I think it’s a cultural thing, much like tipping culture. Anecdotally, one of my friends told me that in Sweden, speeding fines are VERY steep and speeding by 20mph (30km/h) would probably result in you getting your licence cut up.
Here in Calgary, I find 10% over the speed limit to be pretty reliable - many people drive faster than that but I’ve never been ticketed.
I agree that it’s the way that speed enforcement is done that annoys people though. If there were speed cameras on literally every street, I bet you people would speed a lot less, but the government would get less revenue so that’ll never happen (not to mention it would be expensive to implement). That being said, I still see people speed past fixed cameras WITH SIGNS WARNING YOU THAT THEY ARE THERE - those people just aren’t paying attention so they probably deserve to be ticketed
My town has a section of roadway where the speed limit drops suddenly for no real reason. There is a speed trap set up there very often. I’ve been pulled over maybe 6 or 7 times, and I say hi to the officer and he tells me I should really slow down. I agree, and promise to try.
While excessive speed can contribute to accidents in some circumstances, arbitrarily low limits can as well.
Cite *1998-11-02 When California revved up speed limits nearly three years ago, critics predicted highway carnage as drivers sped past the new 65 mph signs – and into trouble.
It didn’t happen. Fewer people died in California auto wrecks last year than in any year in the past four decades, despite a doubled state population and triple the number of vehicles on the road. *
Ok, the 99.99999% is a bit harsh… in Ireland accidents due to human errors are 80%.
*The majority of road crashes are caused by human error. Research has shown that driver error accounts for over 80% of all fatal and injury crashes on Irish roads *
Increase the speed limit from 55mph to 65mph on US highways that is your base for speeding is safe? That’s a long over due increase.
We in Europe drive 100km/h for ages on roads and even the German Autobahn has either a limit of 120km/h or a speed recommendation of 130km/h.
However, Excessive speed was cited as "a factor in more than 39% of fatal accidents and about 26% of serious injury accidents in 2010 Cite Speed is one of the major killers on our roads each year, and is one of the biggest road safety challenges facing Victoria today. Cite Cite Cite
Speeding is nowhere being portrait as being a safe way of traveling.
More like 99.99999% is pulling figures out of your ass and calling them facts.
No. That’s my basis for stating that having the speed limit set lower than optimum can be as bad as speeding. You should also have noticed that the date on that quote was 1998. I’m sure it’s up to 75mph now. Try reading for comprehension next time.
The OP was bitching about speed limits that are arbitrarily lower than conditions warrent so that people will be more likely to speed resulting in more tickets and thus more revenue.
It is my opinion that if speed limits were more uniform and based on the road conditions and comfort zones of the majority of drivers in the area that accidents would go down.
But that since it would also result in a reduction of speeding tickets and fines it is unlikely to happen any time soon.
I should point out, that graph refers to impact speed - how fast the car is going when it strikes the obstacle - not the speed at which the car was moving before the start of the accident (defined as the moment you first see the pedestrian / stopped car/ downed tree trunk and think “oh crap”). Two cars, one going 100 (60, for you) and the other 115 (70) and both seeing a hazard at the same time - the first one may be able to brake and stop completely in time where the other might still be going 50 (30) or so at impact. That’s part of the rationale for lower speed limits.
Not that I’m saying limits should be arbitrarily low, just it’s not as simple as saying “over 65 you’re going to die anyway, so it’s all one”
(I don’t quite get what you mean by “trying to justify Road Safety Cameras”?? Speed cameras are everywhere in Victoria, it’s just an ordinary accepted method of law enforcement. Your link is just describing the program that we have)
I think the larger problem is the general idea that speed limits are a de facto minimum and that 5 to 10 miles per hour over is acceptable.
Speed limits should be set as what they advertise to be: The absolute maximum safe speed to travel by law. On a rural interstate, 70mph is average to slow. The maximum should be set at a level where it is unconscionable and unsafe to drive any faster. The fact that most cops wouldn’t pull someone over for going 74mph shows that HE doesn’t think it important enough to stop someone for driving at that speed. So the law shouldn’t put “pretend” numbers on the side of the highway: put the real ones up. Anything faster than this is BAD and you will be ticketed.
And then we could stop the idea that “5 to 10 over” is acceptable. We don’t say, “Sure the DUI law says .08, but as long as I keep it under .12 that’s fine.” Or, the law says I can’t smoke within 10 feet of an entrance, but I smoke within 4 feet and that’s okay.
This is kind of my attitude about it - it’s just the cost of doing business. Most of the time I can speed without worrying about getting a ticket because I never go faster than the fastest 5-10% of the drivers around me, but every so often I’ll get hit in a speed trap.
The problem with this is the speed limits are set to the lowest (how to say it) quality of vehicle and/or driver on that road. If it’s someplace that gets weather, or there are curves, or hills, or any of a bunch of other things, some drivers will be far worse (but never admit it) at driving in that than others. And, some folks drive cars that are technically street legal but can’t handle corners as well as the average car, or they are underpowered, or being driven by a Q-tip. (I’m currently near Phoenix, please forgive) Drivers with less experience will not be safe at as high a speed as those with more experience. It goes on and on. There just aren’t any absolutes when it comes to setting what a safe speed is.
Sure there are. The engineered speed of the road to the 85th percentile, which by definition means that only 15% will be speeding. A road designed for 75 should not be set to 45 for revenue generation purposes. You know why it seems like people are going too fast and that the speed limit is absurdly low? It’s because it is.
Let’s start there. Until we start there, there’s not much else to talk about aside from whether or not it is in the public interest to use traffic enforcement as a fundraiser.
If this is in response to my post, I can’t really help you with it because I don’t believe I’ve ever been on a road that was set at 45 but would be safe at 75.
I have. Every day as a matter of fact. There is a stretch of road on I-495 outside of Bpston where there are warnings not to exceed 45 mph with stiff penalties for doing so yet traffic moves at 75 mph+. There is no actual work going on as far as you can see. It is just open interstate highway with little traffic and you wouldn’t even see the warnings if you got on after an exit where the signs are posted. I have no idea where the warning ends either because there is no signage for it. I would be pissed if I got pulled over under the 45 mph laws because there are no is no reason for it to be that way at all.
If you wanted to play strict rule lawyer, you could be busted either way because 45 mph is right at or lower than the minimum speed on interstate highways. The limits make no sense there so nobody follows them.
As far as I’m aware, all interstate highways that are now 75 were once 55. While this isn’t 45, it was significantly slower than what almost everyone was comfortable driving. There have been no road improvements since then to warrent a 20mph increase. And while there have been significant improvements in automotive technology, it’s still not that much.
What you have there is a fine. The more the laws can fund themselves with fees, fines, and forfeitures, the less they have to charge the general populace in regular taxes. Many people will prefer to spin that wheel of fortune and hope somebody else funds the police over knowing they have to pay taxes.
Eventually, taxation may be abolished and all governments will be completely run on this kind of funding. A victory for the anti-tax brigades, but a much dicier existence for the common man.
Last one I got (and I guess I’ve had maybe… three or four in 25 years of driving) was at an obvious revenue-grab speed trap at an underpass. It certainly wasn’t a safety issue - cars that gain speed going into the underpass will have more than enough time to shed it on the moderately-steep exit ramp - but it was a good hiding place for the cops since you wouldn’t see them until blammo, ticket-time.
Jerks. A kilometer south is a major highway - go police that.
Hilarious. Good luck! This trick actually works, you know. I’ve been pulled over a few times for speeding, but have niced my way out of it every time but once. I actually knew I wasn’t going to be let off with a warning that time because the cop was clearly pissed about something. Anyway, I kept delaying the ticket into oblivion, and then it magically went away. Also, my sister has gotten away with tickets with no defense other than hoping the cop doesn’t show up. No show, no ticket. Suck it, cops!
Your own Cite was from 1998 and I answered to your cite. If you don’t like that is from 1998, then you should not have cited it yourself. :smack:
However, you were clearly unable to comprehend my cite from an Irish Road Safety Authority stating, that driver error accounts for over 80% of all fatal and injury crashes on Irish roads.
The next line reads
*The main causes of death and injury on Irish roads remain speeding, drink driving and non-wearing of seat-belts. *
Regarding the Colorado Patrol 2008 statistics, following facts are correct.
15.86% of the fatalities are due to Exceeded Safe Speed & Exceeded Lawful Speed
19.76% of the injuries are due to Exceeded Safe Speed & Exceeded Lawful Speed
Out of 290 fatalities 269 are due to human error, which is 92.75%
Out of 3895 injuries 3394 are due to human error, which is 87.13%
Your bullshit comes straight out of your ass and claiming that higher speeds makes driving safer is complete and utter bullshit – never mind irresponsible.
I haven’t been in that area since 1989 so I have no idea what factors might create that area of 45 mph. Curves? Houses? Hills? Forgot to take the signs down?
Almost of those interstate highways were built for faster speeds & prior to lowering the speed to 55 - the 55 was created to save on gas, not because the roads were suddenly unsafe at a faster speed.
I don’t know what you are driving, but I’ve noticed quite a bit of improvement over the decades in how cars handle and how tires hold the road. OTOH, it isn’t often that I am driving on anything but dry road out here!
