Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Freeways could use some form of traffic calming too, since no one pays attention to the 65mph limit. The freeways are scary enough without every idiot doing 80mph (when it isn't backed up with bumper to bumper traffic). What's the point? It accomplishes nothing but wastes fuel and creates stress and road rage, and pollution. And kills more people. I don't think people should be allowed to go any speed they want on the freeways.
I would propose putting those red light cameras on every freeway and start mailing out $500 speeding tickets en masse. And double the fine for repeat offenders. After the first ticket their insurance rates will probably double too. That should take care of the problem real quick. It's simple. You break the law, you pay the price.
Speeding cameras do not stop people from speeding. Everyone just slam their brakes approaching the camera position, disrupting the flow of traffic. Once they pass the location, they'll go back to their initial speed.
Speeding cameras do not stop people from speeding. Everyone just slam their brakes approaching the camera position, disrupting the flow of traffic. Once they pass the location, they'll go back to their initial speed.
A simple 'Photo Enforced' notice placed under every speed limit sign would be enough warning to get drivers to slow down, and if they fail to do so they could be getting a surprise in the mail. The sign can mean highway patrol cars are patrolling the area with radar, or automated speed cameras that could be hidden or camouflaged in the area. The costs would be easily covered by all the fines, considering the sheer number of speeders. Whatever the HP is doing now isn't enough. I don't think they even bother to enforce the speed limits in most states, so maybe they should just start doing their job.
Last edited by cisco kid; 04-25-2013 at 05:51 PM..
A simple 'Photo Enforced' notice placed under every speed limit sign would be enough warning to get drivers to slow down, and if they fail to do so they could be getting a surprise in the mail. The sign can mean highway patrol cars are patrolling the area with radar, or automated speed cameras that could be hidden or camouflaged in the area. The costs would be easily covered by all the fines, considering the sheer number of speeders. Whatever the HP is doing now isn't enough. I don't think they even bother to enforce the speed limits in most states, so maybe they should just start doing their job.
While I agree with your intent, I disagree with your method. It would be ham-handed, ineffective, and exceedingly expensive in both up-front (purchase and installation of the equipment) and ongoing (ticket review and processing, equipment maintenance, legal) expenses.
Quite frankly, it wouldn't work, and the price tag and political blowback would damn any such project.
Freeways are fast for the same reason streets are too fast, we've made, by way of throughway design, drivers feel like they control their environment, in this case at high speeds. The lanes are wide, the freeways are very wide, the sightlines are long, and on and on. We perceive it to be a high-speed environment, and drive accordingly.
If you really want drivers the slow down, the only sure solution is to internalize the danger and the cost of high-speed driving. Instead of a HOV toll lane, have a high-speed toll lane that is priced accordingly (a silly, outlandish idea, I know). Or, have more freeways, but each has fewer (no more than two each way), thinner lanes and shorter sightlines.
While I agree with your intent, I disagree with your method. It would be ham-handed, ineffective, and exceedingly expensive in both up-front (purchase and installation of the equipment) and ongoing (ticket review and processing, equipment maintenance, legal) expenses.
Quite frankly, it wouldn't work, and the price tag and political blowback would damn any such project.
Freeways are fast for the same reason streets are too fast, we've made, by way of throughway design, drivers feel like they control their environment, in this case at high speeds. The lanes are wide, the freeways are very wide, the sightlines are long, and on and on. We perceive it to be a high-speed environment, and drive accordingly.
If you really want drivers the slow down, the only sure solution is to internalize the danger and the cost of high-speed driving. Instead of a HOV toll lane, have a high-speed toll lane that is priced accordingly (a silly, outlandish idea, I know). Or, have more freeways, but each has fewer (no more than two each way), thinner lanes and shorter sightlines.
They said the same thing about red light cameras. Along with seatbelts. And airbags. They would never work, too expensive, political blowback, yaddah yaddah. The same ol same ol kind of fearmongering seems to be trotted against every traffic calming or traffic control proposal that ever came along.
Well red light cameras are now widespread in hundreds of areas across the country, they are working just fine at cutting down on speeding, reducing collisions while more than paying for themselves through the fines so none of these arguments hold much water. Sorry but driving is a privilege not a right, and drivers don't get to make their own rules of the road.
They said the same thing about red light cameras. Along with seatbelts. And airbags. They would never work, too expensive, political blowback, yaddah yaddah.
And red light cameras did not work (except to provide revenue for the camera companies) and are often abused.
Freeways could use some form of traffic calming too, since no one pays attention to the 65mph limit. The freeways are scary enough without every idiot doing 80mph (when it isn't backed up with bumper to bumper traffic). What's the point? It accomplishes nothing but wastes fuel and creates stress and road rage, and pollution. And kills more people. I don't think people should be allowed to go any speed they want on the freeways.
I would propose putting those red light cameras on every freeway and start mailing out $500 speeding tickets en masse. And double the fine for repeat offenders. After the first ticket their insurance rates will probably double too. That should take care of the problem real quick. It's simple. You break the law, you pay the price.
Completely ridiculous.
Most interstate highways should be signed as 75-80mph anyway outside of urban freeways or some crowded suburban highways, and yes people should be allowed to go whatever speed they want out on some of the rural sections as well, within some kind of reasonable and prudent guidelines like the rural stretches of autobahn. I also think drivers licenses should be harder to get, because it's not the 80mph drivers that are causing most of the trouble, its the IDIOTS in the left lane doing 62 in a 65 that cause the whole flow to be disrupted and create risks of accidents.
It honestly sounds like you really don't drive often, if ever...because what you've posted simply reeks of not knowing what you're talking about whatsoever.
If you really want drivers the slow down, the only sure solution is to internalize the danger and the cost of high-speed driving. Instead of a HOV toll lane, have a high-speed toll lane that is priced accordingly (a silly, outlandish idea, I know). Or, have more freeways, but each has fewer (no more than two each way), thinner lanes and shorter sightlines.
I've said for years that I would pay extra to have special lanes where the speed limit was closer to 100-120 mph, similar to the Autobahn. I'd even go so far as to say that these lanes should require a permit for both vehicle and driver, where you prove that you're a capable driver (through some kind of prior road course or road test) and have a capable vehicle (inspected). Of course it'd never happen, but it would be amazing to have separate lanes on I-95 where I could cruise down the coast at 110mph safely with other people who actually care about knowing how to drive, while passing all of the old idiots in Toyota Camrys bunching up at 56mph in a 65 in the left lane on the mainline road, lol.
What works? What doesn't work? Trying to think of some ideas for my own neighborhood's needs in advance of a planning meeting. Mini roundabouts (or rotaries, in New England parlance) are popping up elsewhere in the city. They seem to be effective, to me.
Speed bumps appear to be out of favor as an effective tool, but I think our city still installs them. I'm not as up to date on other measures as we're a bit behind the state of the art in Baltimore, I think.
I'm aware there are lots of studies, but interested in also hearing anecdotally what people like and don't.
I'm not a big fan of speed bumps, though they definitely can work. They're bad for cyclists and for emergency vehicles. Also, if a driver doesn't know they're there (especially at night), they might not drive slowly the first time they drive that stretch (until they hit one and realize they're there of course).
There are lots of ways to calm traffic that work though:
-turning one-way streets into two-way
-allowing cars to park along the curb
-curb-outs at intersections (though this isn't done mainly to calm traffic)
-narrow lane widths (no more than 10 feet wide)
-roundabouts
-sharp corners (no broad, gentle right turns for example)
And red light cameras did not work (except to provide revenue for the camera companies) and are often abused.
They are proven to work and are here to stay. If you have been caught by one and fined you only have yourself to blame for running the red light. It will teach you not to do it again. No amount of whining and crying is going to make them go away.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
