I’ve driven 15 on the interstate before. Of course that was in South Carolina, in the middle of the January 2002 blizzard, and I was the only car on the road, except when I managed to get behind the state’s lone snowplow, so that’s an exception.
Well, I can’t speak for the rest of the world, but in Texas a lot of cities have max/min speed limits on major through streets w/ a range of 10mph. The state roads hiways and such vary but usually not more than 20mph range and the interstates should IIRC have a minimum of 20 less than the posted max.
It’s been a few years since 1993-94 when I worked the in cooperation w/ Texas Dept. trans. We did the stripes and put reflective markers, barricades, and made and put out practically all the signs in the “Golden Triangle” area of southeast Texas.
I ran the crew that put out every single reflective marker on I-10 (east and west) from Sabine Pass bridge to Baytown.
AND BTW…you can recieve a ticket for driving at ANY speed which the officer believes is unsafe, regardless of the signs.
A lot of people drive slow for many different reasons. The most common one I’ve heard is related to eyesight and reaction time. Most people drive at the speed in which they feel safe. This is not a constant. It definitely changes for me w/ road condition as well as the vehicle I’m driving. (not to mention mental state)
I wish ALL roads, and I mean every damned one of them could have at least two lanes for each direction of traffic, plus a nice wide shoulder and a walled, barricaded or divided median separating the two.
We’re forgetting the senile-old-geezer factor.
No we’re not. T-keela just nailed. Reaction time, vision, and comfort zones.
I’m still at the age where I want to always drive about 10 mph faster than the speed limit, it seems. But I can certainly understand that in another 30 years my reaction time and eyesight might be such that I will feel uncomfortable driving at those speeds, and will naturally want to slow down.
amarinth: Intentionally slowing down in front of an agressive driver is a dangerous thing to do. Don’t do that. You are encouraging reckless behaviour. Cars are not toys, nor are they tools to be used to ‘get back’ at other drivers by driving too slow or too fast. If someone tailgates you, either speed up if you can do so safely, or pull over and let them pass.
On a beautiful Autumn day, while driving on a country road, I will almost always drive under the speed limit. There are so many things to see and enjoy and I’m usually in no hurry. If someone comes up behind me, I pull over to let them pass.
On a major highway during bad weather I always slow down. I also drive slower at night since I have terrible night vision.
You know what I don’t get? Why do old folks often drive way too slow? I would think, when your remaining lifespan appears to be dwindling, you would be in the biggest possible hurry, to spare as many of your precious few remaining seconds as possible!
Also, I would expect that young people would drive slowly, knowing that any accident or fender-bender will drive their insurance up to unaffordable levels. Besides, they’re teenagers! They have all the time in the world! Decades and decades of life to go! Why not relax?
Could my logic be faulty?
Maybe I wasn’t clear.
One lane.
Nowhere to pull over.
They can’t go around because of the divider.
I’m trying to park (as soon as I can, then I’ll pull over and park) and the way the street is constructed if I can’t find one, or am going to fast to pull over (or they’re too close for me to pull over) then I have to drive nearly a mile out of my way before I can try again.
No, I’m not going to speed up, and pass over a potential parking space (where there is nearly no street parking) so that they can speed.
They have them in Connecticut and Massachusetts as well. Usually it’s 65 max, 40 min.
Where were they doing this?
If the road is main enough to be safe to drive at/above the limit, and they’re not, I share your pain.
But some roads simply aren’t safe to drive on the speed limit at.
uk perspective YMMV*
*I just wanted to use this acronym 