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Good. If it's actually important that people drive slower in that area, everybody knowing there are speed cameras will have that effect.

by Zak 5y ago

oh-4-fucks-sake 5y ago
Looking at you: - Crotch rockets (driven by dudes in jorts and a t-shirt flapping in the wind) - Dodge chargers w/ aftermarket exhausts - BMWs with iridescent vehicle wraps - Lifted pickup trucks with massively oversized tires
- cheeze 5y ago
  This reads like a Reddit comment.
ceejayoz 5y ago
If everyone guns it right after passing the camera, you've potentially made things more dangerous. Aircraft allow for a "you could get caught at any time" deterrent that cameras can't unless you put them literally everywhere.
- Gwypaas 5y ago
  They still increase the safety by limiting the speed in for example an exposed intersection. On the other hand you can go the average speed route instead. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_limit_enforcement#Average_speed_measurement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_limit_enforcement#Averag...
konschubert 5y ago
The cameras are more effective if people have to expect them everywhere, because then they will (hopefully) stick to the speed limit everywhere.
megablast 5y ago
This is such an insane take. The speed limit is for everywhere for safety. They faster people go the more dangerous it is.
- jonathankoren 5y ago
  Actually, people tend to drive at the speed that is safe, and traffic engineers set the limit at about the 85th percentile of the observed speed. Maximum limits on safe roads are usually lower than the observed speed, and so serve no purpose from a safety perspective. Traffic calming techniques like narrower lane widths and widths are shown to be more effective than police enforcement. The “downside” of these methods are that they’re actually effective at controlling speed, and thus are a revenue loss.
  - xorcist 5y ago
    > Actually, people tend to drive at the speed that is safe, That not remotely true in any part of the world I've visited so far.
  - Edman274 5y ago
    Not the person you replied to, but I really feel like enforcement must be a pretty substantial part of what stops people from speeding and driving recklessly, given that traffic enforcement has been de-emphasized since the start of the pandemic and the number of road fatalities has gone up more than 7 percent, even though the actual number of miles driven has gone down. https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/2020-fatality-data-show-increased-traffic-fatalities-during-pandemic https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/2020-fatality-data-show... If people drive at whatever speed they think is safe, then why would the aggregate number of people dying on roadways ever go up when miles driven by the same population goes down? Here are the possibilities: 1. Driving has become more risky due to external, uncontrollable factors, like weather or road changes that motorists can't account for or 2. People are modifying their behavior. Why would they modify their behavior? The roads haven't changed. The speed limits haven't changed. What has changed? More people are dead because of extreme speed and reckless driving on roadways, which kind of suggests that traffic enforcement did at least prevent some of those deaths.

Good. If it's actually important that people drive slower in that area, everybody knowing there are speed cameras will have that effect.

by Zak 5y ago

Good. If it's actually important that people drive slower in that area, everybody knowing there are speed cameras will have that effect.

oh-4-fucks-sake 5y ago

Looking at you: - Crotch rockets (driven by dudes in jorts and a t-shirt flapping in the wind) - Dodge chargers w/ aftermarket exhausts - BMWs with iridescent vehicle wraps - Lifted pickup trucks with massively oversized tires

cheeze 5y ago
This reads like a Reddit comment.

ceejayoz 5y ago

If everyone guns it right after passing the camera, you've potentially made things more dangerous. Aircraft allow for a "you could get caught at any time" deterrent that cameras can't unless you put them literally everywhere.

Gwypaas 5y ago
They still increase the safety by limiting the speed in for example an exposed intersection. On the other hand you can go the average speed route instead. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_limit_enforcement#Average_speed_measurement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_limit_enforcement#Averag...

konschubert 5y ago

The cameras are more effective if people have to expect them everywhere, because then they will (hopefully) stick to the speed limit everywhere.

megablast 5y ago

This is such an insane take. The speed limit is for everywhere for safety. They faster people go the more dangerous it is.

jonathankoren 5y ago
Actually, people tend to drive at the speed that is safe, and traffic engineers set the limit at about the 85th percentile of the observed speed. Maximum limits on safe roads are usually lower than the observed speed, and so serve no purpose from a safety perspective. Traffic calming techniques like narrower lane widths and widths are shown to be more effective than police enforcement. The “downside” of these methods are that they’re actually effective at controlling speed, and thus are a revenue loss.
- xorcist 5y ago
  > Actually, people tend to drive at the speed that is safe, That not remotely true in any part of the world I've visited so far.
- Edman274 5y ago
  Not the person you replied to, but I really feel like enforcement must be a pretty substantial part of what stops people from speeding and driving recklessly, given that traffic enforcement has been de-emphasized since the start of the pandemic and the number of road fatalities has gone up more than 7 percent, even though the actual number of miles driven has gone down. https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/2020-fatality-data-show-increased-traffic-fatalities-during-pandemic https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/2020-fatality-data-show... If people drive at whatever speed they think is safe, then why would the aggregate number of people dying on roadways ever go up when miles driven by the same population goes down? Here are the possibilities: 1. Driving has become more risky due to external, uncontrollable factors, like weather or road changes that motorists can't account for or 2. People are modifying their behavior. Why would they modify their behavior? The roads haven't changed. The speed limits haven't changed. What has changed? More people are dead because of extreme speed and reckless driving on roadways, which kind of suggests that traffic enforcement did at least prevent some of those deaths.