Speeding Tickets...

[Mr. Bloom]

Kelownagirl, it's interesting. I think the 10km over concept is purely Canadian.

In the US, it's common for folks to set a limit that is 8mph to 10mph over the posted speed on the highways...the rationale is that police don't care.

I will never drive to a point of feeling unsafe...but I will commonly exploit the 10mph practice in a rural area. When I go through towns, I meticulously check my speed.

Hang on a second.....I never said I used feminine wiles (is that the word?)

Silver is a very careful driver...which makes it more ironic that she's been pulled over more than me.

For the record (and domestic tranquility), I never said that Silver used "feminine whiles"...

[lph]

In Norway almost everybody drives 10-15 km over the speed limit.

I'm taking my drivers license now and just learning to drive (no exciting reason, just never got around to it before and didn't have a car), and I try to stay about 5 km above the limit. Fast enough to keep up with traffic, slow enough that if I'm stopped the police won't make a huge fuss. Driving AT the speed limit is downright dangerous, as everybody tries to pass you and you cause huge queues.

[East Hill]

I don't know if it makes any difference to anyone, but the speed at which roads are travelled can be influenced by a couple of factors. The first of course, is the spped for which it was engineered to be travelled.

But scarily, in certain states (California for one), if the average speed on a road creeps up over time, the state (or county, I forget which), will adjust the speed upward when approximately 85% of the motorists are exceeding the speed limit.

So, if you started off with a road that was posted at 30 mph, but 85% of the motorists drive at 45 mph, the posted limit will be revised to reflect a higher posted limit (if the engineering of the road permits). I would imagine it can set off a vicious cycle, only stopping when the engineered conditions no longer allow for a higher limit.

That probably doesn't help get anyone over their fear of travelling on the road because drivers already go too fast, eh?

East Hill

[Brandi]

My Dh swears all cops are after him. if they are they have only gone after him three times in the 20 years I have known him. And two of those times he was breaking the speed limit. The third time which was a few years ago we got pulled over with two other cars. And in a double fine zone. My dh was going to fight that one. But the judge let him do traffic school (which he did on line). Well we got a radar detector after that $450 . traffic ticket. In california they are not illegal. He actually drives better now. And every time it beeps we slow down and play find the cop. It makes long drives a little funner. But some times it beeps and we don't know why.
Knock on wood but I have never even got a parking ticket!

[silver]

Brandi, Mr. was using a radar detector last Saturday. It's a good one, I think. It hadn't made a peep, until the policeman zapped him with instant on. The policeman was actually traveling in the same direction as us, ahead of us and we'd just come into his sight and vice versa. He pulled over and when we passed flashed his lights, but we knew when he pulled over.

I also wonder if the fact that Mr. has the radar detector on the windshield makes him more likely to get a ticket rather than a warning.

[Brandi]

Yea I know what you mean about that. i am a little worried when a cop drives by me and see's it in the window if he would pull me over. I never have it plugged in though.

[Mr. Bloom]

I don't know if it makes any difference to anyone, but the speed at which roads are travelled can be influenced by a couple of factors. The first of course, is the spped for which it was engineered to be travelled.

But scarily, in certain states (California for one), if the average speed on a road creeps up over time, the state (or county, I forget which), will adjust the speed upward when approximately 85% of the motorists are exceeding the speed limit.

So, if you started off with a road that was posted at 30 mph, but 85% of the motorists drive at 45 mph, the posted limit will be revised to reflect a higher posted limit (if the engineering of the road permits). I would imagine it can set off a vicious cycle, only stopping when the engineered conditions no longer allow for a higher limit.

That probably doesn't help get anyone over their fear of travelling on the road because drivers already go too fast, eh?

East Hill

East Hill, I see what you're saying...but what about Europe? I've driven the autobahn at 2-3X the speed as US roads and felt much safer than doing 55 on a US Interstate. I think this supports speeds approaching the engineering limits, not the arbitrary speed limits.

Of course, the standards to get a license in Europe are much stricter and the traffic laws are meticulously obeyed (at least in Germany where I've driven)

[East Hill]

East Hill, I see what you're saying...but what about Europe? I've driven the autobahn at 2-3X the speed as US roads and felt much safer than doing 55 on a US Interstate. I think this supports speeds approaching the engineering limits, not the arbitrary speed limits.

Of course, the standards to get a license in Europe are much stricter and the traffic laws are meticulously obeyed (at least in Germany where I've driven)

Yes, that actually accords with what I've said! The autobahn are engineered for those speeds. They also don't allow bikes!

Sometimes the arbitrary speeds aren't so arbitrary, if you know why they're there. I remember growing up where one of the speed limit signs was posted for 17? mph on a curve. It had something to do with the fact that drivers noticed it because it was an odd number, and would slow down. Apparently a lot of people had had bad accidents at that curve, and yes, it was an arbitrary speed, but for a reason. Same with your side streets--how fast can you go and then stop on a dime when a child runs out in front of you? You don't want to go so fast that you can't stop in time. Even though the streets could be engineered for much faster speeds, would you want to go faster?

Sometimes I think that the last question is purely rhetorical. Obviously a lot of people do want to go faster, even if it's possible to kill or injure a child by doing so.

East Hill

[Deanna]

I work for a company that made radar detectors. Thankfully we're getting out of the business --I could tell you some horror stories about drivers out there. I don't know if cops are more likely to ticket you if you have one--they generally have picked you out for speeding way before you are close enough for them to see if you have one and only use the radar/laser to get a speed reading without having to pace you.

Regarding 8-10 mph over posted speed limits, that may have been safe before the days of cell phones. Too many drivers are driving distracted to be speeding at the same time. We very recently had an accident on the freeway near my office where a driver was doing 70 mph (only 5mph over the 65 speed limit) who was "distracted" and didn't see the stopped traffic ahead in time to hit his breaks. He slammed into a car, killing 4 of the 5 passengers when their car went up in flames and sending a 4 year old boy to the hospital with severe burns. If that doesn't make you think twice about speeding, I don't know what will.

[Blueberry]

Regarding 8-10 mph over posted speed limits, that may have been safe before the days of cell phones. Too many drivers are driving distracted to be speeding at the same time. We very recently had an accident on the freeway near my office where a driver was doing 70 mph (only 5mph over the 65 speed limit) who was "distracted" and didn't see the stopped traffic ahead in time to hit his breaks. He slammed into a car, killing 4 of the 5 passengers when their car went up in flames and sending a 4 year old boy to the hospital with severe burns. If that doesn't make you think twice about speeding, I don't know what will.

Sad to say, but I wonder if the result would have been different had he not been speeding. I seriously doubt it. It's more a problem of distracted drivers and less a problem of speed, I think. We have some roads here where the speed limit is 70. So, he would not have been speeding. I agree it's a tragedy - I'm just not sure the 5mph speeding was to blame.

On some roads I drive, my choice is speed or be rear ended. I'll choose speeding. I choose not to drive with a cell without a hands free device (not regulated here). I don't drive if I'm extremely tired (again, my choice). And yes, I almost get run into by 10 bad drivers each day. Dunno how we fix the "bad driver" problem.

lph - the joke is hilarious!