Virginia passes law to enforce maximum vehicle speeds for repeat speeders
Virginia passes law to enforce maximum vehicle speeds for repeat speeders
www.fastcompany.com
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A single car with ISA can also prevent multiple drivers behind it from recklessly accelerating, so even a small number of ISA-equipped vehicles could have a dramatic impact on regional or even national road safety.
In my experience, a slow driver will be passed (often rather aggressively) by drivers wanting to go faster if that is at all possible. That feels a lot more dangerous than simply having everyone drive at the rate of traffic. Or is the author envisioning a scenario where there are enough of these slow cars to cause a traffic jam?
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This is why assholes who sit in the left lane when not passing are dangerous.
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They wouldn't be driving slowly, they'd be driving at the posted limit. If the limit for the road is wrong, and other people are ignoring it, that is a separate issue that needs dealing with.
It really grinds my gears when people complain about others driving at the posted limit (and, to be fair, I do it too sometimes, but I try to catch myself). You either think the limit is reasonable, in which case there isn't actually a problem, or you think it's wrong, in which case the driver isn't the problem, the limit is. In that case rather than grousing about other drivers actually take action to have the limit changed. That goes just as much in areas where the limit is too high.
Anyway, rant over, I shall take a couple of deep breaths.
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Driving at the posted limit if everyone else is going 15-20 over can be incredibly dangerous. Which is why its legal to drive with the speed of traffic.
And it may be rare to see that situation in some places, but my local highway is often like that. I prefer to drive 5-10 over and no more, but if literally everyone else is driving 15-20 over then you really ought to not drive at the limit. If you do youll have people swerving around you at 20 over the limit.
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That's a slippery slope. The limits are there for a reason, and it's considered unsafe to go faster. Everyone should be doing the speed limit, and if people consistently drive over the limit, they should absolutely have their licenses removed.
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Rules don't matter at all compared what they aim to achieve
If you're driving with a significant speed difference from the cars around you, you are making yourself and all other cars in the area less safe. You're also creating traffic behind you
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I'm not going to say that sort of thing doesn't happen, they undoubtedly do, but in places where the rules don't permit speeding, just because everyone else is, the problem self corrects. If too many motorists exceed the limit, the police have a field day ticketing as many as they can, and the situation reverts to people driving at the limit.
That does take setting the limits appropriately, constant enforecement that can be scaled up, a certain margin of error being accepted so everyone doesn't have their eyes glued to the speedo, and the understanding and acceptance from motorists that the rules are fair and there for a reason. Absent any one or more of those, and things will inevitably turn into a racetrack again. Fortunately, much of the management and enforcement is usually local, so political pressure applied locally can often help correct issues.
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Permit speeding? US laws literally say the speed limit is the 85th percentile of the flow of traffic. The number on the sign is a suggestion, a safe one.
https://highways.dot.gov/safety/speed-management/speed-limit-basics
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There's nothing on that page that says the speed limit is the 85% percentile of the traffic flow. It states quite clearly that 'Statutory speed limits are established by State legislatures for specific types of roads (e.g., Interstates, rural highways, urban streets) and can vary from State to State. They are enforceable by law and are applicable even if the speed limit sign is not posted' and 'Posted speed limits (sometimes called regulatory speed limits) are those that are sign-posted along the road and are enforceable by law.'
Those speed limits are initially set based on the design speed of the road, then later they can be assessed and possibly modified based on a number of factors including the 85% percentile you referenced, however' 'The 85th percentile speed is not the only factor practitioners evaluate when determining an appropriate speed limit; they complete engineering speed studies and often utilize supporting tools like USLIMITS2.'
Critically though, none of this means you can just drive at the prevailing speed of the traffic if it's above the statutory or posted limit and not be considered to be speeding. The 85% percentile may be used to set the speed limit, but when it's set, it's the law.
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Yet I have zero moving violations at age 45, and I drive fast as fuck. I’ve even been pulled over, no mention of speed, just a quick “where’s your front plate” question.
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What the law says, and what gets enforced are, unfirtunately, sometimes very different things. Sometimes that works in your favor, sometimes it doesn't.
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Can’t wait for someone to get on the freeway and be unable to merge and properly control their vehicle when traffic is fast. This dumb as law is creating the same issue it’s pretending to solve.
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50 comments