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I was just remarking the other day how it was silly that the speed limit on 540 is so low. It's a brand new road. Surely we can have it at 70 or 75. Still 65 from 70 to I-40 though.
I would love if people would at least get up to the speed limit. To me, it seems if more and more people are enjoying driving at around 55 to 60 lately... and insist on being in the left lane. Most of the back up is caused by these people driving slowly and being in all lanes - and then causing others to constant change lanes trying to get around the idiots. Just as why do people in the right lane eastbound between Six Forks and Falls of Neuse insist on slowing down to almost 40? That is a LONG distance between exits and it's made unsafe by these people.
I'd be very happy to see a higher speed limit, but I'd prefer to see the speed limit enforced as much for people going under (and trucks in the far left lane) as much as being enforced for people going over the limit.
70 MPH speed limit (with traffic at 75-80) on this road (yes, this is I-540 through North Raleigh, not NC-540) would scare me a little bit at rush hour. There are frequent jam-ups that require quick braking.
There would be no such thing as quick braking if people learned how to drive properly and left enough following distance. It amazes me how stupid people really are when it comes to driving. I frequently see cars in a pack following within 1 or 2 car lengths from each other.
As a frequent driver of I-540 in that general stretch I can state with canny accuracy and a bit tongue and cheek that raising it up to 70 MPH is like giving the so called green light to the 80 to 85 MPH. One thing we seemingly love to do is drive about 10 MPH over the speed limit. It is the comfort zone for some reason. It is like a right of passage when traversing the interstates. If we were auctioneers we would be very good at it.....give me 65...65...65..67...68...do I drive 68...68...70...70...I am going 70...do i go 75..75...75.....80...I can go 80....80...80....switch the cruise control on for that guy at mile marker 15 for 80 MPH! Good day!
I am one that travels it only on off hours and sets the thing they call cruise to 70 to 72.5 MPH and watch the world go by...or better said every other driver on I-540 go by me, but I do get an occasional thrill when I at 70 - 72.5 MPH cruises by a big yellow vehicle with flashing and blinking red lights, and sometimes a bright white strobe light. A.K.A. School bus.
My vote is I for the 70 MPH speed limit. Nay when its raining or wet roads. Not sure why drivers think that they can go the exact same speed as wet roads as they do dry roads. A lot do find out that it is not cool when they meet the guard rail or confuse their GPS to no end as they spin and it recalc, recalc, and recal's.....or the ones that speak, simple state..."Are you done yet?"
I read that increasing speed from 60mph to 70mph will result in spending 16.3% more on gas.
Likewise, speeding from 50 to 60 mph will result in spending 12.4% more gas.
ENjoy!!
nando.com/roadworrier - Oakridge National Laboratory
I would love if people would at least get up to the speed limit. To me, it seems if more and more people are enjoying driving at around 55 to 60 lately... and insist on being in the left lane. Most of the back up is caused by these people driving slowly and being in all lanes - and then causing others to constant change lanes trying to get around the idiots. Just as why do people in the right lane eastbound between Six Forks and Falls of Neuse insist on slowing down to almost 40? That is a LONG distance between exits and it's made unsafe by these people.
I'd be very happy to see a higher speed limit, but I'd prefer to see the speed limit enforced as much for people going under (and trucks in the far left lane) as much as being enforced for people going over the limit.
The lousy design of roads makes it hard for slower traffic to keep right because the right lane tends to drop off and later reappear.
Unlighted roads also make folks go slower to not overdrive their headlights.
If you set a limit of 70, the speed demons will hit 80 or 85. A crash at those speeds means an undertaker, not a doctor is required.
Faster driving cuts gas mileage to boot.
Last edited by saturnfan; 02-10-2013 at 02:54 PM..
I can send you lots of data on it if you really wanted to know, but think about it this way - the speed limits wouldn't be going up if traffic engineers didn't think it was safe to raise them.
As for speed differentials, the 40 mph minimum speed was originally implemented to keep traffic speed differentials from being too extreme and thus dangerous. Speed variation is actually one of the biggest factors in highway crashes, since on the highway it is usually single-direction traffic on a relatively closed path.
Speed variation is also why many countries have graduated speed limits by lane, as the speed difference can be dangerous but not everyone wants to drive as fast as the upper limit allows. When speed limits were originally mandated to 55 (from 70 or unlimited before), besides the benefit of gas savings, we got a more uniform flow of traffic, which is why fatalities decreased. Now states are looking at raising minimum speed limits to make highways safer by closing the 40-70 gap. That's a little too off topic for this thread though.
In general, I don't think people understand traffic or speed very well at all, and thus are afraid of it, like those who were afraid of lightening before they really understood it.
Last edited by Sayantsi; 02-10-2013 at 05:30 PM..
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Drive fast to burn money
