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The traffic engineering standard for the properly set speed limit to minimize collisions is the speed of the 85th percentile car on the road. https://www.linco

The traffic engineering standard for the properly set speed limit to minimize collisions is the speed of the 85th percentile car on the road. https://www.lincoln.ne.gov/files/sharedassets/public/ltu/transportation/traffic-engineering/regulatory-speed-limits.pdf https://www.lincoln.ne.gov/files/sharedassets/public/ltu/tra... So if you are being passed like crazy and going the speed limit, the speed limit is set incorrectly, and you are, in fact, the nuisance.

gjsman-1000 5y ago
It's not just the highway, I am frequently passed on roads of all kinds for following the speed limit and going no faster. They are absolutely, for breaking the law, the nuisance in these situations. The number of people breaking the law does not change what the law is or, even necessarily, what the law should be.
- Sargos 5y ago
  People generally drive the safe speed for the road they are travelling on. The fact that you're being passed (probably on the right a lot of the times) means you are driving slower than traffic and are actually a danger to other drivers. You might think you are being morally high and mighty but you are actually putting innocent lives in danger. Please have some introspection here.
  - gjsman-1000 5y ago
    So I am the dangerous one for not engaging in dangerous activity. Gotcha.
    - HWR_14 5y ago
      You are the dangerous one for not engaging in an illegal but safer activity. It kinda assumes you're right if you call it a dangerous activity.
      - Filligree 5y ago
        The illegal activity is in fact illegal. Nothing more should need to be said.
        fallingknife 5y ago
        If you are an authoritarian, yes.
        HWR_14 5y ago
        Plenty more should be said. It's a bad law that endangers people and should be changed. Going an unsafe speed is another law, and its entirely possible that there is no speed that does not violate one of those laws. The law is a relic of when cars were less safe, and the same safety can be achieved with much higher speeds.
    - orwin 5y ago
      No, you are just more conscious about speed-related issues than your local council. They should engage in road work to reduce the road width, making everyone slow down.
    - qubitcoder 5y ago
      You are behaving dangerously. Accidents are caused by speed differences (one reason). People changing lanes to pass you introduces all sorts of additional complexity, increases speed deltas, reduces reaction time, limits visibility, requires quicker maneuvers, forces other drivers to double and triple check that others aren't trying to pass simultaneously, increases the risk to pedestrians and cyclists, etc. Deliberately going the speed limit when it results in other drivers constantly passing you increases the danger to to everyone else around you significantly. Please give this some thought. Ideally, the German model would be enforced. Slower traffic keeps right, left lanes are for overtaking. And many places are unrestricted, meaning there's no speed limit. The system works quite well, and the flow of traffic is _vastly_ more predictable, and feels a lot safer than the US interstate system.
  - Xylakant 5y ago
    > People generally drive the safe speed for the road they are travelling on. Can you substantiate that assertion somehow? People drive the speed that they feel safe with, but that is not necessarily true. It may be safe most of the time, but change due to external circumstances. It’s safe most of the time to drive 50km/h in a residential zone, except that one time when a child jumps out from behind a car.
    - orangepurple 5y ago
      The taxi study proved that drivers tend to take greater risks in cars equipped with ABS (although the difference in collision rates was not significant). In short, ABS may do more harm than good. https://archive.ph/QKVjR https://archive.ph/QKVjR
- HWR_14 5y ago
  The number of people breaking the law definitely changes what the law should be for traffic laws that primarily are about coordination. If 80% of the population starts driving on the opposite side of the road, or stopping in green and going on red we should absolutely change the law. Speed limits are primarily a similar law. It hardly matters what they are as long as people go the same speed.
- notch656a 5y ago
  You drive the speed you feel you can drive without undue risk to others, those around you may do the same. I take the exceptional viewpoint that neither of you are necessarily 'nuisance.' Reasonable rate of speed depends on vehicle type/design, driver skill, sobriety, wakefulness, attentiveness, safety features of those on the road, density of traffic and environmental conditions. Reasonable rate of speed does not depend on whatever arbitrary number is on a sign.
asdff 5y ago
All roads are not built to perfect standards. Chances are your freeway interchanges are not built to be taken at full highway speeds. If you tried to go 75mph to make the 101s to 110s interchange in LA, you would crash into the wall like many have done because the recommended speed is 35mph (and speaking with experience it is VERY sketchy going above that because the turn is entirely unbanked and the lanes are narrow and there is zero shoulder to speak of). There is also the issue of meatspace. Maybe your modern car can exceed the speed limit of the road surface and safely handle itself. Meanwhile, we still have our biology to deal with, which has not hardened itself to survive an impact at a high speed with a car. Only after millions of years of pedestrian deaths will that evolution be possible. When you find yourself driving 45-50mph on a road signed for 35mph, just know that if a pedestrian were to step out and appear in front of you, you are virtually guaranteed to kill them at this speed, and if you respected the signage, they have a better chance of surviving this impact.
- Dylan16807 5y ago
  The issue with an interchange is a sudden change in speed, which is a separate issue from the natural speed of roads. > When you find yourself driving 45-50mph on a road signed for 35mph, just know that if a pedestrian Change the road to be a 35mph road. It'll be cheaper too.
caf 5y ago
If you are driving at the 85th percentile speed then 15% of cars will be passing you, or 3 in every 20. I suggest that this will in practice feel like you are being "passed like crazy".

gjsman-1000 5y ago

It's not just the highway, I am frequently passed on roads of all kinds for following the speed limit and going no faster. They are absolutely, for breaking the law, the nuisance in these situations. The number of people breaking the law does not change what the law is or, even necessarily, what the law should be.

Sargos 5y ago
People generally drive the safe speed for the road they are travelling on. The fact that you're being passed (probably on the right a lot of the times) means you are driving slower than traffic and are actually a danger to other drivers. You might think you are being morally high and mighty but you are actually putting innocent lives in danger. Please have some introspection here.
- gjsman-1000 5y ago
  So I am the dangerous one for not engaging in dangerous activity. Gotcha.
  - HWR_14 5y ago
    You are the dangerous one for not engaging in an illegal but safer activity. It kinda assumes you're right if you call it a dangerous activity.
    - Filligree 5y ago
      The illegal activity is in fact illegal. Nothing more should need to be said.
      - fallingknife 5y ago
        If you are an authoritarian, yes.
      - HWR_14 5y ago
        Plenty more should be said. It's a bad law that endangers people and should be changed. Going an unsafe speed is another law, and its entirely possible that there is no speed that does not violate one of those laws. The law is a relic of when cars were less safe, and the same safety can be achieved with much higher speeds.
  - orwin 5y ago
    No, you are just more conscious about speed-related issues than your local council. They should engage in road work to reduce the road width, making everyone slow down.
  - qubitcoder 5y ago
    You are behaving dangerously. Accidents are caused by speed differences (one reason). People changing lanes to pass you introduces all sorts of additional complexity, increases speed deltas, reduces reaction time, limits visibility, requires quicker maneuvers, forces other drivers to double and triple check that others aren't trying to pass simultaneously, increases the risk to pedestrians and cyclists, etc. Deliberately going the speed limit when it results in other drivers constantly passing you increases the danger to to everyone else around you significantly. Please give this some thought. Ideally, the German model would be enforced. Slower traffic keeps right, left lanes are for overtaking. And many places are unrestricted, meaning there's no speed limit. The system works quite well, and the flow of traffic is _vastly_ more predictable, and feels a lot safer than the US interstate system.
- Xylakant 5y ago
  > People generally drive the safe speed for the road they are travelling on. Can you substantiate that assertion somehow? People drive the speed that they feel safe with, but that is not necessarily true. It may be safe most of the time, but change due to external circumstances. It’s safe most of the time to drive 50km/h in a residential zone, except that one time when a child jumps out from behind a car.
  - orangepurple 5y ago
    The taxi study proved that drivers tend to take greater risks in cars equipped with ABS (although the difference in collision rates was not significant). In short, ABS may do more harm than good. https://archive.ph/QKVjR https://archive.ph/QKVjR
HWR_14 5y ago
The number of people breaking the law definitely changes what the law should be for traffic laws that primarily are about coordination. If 80% of the population starts driving on the opposite side of the road, or stopping in green and going on red we should absolutely change the law. Speed limits are primarily a similar law. It hardly matters what they are as long as people go the same speed.
notch656a 5y ago
You drive the speed you feel you can drive without undue risk to others, those around you may do the same. I take the exceptional viewpoint that neither of you are necessarily 'nuisance.' Reasonable rate of speed depends on vehicle type/design, driver skill, sobriety, wakefulness, attentiveness, safety features of those on the road, density of traffic and environmental conditions. Reasonable rate of speed does not depend on whatever arbitrary number is on a sign.

asdff 5y ago

All roads are not built to perfect standards. Chances are your freeway interchanges are not built to be taken at full highway speeds. If you tried to go 75mph to make the 101s to 110s interchange in LA, you would crash into the wall like many have done because the recommended speed is 35mph (and speaking with experience it is VERY sketchy going above that because the turn is entirely unbanked and the lanes are narrow and there is zero shoulder to speak of). There is also the issue of meatspace. Maybe your modern car can exceed the speed limit of the road surface and safely handle itself. Meanwhile, we still have our biology to deal with, which has not hardened itself to survive an impact at a high speed with a car. Only after millions of years of pedestrian deaths will that evolution be possible. When you find yourself driving 45-50mph on a road signed for 35mph, just know that if a pedestrian were to step out and appear in front of you, you are virtually guaranteed to kill them at this speed, and if you respected the signage, they have a better chance of surviving this impact.

Dylan16807 5y ago
The issue with an interchange is a sudden change in speed, which is a separate issue from the natural speed of roads. > When you find yourself driving 45-50mph on a road signed for 35mph, just know that if a pedestrian Change the road to be a 35mph road. It'll be cheaper too.

caf 5y ago

If you are driving at the 85th percentile speed then 15% of cars will be passing you, or 3 in every 20. I suggest that this will in practice feel like you are being "passed like crazy".