on the freeways, the odds are low of any one person getting pulled over on a given day.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by ScottsdaleMark

On local roads: I rarely see PHX police doing traffic stops, they seem to have more important things to attend to; in sleepy suburbs, they may have less other things to worry about, and can spend more time on traffic enforcement. Just what I've observed as someone who primarily drives in Phoenix and Scottsdale.

On freeways: I find you are much more likely to see people pulled over on rural interstates than on urban freeways, as well. In the city, with hundreds of thousands of cars on the freeways, the odds are low of any one person getting pulled over on a given day.

Your point makes a lot of sense. But PHX area police assume that people have the brains to drive faster and also drive safe. So there is a downside for this "live and let live approach": for whatever the reason, I've never observed such a high concentration of absolute dangerous idiots drivers on the roads. I've observed people weave in and out of traffic going 20-30 MPH faster than the average speed multiple times. Since most lanes on the 65 MPH zones have people averaging nearly 80 MPH, others seem to think cutting a 1/2 car in front or behind is acceptable. In an hour of driving on the highways, I bet I see at least one person every other time drive like a jerk. If I catch a glimpse, it's nearly always a male driver. All too often, white trash in a semi-POS car. Two days ago, a guy with a newer Challenger was getting honked at for his stunts by others and he rolled his window down and flipped people off for a 5 seconds. He did that three times before he was out of view. The profile of the jerks are that they think they are pro drivers. They want you to move the "F" out of the way covering all the lanes. Where are the highway patrols????? I'll wonder if most of the bad drivers are high on something.

The bottom line is if you are not going 10 MPH over the speed limit, you are going too slow in comparison to 70% of the drivers. I'll bet 20% are going about 15 MPH over. Putting it another way, going the actual speed limit when traffic is not congested enough for a natural slowdown will result in many people not feeling safe to drive. I'd love to be an undercover cop on an AZ highway. I'd throw the book at one of those a-holes who thinks they have a right to put others in danger. Three tickets like speeding, endangering the lives or others, and reckless driving. Therefore when I am driving and the traffic is flowing, I too go 10 over or risk someone riding your arse even more. I've noticed the arse riders (even while going 10 MPH over and not in the fast lane) are often women. I was tempted to buy this bumper sticker: https://www.ebay.com/i/220928627190?...r=520063116885 . But it would have to be magnetic.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by MN-Born-n-Raised

Your point makes a lot of sense. But PHX area police assume that people have the brains to drive faster and also drive safe. So there is a downside for this "live and let live approach": for whatever the reason, I've never observed such a high concentration of absolute dangerous idiots drivers on the roads. I've observed people weave in and out of traffic going 20-30 MPH faster than the average speed multiple times. Since most lanes on the 65 MPH zones have people averaging nearly 80 MPH, others seem to think cutting a 1/2 car in front or behind is acceptable. In an hour of driving on the highways, I bet I see at least one person every other time drive like a jerk. If I catch a glimpse, it's nearly always a male driver. All too often, white trash in a semi-POS car. Two days ago, a guy with a newer Challenger was getting honked at for his stunts by others and he rolled his window down and flipped people off for a 5 seconds. He did that three times before he was out of view. The profile of the jerks are that they think they are pro drivers. They want you to move the "F" out of the way covering all the lanes. Where are the highway patrols????? I'll wonder if most of the bad drivers are high on something.

The bottom line is if you are not going 10 MPH over the speed limit, you are going too slow in comparison to 70% of the drivers. I'll bet 20% are going about 15 MPH over. Putting it another way, going the actual speed limit when traffic is not congested enough for a natural slowdown will result in many people not feeling safe to drive. I'd love to be an undercover cop on an AZ highway. I'd throw the book at one of those a-holes who thinks they have a right to put others in danger. Three tickets like speeding, endangering the lives or others, and reckless driving. Therefore when I am driving and the traffic is flowing, I too go 10 over or risk someone riding your arse even more. I've noticed the arse riders (even while going 10 MPH over and not in the fast lane) are often women. I was tempted to buy this bumper sticker: https://www.ebay.com/i/220928627190?...r=520063116885 . But it would have to be magnetic.

OMG. You sound just like one of those pokey snowbirds with Minnesota (or WI or Canadian) plates that drive everyone on the freeway nuts. Honestly, I sometimes wonder if they have gas pedals in cars sold in the tundra. Get over to the right with the gravel haulers and cement trucks if you can't keep up.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by exit2lef

Arizona has recently designated "safety corridors." These are areas targeted for zero tolerance enforcement of traffic laws based on historic patterns of crashes in those zones.

https://www.azdot.gov/media/News/new...fety-corridors

Outside these corridors, enforcement is more permissive.

There is little/no enforcement in them either or in construction zones. The I-17 corridor they do on holidays just moves along slightly less than normal but still near 10+ with the exception of the bottlenecks where it moves at 5 mph. Maybe you don't see the 85 mph drivers in them, though.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

OMG. You sound just like one of those pokey snowbirds with Minnesota (or WI or Canadian) plates that drive everyone on the freeway nuts. Honestly, I sometimes wonder if they have gas pedals in cars sold in the tundra. Get over to the right with the gravel haulers and cement trucks if you can't keep up.

either I wasn't clear or you didn't comprehend my post. I said I go at least 10 MPH over the speed limit and SOME people are blowing by me 20-30 MPH faster (they are going 30-40 MPH over the posted speed). i.e. some are weaving in and out of of traffic in comparison to the average speed on the road (which goes 10 over). Even when going 15 mph over, often, people ride a car length behind you in the slower lanes. a.k.a. some PHX drivers are a-hole drivers; it's the driving culture in comparison other spots because it seems the police use the "live and let live" mentality. I just don't see that in other towns. I'm sure there are other areas of the country. But I think the PHX area has more aggressive drivers. I've been pulled over my unfairshare of times in MN. I speed. I go even faster her and don't suspect I will ever be pulled over considering at any given time, someone is going another 5 MPH faster in another lane.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by MN-Born-n-Raised

either I wasn't clear or you didn't comprehend my post. I said I go at least 10 MPH over the speed limit and SOME people are blowing by me 20-30 MPH faster (they are going 30-40 MPH over the posted speed). i.e. some are weaving in and out of of traffic in comparison to the average speed on the road (which goes 10 over). Even when going 15 mph over, often, people ride a car length behind you in the slower lanes. a.k.a. some PHX drivers are a-hole drivers; it's the driving culture in comparison other spots because it seems the police use the "live and let live" mentality. I just don't see that in other towns. I'm sure there are other areas of the country. But I think the PHX area has more aggressive drivers. I've been pulled over my unfairshare of times in MN. I speed. I go even faster her and don't suspect I will ever be pulled over considering at any given time, someone is going another 5 MPH faster in another lane.

Yeah, we move. Most people are from somewhere else though, so you know they desire to go faster after years of being held back in their home states. It is frustrating driving in the upper midwest where they rarely go five over outside of cities and there are cops hiding behind trees. The rules here are simple: 35 is 45, 45 is 55, 65 is about 75 and for freeways, urban is whatever they are going at in the lane you are in and rural - low 80s. Some are going to go faster. Let 'em go. Get Waze so you know where the few traffic cops are. So for the snowbirds - find that pedal and use it (and that means getting a move on when the light turns green too). Finally, for our flatland friends from Kansas, Nebraska, Saskatchewan etc. Those mountain curves look scary, but that yellow speed sign is not the limit. It is a very low recommendation. You should be at least 10 over that, preferably, 15 if you do not want people tailgating and flipping you off coming down a hill.

[KurtAZ]

Originally Posted by jnojr

I'll do that when my stupid-expensive CA registration is close to expiring. Until then, I've become very Zen-like in how I handle idiots in traffic... I use cruise control, match traffic ahead of me, and let jackwagons go ahead and cut in front of me to rush off somewhere else. Go ahead and flash your lights behind me because there's a little breathing room in front... I don't care.

You realize that by law...you have 10 days upon moving here to change your registration...right?

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by JGMotorsport64

I’ve been passed by cops doing 75-80 on I10. Even they speed. Just don’t be erratic, use the left lane for passing, don’t travel in a merge lane, and don’t speed up so people can’t pass you.

That doesn't mean they'll let you speed though. What's good for the goose isn't always good for the gander.

[wase4711]

Originally Posted by MN-Born-n-Raised

I was tempted to buy this bumper sticker: https://www.ebay.com/i/220928627190?...r=520063116885 . But it would have to be magnetic.

That sticker should be dealer installed on every car sold in the Phoenix area...this area has the most speeding/reckless drivers I have seen ANYWHERE, and I have been driving all over the USA for many decades..