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Maybe it's a good opportunity for you to start following speed limits and stop risking everyone's life :)

by forty 7y ago

flyingfences 7y ago
Driving over the posted limit is not dangerous on most roads.
- kazinator 7y ago
  For any value of "over"? Strapping on a rocket engine and going 900 mph meets the logical definition of "over the limit". Driving within a reasonable margin above the limit is safe on most roads, under good surface and visibility conditions.
- mdavidn 7y ago
  Driving over the posted speed limit can appear safe when it definitely is not. My morning commute involves a blind left turn out of a residential street. Cars parked on the curb obstruct my view of oncoming traffic in the right lane. This isn't a problem when that traffic observes the 35 mph speed limit. I've had far too many close calls with self-centered jerks driving 55 mph in that lane. Sporty sedans are impossible to see over a row of parked cars.
  - loeg 7y ago
    If you can't see well enough to turn safely, you can't turn. Making a left into a lane of traffic, you do not have right of way. We have a similar visibility problem with parked cars near our driveway and our municipality allows for a certain amount of yellow paint on curbs adjacent to driveways, specifically for visibility. People generally respect it, or at least park further than before the paint. I'd encourage investigating if this is an option where you live.
  - coryfklein 7y ago
    > Driving over the posted speed limit can appear safe when it definitely is not. Therefore, the fact that it's left up to the drivers to guess when it is safe and when it isn't means many folks are going to guess wrong and speed when it's unsafe. Would be much better if the signage just actually accurately reflected the safe limits.
- acdha 7y ago
  When you’re not distracted or tired, have great visibility, and there are no hazards or unexpected behavior by other road users. This is true far less frequently than people believe.
- adrianN 7y ago
  That strongly depends on where you live. If you live anywhere where things other than cars going roughly the speed limit are on or around the road that speeding is definitely dangerous. In Germany that's basically all roads except for the Autobahn and some country roads.
CPLX 7y ago
Tempting.
loeg 7y ago
This would be a great idea if speed limits were set by any plausibly reasonable process, but in truth they are set arbitrarily and capriciously.
- reaperducer 7y ago
  This would be a great idea if speed limits were set by any plausibly reasonable process, but in truth they are set arbitrarily and capriciously. Demonstrably untrue. There is an entire very technical industry for this sort of thing. People who take an interest in their communities and go to planning and city council meetings know this. Those who are not involved their communities just complain and blame it on The Man out to get them.
  - loeg 7y ago
    It's extremely variable. You have traffic engineers, sure, but you also have politicians pushing top-down reactive policies to appeal to the limited minority of voters who happen to have the time to go to city council meetings. To say it is "demonstrably untrue" as some universal truth is objectively false.
  - theshrike79 7y ago
    Yes, lowering the speed limit on a 30 degree declining hill from 100kph to 60kph and having a speed camera at the bottom is "very technical" and not a clear money maker. You need to break pretty hard to not get fined.
  - coryfklein 7y ago
    > There is an entire very technical industry for this sort of thing. The industry being technical does nothing to prevent it's general rules from being dictated by politics. If an engineer does a study that shows no significant increase in injury by increasing the speed limit 10 MPH, I find it highly unlikely the city or state is going to approve it based on those findings.

Maybe it's a good opportunity for you to start following speed limits and stop risking everyone's life :)

by forty 7y ago

Maybe it's a good opportunity for you to start following speed limits and stop risking everyone's life :)

flyingfences 7y ago

Driving over the posted limit is not dangerous on most roads.

kazinator 7y ago
For any value of "over"? Strapping on a rocket engine and going 900 mph meets the logical definition of "over the limit". Driving within a reasonable margin above the limit is safe on most roads, under good surface and visibility conditions.
mdavidn 7y ago
Driving over the posted speed limit can appear safe when it definitely is not. My morning commute involves a blind left turn out of a residential street. Cars parked on the curb obstruct my view of oncoming traffic in the right lane. This isn't a problem when that traffic observes the 35 mph speed limit. I've had far too many close calls with self-centered jerks driving 55 mph in that lane. Sporty sedans are impossible to see over a row of parked cars.
- loeg 7y ago
  If you can't see well enough to turn safely, you can't turn. Making a left into a lane of traffic, you do not have right of way. We have a similar visibility problem with parked cars near our driveway and our municipality allows for a certain amount of yellow paint on curbs adjacent to driveways, specifically for visibility. People generally respect it, or at least park further than before the paint. I'd encourage investigating if this is an option where you live.
- coryfklein 7y ago
  > Driving over the posted speed limit can appear safe when it definitely is not. Therefore, the fact that it's left up to the drivers to guess when it is safe and when it isn't means many folks are going to guess wrong and speed when it's unsafe. Would be much better if the signage just actually accurately reflected the safe limits.
acdha 7y ago
When you’re not distracted or tired, have great visibility, and there are no hazards or unexpected behavior by other road users. This is true far less frequently than people believe.
adrianN 7y ago
That strongly depends on where you live. If you live anywhere where things other than cars going roughly the speed limit are on or around the road that speeding is definitely dangerous. In Germany that's basically all roads except for the Autobahn and some country roads.

CPLX 7y ago

Tempting.

loeg 7y ago

This would be a great idea if speed limits were set by any plausibly reasonable process, but in truth they are set arbitrarily and capriciously.

reaperducer 7y ago
This would be a great idea if speed limits were set by any plausibly reasonable process, but in truth they are set arbitrarily and capriciously. Demonstrably untrue. There is an entire very technical industry for this sort of thing. People who take an interest in their communities and go to planning and city council meetings know this. Those who are not involved their communities just complain and blame it on The Man out to get them.
- loeg 7y ago
  It's extremely variable. You have traffic engineers, sure, but you also have politicians pushing top-down reactive policies to appeal to the limited minority of voters who happen to have the time to go to city council meetings. To say it is "demonstrably untrue" as some universal truth is objectively false.
- theshrike79 7y ago
  Yes, lowering the speed limit on a 30 degree declining hill from 100kph to 60kph and having a speed camera at the bottom is "very technical" and not a clear money maker. You need to break pretty hard to not get fined.
- coryfklein 7y ago
  > There is an entire very technical industry for this sort of thing. The industry being technical does nothing to prevent it's general rules from being dictated by politics. If an engineer does a study that shows no significant increase in injury by increasing the speed limit 10 MPH, I find it highly unlikely the city or state is going to approve it based on those findings.