Speed Limits (rant/curiosity)
Sep 19, 2007 at 10:40 AM Post #46 of 95
Quote:

Originally Posted by Quaddy /img/forum/go_quote.gif
i guess this thread separates the little boys from the men who have been there and done that, learnt the hard lessons, lost loved ones.....

grow up!



Agreed, I seriously hope nobody here actually drives 15-20 over the speed limit in a school zone.
 
Sep 19, 2007 at 11:51 AM Post #47 of 95
Quote:

Originally Posted by lostspyder /img/forum/go_quote.gif
First of all, would you trust new drivers or old drivers to zip past you at 85. Imagine how many more accidents there would be from drunk driving if the speed limit was increased - seriously they have a hard enough time as it is. What about unsafe cars? Making them go faster will only increase risk. Fuel consumption skyrockets for every 10mph faster. Some roads would have to be re-engineered. There are tons of reasons why the speed limit isn't faster. Just relax a bit. Life does not have to be a rush.


Right on lost.
 
Sep 19, 2007 at 12:57 PM Post #48 of 95
My biggest pet peeve is a driver who use the passing lane for cruising & have nothing better to do which cause everyone else using the middle lane to pass this idiot. If you don't intend to pass any car use the other lanes or give way to someone who want to use that lane for what it intended to be.
 
Sep 19, 2007 at 3:09 PM Post #49 of 95
My short-list of pet peeves are the following;

I hate when people drive 35 in 40 or 30 in a 35. Just go the speed limit. If you go the speed limit i have no problem being behind you. If you want to go faster, so be it.

I also hate when people take 55 seconds to reach the speed limit.

As for me, i go 5 mph over in residential area's and 10 over on the highway. Aside from that, what is it for every 5 mph you go over the speed limit you arrive at your destination 3 minutes quicker per hour? When you really think about it...65 vs 80 is no longer that big of a factor.
 
Sep 19, 2007 at 3:10 PM Post #50 of 95
They should make EVERYBODY'S first vehicle, a motorcycle, MANDATORY for a year minimum. For several reasons.

You're a safer driver when you're not in a cage. You do tend to speed, but you are a bit more alert.

You're a little more hesitant to do stupid things when you have to think "my skin could be on that concrete..."

You look for motorcyclists because you absolutely HATE it when people in cars don't see you.

All in all, it'll also rid the world of more idiots...they'll drop like flies when they're acting stupid...
 
Sep 19, 2007 at 3:17 PM Post #51 of 95
Quote:

Originally Posted by Redo /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Your tires wear far faster at 85mph than 55mph, your brakes wear much faster, your mileage drops substantially, and your emergency maneuvering is basically worthless at those speeds.

Those "annoying" drivers that always seem to be going the speed limit, they are the smart drivers.



Can be managed with R-compound tires, a sport suspension, and carbon-ceramic breaks! And who cares about mileage when you have a 4.3 litre 380hp V8 that revs to 7300 RPM under the hood?


Going faster than the speed limit is NOT going faster than traffic, except perhaps in nursing home parking lots. In CT, about 80-90mph is average on the highways, with some people going 100+ and some people going 70ish at the slowest. The highest speed limit is 65mph and the only time someone drives that slow is in traffic jams.

I have no problems with speeding on the highway. Speeding in residential zones is beyond stupid though. If I get stopped by a cop for speeding in a neighborhood with young kids, fine, I deserve it. But if I get stopped driving through the middle of cow county, Pennsylvania where the highways are banked like racetracks, 6 lanes wide, freshly paved, and not a car or house or even rest stop in sight for an hour in any direction, that's just the local cops wanting some nice spiffy new bullet proof vests.

Of course, I've had kart racing experience and have raced on the track a good deal (not professionally, but for various track days and driving schools). There are always the idiots weaving in and out of crowded lanes without signaling that make driving dangerous no matter what the conditions. If we raised the speed limit to a reasonable 90mph, then they would go 120mph.

It's a bad situation all around.

On a side note, after recently getting my first ticket (complete BS), I just bought this:

http://www.beltronics.com/rx75plus.html

Remote mounted radar detector with 3 laser jammers, GPS to remember speed trap locations, concealed display, remote mute, multiple antenneas to be mounted stealth behind the grill and under the rear trunk sill, etc, etc. I'll never be victim to a moneymaking scheme again.
 
Sep 19, 2007 at 3:28 PM Post #52 of 95
There are many drivers of questionable driving skill on the road.
As your speed increases it becomes increasingly difficult to avoid them.
 
Sep 19, 2007 at 10:08 PM Post #54 of 95
Quote:

Originally Posted by augustwest /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Speed laws, and many of the other "traffic laws" on the books are as much about "revenue enhancement" as any thing else.

- augustwest



speed laws arent at all about revenue, speed laws existed well before fines were imposed in a widespread manner, speed laws, started out as a good old traditional well intentioned civic duty to save lives.

and quite right

but i agree with you that nowadays, the traffic cameras, tolls, are done in a way as to generate revenue, near me, there are cameras on every stretch of road i pass, and clearly in some areas this isnt solely done to save lives, it is also a local council moneyspinner.

its unfortunate that we cynically think like this, which is the governments own fault, as now when someone speeds, their moral voice in their head maybe isnt worrying about knocking someone down, it is an anti-sentiment to the camera-fine-infrastructure system, and be damned if i am gonna be caught and hand over my hard earned cash.

we loose the importance of our citizens duty to be careful with other fellow pedestrians and road users for the right reasons.
 
Sep 19, 2007 at 10:15 PM Post #55 of 95
Quote:

Originally Posted by RYCeT /img/forum/go_quote.gif
My biggest pet peeve is a driver who use the passing lane for cruising & have nothing better to do which cause everyone else using the middle lane to pass this idiot. If you don't intend to pass any car use the other lanes or give way to someone who want to use that lane for what it intended to be.


Isn't there a law about this? I seem to remember that the general rule is "no passing on the right," which in turn means that the left lane is for passing only. In other words, "slower traffic keep right."
 
Sep 19, 2007 at 10:21 PM Post #56 of 95
Curious...

I would like to see some numbers supporting the claim that traffic tickets generate revenue. you figure each speeding ticket is a ~$260-$350 fine.

How much does it cost:
To pay the cops
Finance the traffic police department/staff
Pay for cars/motorcycles
Train/certify the officers
Equip the officers with gear and train/certify them on the proper use of it
Process the paperwork for each citation
Finance facilitate the traffic court/judicial system/officials necessary to process each ticket

In the end, do traffic tickets really generate that much revenue,relative to the system needed to issue them?

I went to traffic school last month and this was debated. In th eend the traffic school instructor had no real idea, but he speculated it couldn't be more than $10-$15 per ticket.
 
Sep 19, 2007 at 10:38 PM Post #57 of 95
Quote:

Originally Posted by kramer5150 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Curious...

I would like to see some numbers supporting the claim that traffic tickets generate revenue. you figure each speeding ticket is a ~$260-$350 fine.

How much does it cost:
To pay the cops
Finance the traffic police department/staff
Pay for cars/motorcycles
Train/certify the officers
Equip the officers with gear and train/certify them on the proper use of it
Process the paperwork for each citation
Finance facilitate the traffic court/judicial system/officials necessary to process each ticket

In the end, do traffic tickets really generate that much revenue,relative to the system needed to issue them?

I went to traffic school last month and this was debated. In th eend the traffic school instructor had no real idea, but he speculated it couldn't be more than $10-$15 per ticket.



you are quite right, probaly when you fathom in road use/repairs, maintenence, staff, other systems as you mention.

my take on it, and others from what i can ascertain is that its the increase in issuing and monitoring and an almost rife culture of a kind of entrapment now, so as to be a cash cow to the local councils, i can only speak locally to me in the U.K. where we one of the most monitored, surveilled, traffic camera ridden countries in the world. and there is a groundswell feeling among the public that a lot, not all of fines for so called speeding and the very accurate systems that are used (sometimes clocking people for 1mph over) are designed to overbearingly squeeze monies from otherwise previously un-policed areas of traffic and the fine/penalty system.

the councils arent using the monies to plow back into the whole highways division over here, they are using it to fund ridiculously eccentric ideas and print triplicate of our literature in foreign languages and fund hugely exspensive metal statues/monuments in front of governemt and council buildings at a cost of hundered of thousand of pounds a time.

they are constantly doing phantom roadworks in this country, i have seen one stretch of road which had nothing visibly worng with it, being worked on on and off for over 7 years, i think its just to justify their existence and spending budgets.

so its not the fact that fining is only covering their bases and costs, its the fact that now they have greatly increased the frequency and methods to help with these fines, that is the problem.

i think its a vicious circle, the more cameras the put up to catch speeders, the more money they need to fine us to pay for the technological infrastructure.

i wish they would spend the money on our health system, teaching our young and other good causes and to seriously raise the consequences for speeders and negligent drivers, by use of our dwindling police and justice system - rather than taking the easy way out and presuming people will learn their lesson by taking a one off slap on the hand and a small monetary fine.

they are trying to have fines and cameras police this nation. and its a joke.
 
Sep 20, 2007 at 12:16 AM Post #58 of 95
Quote:

Originally Posted by kramer5150 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Curious...

I would like to see some numbers supporting the claim that traffic tickets generate revenue. you figure each speeding ticket is a ~$260-$350 fine.

How much does it cost:
To pay the cops
Finance the traffic police department/staff
Pay for cars/motorcycles
Train/certify the officers
Equip the officers with gear and train/certify them on the proper use of it
Process the paperwork for each citation
Finance facilitate the traffic court/judicial system/officials necessary to process each ticket

In the end, do traffic tickets really generate that much revenue,relative to the system needed to issue them?

I went to traffic school last month and this was debated. In th eend the traffic school instructor had no real idea, but he speculated it couldn't be more than $10-$15 per ticket.



Look up Island Pond, VT. Specifically Constable Ted Miller. Their big business is tourism during winter and snowmobiles and such. Actually, I should say it WAS tourism and snowmobiling. After they generated $150,800 in ticket revenue on one year (population, 890), the entire snowmobiling world boycotted Island Pond. Their economy is now in shambles.
 
Sep 20, 2007 at 12:20 AM Post #59 of 95
Quote:

Connecticut Makes Millions From Speeding Tickets
Speeding tickets have generated $92 million for Connecticut since 2000.

Connecticut is making millions from speeding tickets issued to drivers, especially those who live in other states. Since 2000, about thirty towns have each been responsible for generating over a million in speeding tickets. The most profitable of these, Union, a town with a population of 735 located near the Massachusetts border, pulled in the equivalent of $4625 in speeding tickets for each resident.

Remarkably, Connecticut State Trooper Scott Prouty single-handedly collected $2.1 million in revenue in just five years, with a colleague netting $1.2 million. In the same period, state and local police together collected $83.7 million from speeding tickets that were never taken to court. The state likely made an estimated $8 million from the remaining motorists who were found guilty. Only about one-third contest their tickets, primarily because out-of-state drivers account for nearly fifty percent of citations.

Article Excerpt:
David Wattie, a truck driver from Harrisburg, Pa., said he and most other truckers know about the straight stretch of I-84 through Union. They warn each other on the CB radio. "You know to slow down when you come through here," he said.
Source: Prey For The Radar Gun (Hartford Courant, 9/4/2005)


If you have any doubts that speeding tickets on highways are not SOLEY about revenue, come to CT and see for yourself. Pretty much anyone that comes here leaves $200 and a court date lighter. Same goes for the Masshole troopers just over the border in Massachusetts. They sit right outside the border behind a bridge and nail Connecticut drivers coming in, while the CT troopers sit on the other side of the bridge and nail Massachusetts drivers coming in.

The whole things a nice tidy scheme. Out of state tickets are guaranteed money as no one ever contests them.

Edit: here's another article: http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com...ingTicket.aspx
 
Sep 20, 2007 at 2:00 AM Post #60 of 95
As a (relatively) new driver myself (got my license almost two weeks ago, after practicing for almost two years) I feel qualified to express my views on this...

First, I agree that speeding tickets probably don't do all that much to actually discourage speeding. (Anyway, where else would the police departments get the money to actually prevent crime? The same people who complain about speed traps would complain even harder if they used taxes to cover all their expenses.) That's no reason to raise the speed limits, though. The same people who drive 50+ mph in a 35 mph area would drive 65+ if the limit were raised to 50.

But as a new driver, I don't know how anyone can drive safely at over 85 mph or so even on a highway. I agree with MrSlacker in that you have a lot more time to react to anything if you drive slower. In 2005 there were 43,443 transportation-related fatalities (including bicyclists and pedestrians killed) in the US. That's about 119 per day, and that's only counting people killed outright. There are many, many more accidents that don't result in fatalities. Probably many of those wouldn't happen if people had a second or two more to react to whatever caused the accidents.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top