Beware: Speed Traps on 101 (Phoenix: transplants, live, dangerous)
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I think regardless of how much we ***** and moan about speeders, they are always going to be there, so the best thing to do is to stop complaining, and adapt to the situation at hand, if there is a speeder in the left lane who wants to pass, just do the courteous thing and let them pass, or you could just avoid the problem entirely and do your speed limit in one of the other lanes.
The middle lanes still travel at similar speeds, I doubt going 60 as opposed to 70 is really going to make that much of a difference on your commute.
I do know the laws, and I do obey them most of the time. I am not a slow driver, and I don't hog the left lane. I am a safe, defensive driver, and have driven for 60 years and have been involved in only one accident.
I was in the right lane getting ready to exit at the second exit, and was rear ended by a semi truck when traffic in front of me slowed down at the first exit. He tried to pass without slowing down but traffic wouldn't let him change lanes.
Traffic in the right lane was travelling about 55 in a 65 because of heavy traffic entering and exiting, and then it slowed suddenly to around 45. This truck was roaring up from behind at about 70 when he came up on the slower traffic. He hit me on my right of center bumber and pushed me into the next lane to my left where my rear bumper hit another cars front quarter and sent me back. Fortunately I spent many years driving in snow and was able to maintain control in that situation and didn't roll over.
This was a case where traffic dictated that it was reasonable and prudent for the speed limit to be slower than 65, in this case the traffic was moving at 55 when it suddenly slowed.
The truck driver was not only driving above the posted maximum, but clearly above the speed of 55 which was reasonable and prudent at that time. We were fortunate that several people didn't get killed in that accident. While I am very thankful that no one was injured, my one year old car was totaled, and I had to fight with the insurance company many hours to get the property conpensation so I could be made whole, and spend quite a few hours in physical therapy because of an elbow injury and whiplash. (No I didn't sue for that)
Now ask me why I hate speeders.
Well, accidents happen, and there are many causes. Fortunately, you were not seriously injured. Now, I have been driving for almost 30 years without a single accident on my record ... however, I have had many close calls to the point where I had to be attentive and prevent serious crashes from happening.
Several times while driving on the 51 freeway, I would get into the right hand "exit only" lane for Highland Avenue, only to have a slow, inattentive driver in front of me slide sideways into my lane at the last second because he almost missed his exit. If I had not been paying attention, he could have sideswiped me and caused serious damage to both cars. I have had numerous experiences like this ... not only on freeways, but in left turn lanes as well. The drivers who slowly glide into these turn lanes in front of other vehicles as an after thought are even more dangerous than the speeders.
Most of my close calls have been with older, slower, inattentive, impaired drivers. Now you know why I despise slowpokes. They are NOT safer!
Quote:
Originally Posted by KarmaPhx
I think regardless of how much we ***** and moan about speeders, they are always going to be there, so the best thing to do is to stop complaining, and adapt to the situation at hand, if there is a speeder in the left lane who wants to pass, just do the courteous thing and let them pass, or you could just avoid the problem entirely and do your speed limit in one of the other lanes.
Another thing: speeding is more dangerous in adverse weather conditions, such as many places back east. However, Arizona is one of the places where people who are attentive can drive fast and still be safe because we don't have the snow, ice, sleet, fog, or heavy rain on a regular basis. People love our damn sunshine & clear skies so much, so it doesn't make any sense to not take advantage of the ability to move at a faster rate of speed here.
The slowpokes that like to be self appointed speed enforcers are actually causing dangerous situations and road rage. If they won't move over, they will have people passing on their right, swerving around them, and cutting them off.
it's very dangerous when slow drivers don't move over
also in your example it wasn't speeding per se that was the problem, it was just a bad driver - that truck would of railed you at 65
i see this stuff all the time during rush hour - accidents of people making bad lane changes, going too fast when distances will collapse, going a good rate of speed and then when it stops cutting lanes leaving the person behind them to either cut lanes or get on their brakes if they can't see through the car ahead of them (i've had this happen a few times when i'm behind an SUV in my little sedan - the lane on the right move, the lane on my left moves, i'm moving - then the car in front of me moves and i'm looking at a brakelight) ....... all these are in situations where people are driving well under the posted speed limit - a speed camera isn't going to make a difference because they aren't going 76 - they're going 46
to me tailgating is the biggest concern
i almost saw an accident the other day by my house - traffic was moving about 30mph through a construction zone - the mergers onto the freeway are a little difficult and traffic can stop quickly - this truck was riding too close and when it stopped he didn't react fast enough and slammed his brakes and started skidding - thankfully the car in front of him found some space to move to the right and avoid the collission
i had one the other day where I was almost hit in a similar situation - i provided a good buffer so I was able to get my speed down, I had a barrier to my left and a semi to my right - in my review I had a car skidding on it's brakes that just missed ramming me - the speed was fine, but leaving a safe distance was not
i also maintain it's bad driving practices, not speeding, that lead to these unsafe quick stop scenarios
I agree that tailgating and bad driving practices are a huge problem. But I have to add that speeding (which I'm going to define as going faster than the normal traffic flow, both above and below the posted limit) is a part of the bad driving practices.
Also, going too slow for the normal traffic flow, no matter which lane, is a bad practice.
I agree with Finger Lake that there is too much inattentive driving. Texting while driving has gotten to be a big problem, but is only one of the many distractions. The news recently showed a clip of a school bus driver texting (as shown on the bus camera) and rear ended a car while texting.
At leaste one district now prohibits drivers from even carrying cell phones on the bus because of the texting problem.
Following too close as a regular driving habit is a huge problem. It amounts to tail gating, but many drivers just consider it to be the "normal" distance when they're 2 car lengths behind the car in front of them going 60.
One of my grandsons recently got his drivers license. Prior to him getting it, I let him drive my cargo van for practice. We were in a 45 zone and he got up to about 1 1/2 car lenght behind the car in front. I told him to ease off and get about 4 car lengths or 3 seconds behind the car.
He said, this is how my dad drives, and it is three seconds. He counted 1-2-3. That took less than one second to count. So I had to teach him how to count seconds.
His dad is an agressive driver, and being one to two car lenghts behind is in his comfort zone.
People who drive like this will eventually, unless they are extremely lucky, have a rear ender, because at that distance, if the driver slams on the brakes for any reason, they cannot react in time to avoid the collision.
I took a course in defensive driving a very long time ago and still use the techniques I learned. Perhaps it would help if every driver would be required to take a defensive driving course including class time and a few hours of wheel time with an instructor.
The slowpokes that like to be self appointed speed enforcers are actually causing dangerous situations and road rage. If they won't move over, they will have people passing on their right, swerving around them, and cutting them off.
I have to disagree that the other driver causes road rage, whether it is a tailgater or a slow poke. Road rage is an anger management problem within the individual who becomes angry.
If someone tailgates me, or gets too slow in front of me, my best reaction is to keep my mind focused on my driving, and deal with the situation as best as the road and traffic allows; and not allow myself to become angry. If I become angry, then that is my doing, and my problem. It is self caused.
If I allow myself to become enraged and shoot the other driver, I cannot go into court and plead that it was the other drivers fault because he caused my road rage.
Sunshine in a state is not a legal reason to drive above the speed limit. I have to say it again, that the speed limits are the maximum speed limits, and people who choose to drive above the posted speed limit do not carry any special rights that entitle them to make everyone move out of their way.
And neither does a driver have the right to drive 40 in a 65 when the normal traffic is going 65.
One thing that may be worth noting is that while there are some elderly drivers who are slow, they are probably more attentive to what they're doing than the average driver. I have not seen in the media any instances of accidents caused by or involving an elderly driver driving too slow.
Also, the elderly driver insurance rate is a standard rate, plus they get discounts for taking certain driving courses. If the accident rate were higher among the elderly, then their insurance rates would be much higher. So the insurance companies apparently don't feel that the elderly drivers are an accident risk that warrants higher premiums.
On the other hand, the drivers under 25 have a much higher insurance rate, for a good reason. They cause more accidents because of their inexperience and their tendancy toward taking more risks with agressive driving; wanting to drive like they're on a race track; and their inattention.
elderly tend not to drive as many miles, therefore their exposures are lower as a classification ...... remember that there is a lot that goes into rate calculations
however, from a pure insurance standpoint anyone over 65 and under 25 is considered an elevated risk for different reasons, but both are looked at a little more carefully
also you can't define speeding as going faster than you deem appropriate as it pertains to a converstation on cameras - they already define speeding for us and that is in most instances 11 miles over the limit
if those speeds aren't being reached when an accident occurs, then a camera is doing nothing to curb accidents that are related to that kind of speeding
it then falls back to unsafe driving practices (aggressive driving, tailgating, going faster or slower than conditions provide and all the other fun stuff that happens on our freeways at a rate of speed much lower than 76mph that litter our traffic reports every morning)
Freeway Speed Cameras Deploy Statewide Arizona freeway camera deployment accelerates as statewide budget deficit mounts10/31/2008
Faced with one of the tightest budget crunches in its history, the state of Arizona is wasting no time in deploying its newly authorized freeway speed cameras. Redflex Traffic Systems runs the photo radar program in return for an expected cut of $20,361,300. In Phoenix, the Australian company has activated a number of fixed camera systems in the past week. Seven cameras are now active on Interstate 10, seven on the 101 and three on 51. In Mesa, three cameras are ready to begin ticketing on 60.
In total, Redflex expects to deploy 100 fixed and mobile cameras. Each camera can generate thousands of $181 tickets for the state's general fund. The state estimates that fiscal 2009 will see 428,839 citations worth $77.6 million. In the following year, the number will grow to 571,785 tickets worth $103,493,085. The state's contract with Redflex provides an option to double the revenue by increasing the total number of cameras to 200.
I have to disagree that the other driver causes road rage, whether it is a tailgater or a slow poke. Road rage is an anger management problem within the individual who becomes angry.
If someone tailgates me, or gets too slow in front of me, my best reaction is to keep my mind focused on my driving, and deal with the situation as best as the road and traffic allows; and not allow myself to become angry. If I become angry, then that is my doing, and my problem. It is self caused.
If I allow myself to become enraged and shoot the other driver, I cannot go into court and plead that it was the other drivers fault because he caused my road rage.
Sunshine in a state is not a legal reason to drive above the speed limit. I have to say it again, that the speed limits are the maximum speed limits, and people who choose to drive above the posted speed limit do not carry any special rights that entitle them to make everyone move out of their way.
And neither does a driver have the right to drive 40 in a 65 when the normal traffic is going 65.
One thing that may be worth noting is that while there are some elderly drivers who are slow, they are probably more attentive to what they're doing than the average driver. I have not seen in the media any instances of accidents caused by or involving an elderly driver driving too slow.
Also, the elderly driver insurance rate is a standard rate, plus they get discounts for taking certain driving courses. If the accident rate were higher among the elderly, then their insurance rates would be much higher. So the insurance companies apparently don't feel that the elderly drivers are an accident risk that warrants higher premiums.
On the other hand, the drivers under 25 have a much higher insurance rate, for a good reason. They cause more accidents because of their inexperience and their tendancy toward taking more risks with agressive driving; wanting to drive like they're on a race track; and their inattention.
Look it up, the worst drivers by far are the elderly. When I was courier I narrowly avoided being hit by them all the time. The younger males under 25 are known to be aggressive, but their senses are all there at least. Even today, I normally drive in the middle lane and I do go about 10 mph over the speed limit. These elderly people should not be on the road. They will literally pull right out in front of me (in the middle lane no less when they have TWO other free lanes available !!!!!!!!!!!!!) and accelerate slowly. Nearly every time it is a white head in the car who is oblivious to what is going on. If I am in a bad enough mood, I will then cut them off badly and hit the brakes on them enough to get their attention as to what they did to me. They need to learn somehow.
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