FTFA: Nationwide, maximum speeds range from 60 miles per hour in Hawaii to 75 in most of the West.

Does not apply to Sammy Hagar

I think there should be a rule where if you drive excessively over the speed limit. Lets say 30mph over, or over 90mph, your seatbelt automatically becomes dislodged and disabled. This will virtually guarantee your lack of survival in case your recklessness causes an accident. Anyone with me on this idea?

Most speed limits are completely arbitrary in the first place. They're usually ridiculously low and unless you want to impede traffic like crazy you have no chance of following them. They're money makers disguised as safety precautions for the pseudo-socialist crowd, like most traffic laws.

pvd021: I think there should be a rule where if you drive excessively over the speed limit. Lets say 30mph over, or over 90mph, your seatbelt automatically becomes dislodged and disabled. This will virtually guarantee your lack of survival in case your recklessness causes an accident. Anyone with me on this idea?

No, just make the car blow up if you drive faster than 55 mph!

Dear leadfoot stock car wannabes,

If you think life is a race, join NASCAR.

Otherwise, obey the law, quit tailgating, quit swerving in and out of traffic, and quit getting pissed off if you can't pass every car on the road because some people accelerate to accommodate your speed.

I usually just go about 10 over, although around here your speed is kind of limited by the traffic. When out of state I am right around the speed limit because I know they are looking for any reason to pull over a car with IL plates (I'm talking about you, Wisconsin).

The best was when I was in college. My friend drove us from school to Missouri. We saw that he put a radar detector in his car and thought we might be able to save some time. He did the speed limit the whole way. What was the point of that?

Having lived in Montana during the days of 55-mph speed limits, I can tell you that there was no real enforcement. As long as you were not driving "recklessly" (i.e., keeping it under 85 in normal conditions and less than that in hazardous conditions), you would be given a $5 ticket for "wasting energy". So when the speed limits were lifted, there was no change in driving behavior.

Any time you hear somebody talk about slowing traffic down by reducing the speed limit, you know that person has nothing useful to say on the subject of traffic regulation. Speed limits determine the speed at which police can choose to write a speeding ticket instead of making up some other offense. Road conditions determine the speed of traffic. Sometimes a speed trap slows people down a little, but it's not the sign but the visible police presence that affects drivers.

Personal opinion is:

Freeways (limited access divided roads) outside of city centers should be high-speed (80mph limit?), and even at that, not particularly strictly enforced.

Roads (two lanes mostly, with intersections) should be quite speed-limited (60 mph or less depending on the circumstances) and *strictly* enforced (major fines after 10 over).

Personally, I have little interest in speed. I take two-lanes as a preference. I am happy to share them with occasional tractors, bicyclists, old guys on Honda Cubs, etc. I am not happy with the guys who want to go 90 on them.

If we need some more freeways, I suggest toll roads.

Pfft. Speed limits? Join the 21th century already!

/driving on the autobahn for 8 years and never been in a jam

We wouldn't tailgate if you'd get your sorry nanny ass out of the passing lane going less than the speed limit. Just cause driving competently is a challenge for you doesn't mean you get to impose your little vendettas on anyone else that might be in a hurry or might actually (horror) need to pass someone.

natewill




/does apply to Sammy Hagar

Generation_D: We wouldn't tailgate if you'd get your sorry nanny ass out of the passing lane going less than the speed limit.

I've been tailgated despite going much above the speed limit. Interestingly, when I accelerate to accommodate these people's speed, they continue to tailgate. Then I move over and let them pass me, and behold, the people slow down. If they're going to drive like maniacs, fark them. If people are going 80, and then try to force someone up to 100 simply so they can pass them and then slow down, they can just learn to deal.

Lawnchair: If we need some more freeways, I suggest toll roads.

i wish we could get one of those here...

Ehh, my ABS warning light goes on if I'm doing more than about 80 and hit a bump. I think it's just freaking out that the wheel speed sensors aren't agreeing at that kind of speed.

Hows that for a limiting factor. Of course, the problem is really the road.

Ron Paul Revere: FATAL ACCIDENTS DOUBLE ON MONTANA'S INTERSTATES (after daytime speed limits were re-introduced)

1. After the new Speed Limits were established, interstates fatal accidents went up 111%. From a modern low of 27 with no daytime limits, to a new high of 56 fatal accidents with speed limits.

2. On interstates and federal primary highways combined, Montana went from a modern low of 101 with no daytime limits, to a new high of 143 fatal accidents with speed limits.

3. After a 6 year downward trend in the percentage of multiple vehicle accidents on its 2 lane primary highways, multiple vehicle accident rates increased again.

4. With the expectation of higher speed when there was no daytime limit, Montana's seat belt usage was well above the national average on its highways without a primary law, lane and road courtesy increased, speeds remained relatively stable and fatal accidents dropped to a modern low. After the new limits, fatal accidents climbed to a modern high on these classifications of highway, road courtesy decreased and flow conflict accidents rose again.

I've been saying this for years.

I also once told a cop that pulled me over for going 95 MPH on I-5 in rural Northern California that I was going that fast because I tended to pay more attention at that speed than at 70 MPH. He only wrote me up for going 80.

I'm surprised he didn't cite you for running over Old Man Peabody's pine tree.

deltabourne: Most speed limits are completely arbitrary in the first place. They're usually ridiculously low and unless you want to impede traffic like crazy you have no chance of following them. They're money makers disguised as safety precautions for the pseudo-socialist crowd, like most traffic laws.

I would rather revenue collection be through traffic tickets rather than property/sales/income taxes. I can legally and without hassle avoid that type of tax while those who seeth at abiding by rules and have no patience get to fund our police force, public safety etc.


Those of you who can only react by bunching up your tiny little fists because you can't drive faster can suck it. I take that back - before I say "suck it," I'd like to thank you for funding our police forces.

Ron Paul Revere: Raise the speed limits to their true, realistic rates.

There is no such thing as "realistic rates." Who defines that term? On my street, the posted speed limit is 25 mph. Some people go down the street doing 15. Some people go down the street doing 45? Who is right? Are you a traffic engineer?

Your definition "realistic rate" is the speed that YOU want to drive. You will never get to arbitrarily have your way in common/shared/public areas, get over it.

The "realistic rates" will always be 5-10 mph over the posted limit. If you raise it, people will drive 5-10 mph over the new posted limit. People will always try to break the rules when they think nobody is looking.

Speed limits are made with the lowest common denominator in consideration - if we did not have a significant percentage of incompetent boobs on the road, I would perhaps agree.

The "realistic rates" will always be 5-10 mph over the posted limit.

Sorry, but you just proved yourself too ignorant of the real world to be allowed to have an opinion on this subject. This is a subject that has been studied extensively and you are absolutely 100% incorrect. When people like you get involved in transportation policy people die as a result.

Unfortunately, people tend to equate speeders with speeders who weave through traffic, tailgate, don't use blinkers, etc. I have no sympathy whatsoever for these people, and whenever one of them goes screaming past me I pray that I'll see his car upside down around the next bend.

For the rest of us, if there is light traffic, no unsafe weather conditions, and a nicely paved road, going 90 mph isn't going to cause any problems.

To the people who want all the speed limits to be 65 or lower, I'm going to assume you've never had to drive across Texas or through the California central valley. Go ahead, try doing it at 65. I'd be more worried about falling asleep.

Ron Paul Revere

2 - "Drive right, pass left" needs to be the mandatory rule of the road in all 50 states, and needs to be enforced with vigor. "Left lane vigilantes" that go the speed limit in the left lane while giggling at their own magnificence are actually more dangerous than the asshole going 15 MPH over the speed limit. Ask any state trooper about that and he'll tell you I'm right.

This times Eleventy Zillon...

I cannot stand people who think that slower = safter. If you are congesting traffic because you want to go ten mph below the speed limit and take forever to hit the gas at a green light, you aren't being "prudent"

You turn your vehicle into a dangerous obstacle for those people behind you that are expecting you to be moving the speed limit or "at pace" with everyone else.

There are two stretches of road in the town I grew up in that are 45 mph. And almost every time I get behind someone while driving on a visit, they are going 30mph. No bad conditions or anything. Drives me mad.

moops: Ron Paul Revere: Raise the speed limits to their true, realistic rates.

There is no such thing as "realistic rates." Who defines that term? On my street, the posted speed limit is 25 mph. Some people go down the street doing 15. Some people go down the street doing 45? Who is right? Are you a traffic engineer?

Your definition "realistic rate" is the speed that YOU want to drive. You will never get to arbitrarily have your way in common/shared/public areas, get over it.

The "realistic rates" will always be 5-10 mph over the posted limit. If you raise it, people will drive 5-10 mph over the new posted limit. People will always try to break the rules when they think nobody is looking.

Speed limits are made with the lowest common denominator in consideration - if we did not have a significant percentage of incompetent boobs on the road, I would perhaps agree.

Psst. RTFA. 85th percentile isn't that hard to calculate.

And this coming from a DC resident, where, while my father was in my car was heard to comment to my mother on the phone:

"Sandra, you'll never believe it. These people drive so badly, your daughter is the most reasonable one driving."

"Oh my god. You're all going to die."

/Thanks for the vote of confidence, Mom.

LocalCynic: Generation_D: We wouldn't tailgate if you'd get your sorry nanny ass out of the passing lane going less than the speed limit.

I've been tailgated despite going much above the speed limit. Interestingly, when I accelerate to accommodate these people's speed, they continue to tailgate. Then I move over and let them pass me, and behold, the people slow down. If they're going to drive like maniacs, fark them. If people are going 80, and then try to force someone up to 100 simply so they can pass them and then slow down, they can just learn to deal.

Add to that my experience on a former job. This required me to drive out to a site that was located a bit off the beaten path. As regular as clockwork, some rocket scientist would come up behind me and hang about 10 feet off my bumper.

Some people don't seem to realize that a winding two-lane road in a wooded area requires a wee bit more caution than an Interstate highway. If I round a blind curve and see something (or, heaven forfend, someone) in the road, I farking well want to be able to stop. If I'm alone, I can hit the brakes hard. (ABS FTW!) But if I've got a tailgater, I don't have that option. Not only do I get hit, but conservation of momentum rears its ugly head and I end up hitting that something or someone anyway.

So, to compensate for not being able to panic-stop, I have to slow down. Tailgating ends up being counterproductive.

The moral of this story is that you can't make the driver in front of you go faster. He, however, can make you go slower. It doesn't pay to get on his bad side, or make him have to compensate for the risk you've put him in.

LocalCynic: Dear leadfoot stock car wannabes,

If you think life is a race, join NASCAR.

Otherwise, obey the law, quit tailgating, quit swerving in and out of traffic, and quit getting pissed off if you can't pass every car on the road because some people accelerate to accommodate your speed.

Dear left lane driving facist-dictating-how-other-people-drive,
get the fark out of the left lane.

Thanks.