I’d say it all depends. First, does your friend stick to the right-hand lane? (Except when he overtakes someone even slower.) If no, then he needs to move right, and stay there if at all possible.
Second, if he’s in the right lane, what happens when faster drivers overtake him? (I assume that even most of the drivers in the right lane are doing 65+.) Are they overtaking at a speed that gives them time to change lanes or adjust their speed? Or are they coming up so fast that it’s scary? If the latter is happening more than just every once in a while, he needs to speed up.
It’s safest to drive at speeds that don’t drastically differ from the flow of traffic. OK to go a bit slower or faster, but not excessively so. I’d define ‘excessively’ in terms of the reactions of other drivers.
(My highlighting) -Those are two different questions really.
Driving below the minimum legal limit may warrant a ticket (and may incidentally be dangerous)
Driving below the speed of the general flow of traffic may be dangerous (although IMO, it should really be all the other drivers that get the tickets, if they are speeding)
The theory (which doesn’t always work) is that the traffic engineers look at the road to see what the maximum “safe” speed is. After that, they look at the prevailing traffic patterns, and when possible, set the speed limit at the 85th percentile.
Really?
So how did the ‘maximum safe speed’ suddenly change from 65 mi/hr to 55 mi/hr all at once a few years ago? The construction of the roads certainly didn’t change overnight.
This theory is bullshit.
These speed limits are set entirely for political reasons, with traffic engineering & safety very much in second place. (Sometimes 3rd place, after economics – many small towns set speed limits to ensure funding from traffic ticket fines.)
Are you talking about the National Maximum Speed Law that was passed in the 70s (the 1970s were “a few years ago”??)? That was designed as a way to conserve oil, and it’s kind of an anomaly when it comes to speed limit settings.
Do you have evidence for your claim that “speed limits are set entirely for political reasons”?
Having driven in California for a grand total of 4 days, I don’t think they drive like idiots, although one stellar example of a driver did much to make up for that overall impression (that car tailgated and then a minute later blocked the left hand lane which really takes some hypocritical doublethink.)
I do think that they are more aggressive drivers, which is a different issue from being an idiot and causes its own set of problem. But it has benefits as well, since when they are riding your tail and you move over to the right, they will actually pass you (other than that exception I noted above). Whereas in Florida there is an even chance that they will not speed up and therefore will cut you off before you can slide back in behind them.
Well, the speed limit is the speed limit and people are supposed to stick to it. Passing/fast lanes and rules are a separate issue and are supposed to facilitate the flow of traffic. It is not the intention that drivers in the fast lane should be going faster than the limit and therefore the limit is not a limit. If you, whatever your speed may be, happen to be faster than others, you should be in the left lanes. And if you, whatever your speed may be, happen to be going slower than others, you should be in the right lane. The fact that this, in practice, results in the left lanes typically being above the limit, does not imply that the limit is not a limit.
And those are excellent points as well. My last car, a beloved 2001 Honda CR-V that I put some 225,000 miles on, is not recommended for towing (or at least for not towing much weight at all – if memory serves, I sold the car 4 years ago) because it is so light. But I was able to find aftermarket tow hitches to install on it, and I was able to find an aftermarket Class-II tow hitch for it (higher capacity than a Class-I hitch, of which there were many that I could buy). I was excited! I bought and installed that Class-II hitch and was able to tow way above its limit, but one must be very careful when doing so. With too much speed and/or an improperly loaded trailer, and Isaac Newton’s laws can mean you get yourself into a lot of trouble, quickly.
At U-Haul, I’ve rented many trailers over the years. I got used to telling them I had a Honda Pilot with a Class-II hitch instead of a Honda CR-V, because for some towing situations where I needed a bigger trailer they would not rent it to me (I sometimes needed the large space but not the weight capacity a bigger trailer has). But I’d tell them I have a Pilot, and they would rent it to me.
Once, one of the guys said, “Hey, this is a CR-V, it’s not a Pilot. You cannot rent this size trailer.” I replied that I knew what I was doing, and that as the customer I was telling U-Haul that I was lying about having a Pilot. My spare tire cover on the rear said HONDA PILOT (I had larger tires, and got that cover for this very reason). I implored him that I needed the space and not the heavy weight it could tow, and that I take full responsibility for this situation, and besides are you expected to know the difference between a CR-V and a Pilot?
He rented it to me, and I was safe and careful, and was able to tow the large item.
Proper tongue weight, a properly balanced load, and slow speeds are critical when towing. The load dynamics can get tricky. And especially true since my little CR-V did not have extra strong brakes that towing a heavy load requires. My CR-V had a 5-MT transmission, too, so I had to be very careful with the clutch (and my original clutch lasted 213,000 miles, and many of those miles were on San Francisco’s hills).
And then there was the time I towed my son’s pick-up truck with my neighbor’s Aluma-Lite car trailer with my CR-V. True story… and successful.
Sorry for rambling, you got me going. But yes, 55 MPH is the California speed limit for anyone towing a trailer. And you’re limited to the far 2 right lanes on a multi-lane highway also. So, driving 55 MPH even when the speed limit is 70 is allowed, but the slow driver had better keep to the right.
I liken traffic flow to a liquid. When it all flows at basically the same speed, it’s in harmony and risk is at a minimum. Your friend is an embolic particle in the artery of traffic.
The OP (who hasn’t posted again since, so who knows if he/she has actually read any of this) stated:
So, not only is he going 5-10 mph under the posted speed limit, but, by the OP’s observation, he’s doing 10-35 mph less than the surrounding traffic, which, as a number of the posters in this thread have noted, is the real problem (and potential serious safety hazard).
Traffic shouldn’t be going 10-15 mph over the limit.
5 mph over is the fudge factor in my state. maybe 8 mph if the trooper is in a good mood.
It depends on the road. roads are posted 55mph for a reason. There’s not much tolerance for speeding.
65mph interstates are different and usually 72mph is tolerated by the cops.
Admittedly, the cops can’t be everywhere. But, I don’t routinely drive over 72mph in a 65mph zone.
I can’t remember ever driving or riding in a car on a moving* highway where the cars weren’t going above the speed limit. Heck, I’ve always assumed they gave lower speeds than necessary on purpose because of how human psychology works.
I was even taught in driver’s ed to go at the speed of traffic, not the speed limit. And the speed of traffic was always faster by a bit. And that was in the car with the large emblazoned sign of “STUDENT DRIVER.” A guy actually got in trouble because he tried to go at the 45MPH speed limit and a car coming up got too close for the instructor’s comfort.
*i.e., without traffic slowing it down due to lots of people turning off or on.
Are you talking about the 