[QUOTE=Cryptoderk]
If you ever have to brake hard anywhere, you have almost certainly failed as a driver.
[/QUOTE]
Riiiiiiight. Everything is predictable in your world, is it? The pheasant which flew out from a hedge the other day in front of me doesn’t exist? The tractor pulling out across a stop line without stopping would have stopped in your parallel universe? The mobile speed camera I spotted in time last week wouldn’t have been there? (Damn, that last one isn’t a good example )
[QUOTE=gonzomax]
If you are going to work or the store ,you save very little but increase your peril.Why do it.?
[/QUOTE]
I recently bought a new car, going from a horrid thing to one which handles brilliantly on the country roads I mostly drive for work, and accelerates much faster. I’ve got 40min drives which are now 30, and when those 10 minutes make the difference between arriving in a fluster and having time to set up properly (and do the job better), I’m happy to drive fast.
[QUOTE=Garfield226]
True story: … It’s because he’s trying to juggle both the wheel and a large piece of posterboard that says “SPEED LIMIT!!!” as well as turn on his hazard lights for each person who passes him.
[/QUOTE]
I’m glad to know that my idea is not original. Y’all will be glad to know you’ve convinced me not to do it.
Now here’s my next question –
[QUOTE=scr4]
As evidenced by this thread (and other similar ones), most Americans believe that the safe and correct speed is whatever the “flow of traffic” is. The end result is that everyone looks at each other and collectively decide they should (or want to) drive 20mph above the limit.
[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Cryptoderk]
I regularly drive at double the legal limit on UK motorways, and literally never use the brake except when there is stationary traffic ahead. If you ever have to brake hard anywhere, you have almost certainly failed as a driver.
[/QUOTE]
Is that what you plan to tell the court if some conscientious policeman someday pulls you over?
[QUOTE=GorillaMan]
I recently bought a new car, going from a horrid thing to one which handles brilliantly on the country roads I mostly drive for work, and accelerates much faster. I’ve got 40min drives which are now 30, and when those 10 minutes make the difference between arriving in a fluster and having time to set up properly (and do the job better), I’m happy to drive fast.
[/QUOTE]
Oh, come on. Drive whatever speed you like, but don’t try to justify it this way. It’s not the car’s fault that you can’t manage to leave for work at a time that allows you to arrive comfortably.
What’s the over/under on the date you start giving yourself only 30min to get there instead of 40, and you show up just as flustered as before, only now you have to drive faster?
Consider that here the police give you a 10 MPH leeway. Do people average 10 mph faster because they are given a margin, or do the cops give the margin because folks drive 10 mph faster?
[QUOTE=Keeve]
Is that what you plan to tell the court if some conscientious policeman someday pulls you over?
[/QUOTE]
Nope, I intend to hire Nick Freeman and not go to court. Anyway, in the UK almost all traffic police have been replaced by speed cameras (and there has consqeuently been a massive deteriation in driving standards, incidentally).
Gorillaman, I take your point about the mobile speed cameras, but they are usually signed beforehand… and by the time they can see you it’s too late anyway. It’s usually predictable which roads are going to have pheasants on (all of them within 20 miles of here!), and you can either drive slower, or like me think “fuck the pheasant”. And tis sensible to be cautious around junctions anyway.
[QUOTE=Cheesesteak]
Oh, come on. Drive whatever speed you like, but don’t try to justify it this way. It’s not the car’s fault that you can’t manage to leave for work at a time that allows you to arrive comfortably.
What’s the over/under on the date you start giving yourself only 30min to get there instead of 40, and you show up just as flustered as before, only now you have to drive faster?
[/QUOTE]
I suppose I should have added that all this is within the 60mph limit on these roads. And I don’t get much say in these parts of my timetable - it’s between schools, not the journey to work in the morning.
Every road around here has speed camera signs, so that they can put them anywhere. And I’m presuming I didn’t get done (nothing in the post yet!). And every road around here could have pheasants, or deer, or whatever. I’m pretty sure pheasant+windscreen at 60 could be quite messy.
[QUOTE=Cryptoderk]
Exactly. I regularly drive at double the legal limit on UK motorways, and literally never use the brake except when there is stationary traffic ahead. If you ever have to brake hard anywhere, you have almost certainly failed as a driver.
[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=gonzomax]
Successful drivers never get cut off.?
[/QUOTE]
They anticipate that they’re going to be cut up from the “body language” of the other cars. I might video a motorway run some time to demonstrate what I mean if you like.
And if you are done gorillaman, look up the PACE defence…
[QUOTE=Keeve]
My practice is that on most roads I try to avoid exceeding the speed limit. I’ll admit that if I am in an unusually big rush (like I’m already late for work) or if the posted limit seems unusually low (like many exit ramps off the highway) I’ll go above it, so I’ll admit from the start that I am somewhat hypocritical about this.
I find that other drivers have annoyed looks on their faces when they pass me, even though I always stay in one of the two rightmost lanes. This gives them plenty of space on my left in which to pass me if they want, yet they curse me out anyway.
It seems to me that many (or at least some) of the drivers who pass me might simply be unaware of the proper speed limit. Therefore, I think it might be a good idea, that when they pass me, I can hold up a paper in my window which says “Speed Limit 55” (or whatever the correct limit is) in a large and easy-to-read font, similar to the one used on the road signs. …
For some reason, and I’m not sure why, I fear that some drivers might try to retaliate against me for such tactics. Or maybe its even illegal. Any thoughts?
[/QUOTE]
You may not be going the Speed Limit- do you really have your speedometer calibrated on a regular basis? Have you *ever *had your speedometer calibrated? It is quite possible that when you think you are going 55, you are in reality going only 51MPH.
Generally, as long as the traffic flow is not going more than 10MPH over the limit, it is best and safest to stay with the flow of traffic. Your style of driving is more dangerous than mild speeders staying with the flow of traffic. I repeat: MILD speeders, I am talking 70 MPH in a 65 zone, when the weather is clear, traffic is low. “Flow of traffic” cannot justify extreme speeds.
Sounds like an excellent way to A: Cause an accident as you aren’t looking where you are going nor are your hands on the wheel, and/or B. Get a 9mm capped in your face. C. Get in the next Darwin Awards book. Ah, Fame!
[QUOTE=Cryptoderk]
Exactly. I regularly drive at double the legal limit on UK motorways, and literally never use the brake except when there is stationary traffic ahead.
[/QUOTE]
Out of curiosity, what motorway? Presumably at night? The only time I’ve been able to get up to 110-20 (never mind 140!) is on the M6 at 3 in the morning.
[QUOTE=Struan]
Out of curiosity, what motorway? Presumably at night? The only time I’ve been able to get up to 110-20 (never mind 140!) is on the M6 at 3 in the morning.
[/QUOTE]
It’s the A-roads you need to be on. A12 between Colchester & Ipswich is a good one, pretty much empty from 10pm on weekdays, and straight enough. Not that I’d be encouraging reckless behaviour, now…
[QUOTE=carnivorousplant]
Consider that here the police give you a 10 MPH leeway. Do people average 10 mph faster because they are given a margin, or do the cops give the margin because folks drive 10 mph faster?
[/QUOTE]
IME the drivers react to the enforcement.
anecdote:
Part of my usual commute is a section of two lane highway through an Indian reservation, 55 mph posted limit, and traffic enforcement by the tribal police.* They WILL pull you over if you are over 57 mph. I think they MAY only issue a warning if you are under 60 mph. Pretty much everyone who regularly uses that road drives at the posted 55. (except for a few slow pokes!) When there is not an impatient asshole riding your ass, driving the speed limit isn’t so bad, and I have even come to find it relaxing.
There are plenty of similar rural highways (shoulders, width, sight lines) with 65 mph speed limits where traffic is enforced by the state police, who use the SL+10 rule, and on those roads traffic generally moves at SL + 5-10.
*It is in fact a Tiwa pueblo, which is somehow (I’ve never figured out) different from a reservation, and the LEO’s are pueblo police, but I figured the wrong terms would be less confusing.
[QUOTE=carnivorousplant]
Do people average 10 mph faster because they are given a margin, or do the cops give the margin because folks drive 10 mph faster?
[/QUOTE]
The former. I’ve never seen anyone speed in the Army base where speed limit is strictly enforced.
[QUOTE=Keeve]
For some reason, and I’m not sure why, I fear that some drivers might try to retaliate against me for such tactics. Or maybe its even illegal. Any thoughts?
[/QUOTE]
So that’s what that sign said in that little red pickup that my state trooper chauffer was trying to read while he sped up to you at 91 mph before he flipped our Stupid Ugly Vehicle over that guard rail. As soon as I get out of these casts I’m going to have you charged with obstructing your visibility. That is illegal. Shame on you for violating a traffic law.
[QUOTE=Struan]
Out of curiosity, what motorway? Presumably at night? The only time I’ve been able to get up to 110-20 (never mind 140!) is on the M6 at 3 in the morning.
[/QUOTE]
Well, I can defintely remember doing it on the M74 and M11 during the daytime. A1(M) in a couple of places (espcially between Huntingdon and Peterborough) at night - I wouldn’t be doing above 100 on unlit motorways anyway, because my headlights wouldn’t be good enough. Depends what car you’re in too, the jag’s a bit faster than the volvo!
For reference, ACPO guidelines in UK are 10% + 2. Trafpol probably won’t do anything below 85 (or a bit higher) usually.
[QUOTE=gonzomax]
Try Ohio. I have heard of people getting ticketed for 1 over.
[/QUOTE]
I think it just feels like that to you Michiganders because the speed limit on the interstate drops when you cross the border. My experience is that Ohioans drive 5 mph over the limit like everyone else, at least on interstates and rural highways. The only place where I’ve seen active enforcement of speed limits is in a school zone near where I work. It’s on a main highway, with a limit of 55 mph about a mile from a pair of schools, and I see a car from the local city police force there most school mornings as I drive past – so the locals know, and drop to 20 mph in the school zone.
[QUOTE=Cryptoderk]
Well, I can defintely remember doing it on the M74 and M11 during the daytime.
[/QUOTE]
M11 in the daytime? I’m guessing Christmas Day, because I don’t see how you’d have got the room any other time. The four-lane section of the A1(M) I certainly believe you could do those speeds.
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