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I really like the 'do we need the speed limit' part. Not surprisingly, maybe, since I come from a country where that approach works (although there seems to be

I really like the 'do we need the speed limit' part. Not surprisingly, maybe, since I come from a country where that approach works (although there seems to be a tendency to reduce the 'free' parts and a number of factions don't like the concept in the first place, for reasons that are either ecological - use more public transportation - or FUD - going fast kills faster/more). On the other hand I cannot imagine reintroducing that concept of 'no limit' easily. I think it's easy to go down that street into one direction (limit the speed) but much harder to go back (go as fast as you feel safe to do). People that are used to drive w/o limit here DO have speed limits to respect (on anything that's not the Autobahn, and on more and more parts _on_ the Autobahn too). People that always had a maximum speed limit of X are not used to someone overtaking them with a relative speed difference of another times X again. This is mostly a gut feeling and personal, non-scientific observation, but when I went fast on the Autobahn I tended to scan the lane to the right for cars with foreign license plates. These had an immensely increased probability to switch lanes at 120-130 km/h when I was approaching on an otherwise safe/clear/free lane with 220-230 km/h. I write that off to experience alone: If most of the traffic flows at the same speed, maneuvers like this might be annoying but okay. Understanding the fact that, while you're going at the normal/maximum allowed speed at home, there might be legal scenarios where someone passes you with twice your current speed is one thing. Overcoming the ~subconscious~ patterns in ones driving is probably harder. Short version: I'd be afraid to drive fast in a place where that is uncommon or new.

dexen 15y ago
> On the other hand I cannot imagine reintroducing that concept of 'no limit' easily. Advisory signs suggesting speed for /typical/ car. Adjusted once in a while by local citizens as they know the local road conditions best. The driver can now make well-informed decisions. If you have super-duper tyres and suspension you mentally add 32% to suggested speed. If you are the next Ayrton Senna, you add 64%. You can re-define legal sense of current speed limit signs overnight, with one congressional act. I believe drivers would trust citizen-maintained signs much more & follow the advice, to the boot.
- darklajid 15y ago
  While I'd like that approach in theory, I see two issues with this: 1) It doesn't answer my 'going from some limit to no (declared) limit' thought experiment. I still think that this is ~hard~. 2) Who are the local citizens to change the signs? Who's responsible for signs on highways/streets through parts of the country w/o a lot of people? On a sidenote: Advisory speed limits are exactly what DE is doing: If there's no sign indicating something otherwise, the Autobahn has an advised maximum speed limit of 130km/h. If you go faster, you might lose parts of your insurance protection (depending on the results in case of an accident). It's legal, but in that case you're just ignoring the friendly suggestion to stay at 130.
- arnoooooo 15y ago
  You're completely ignoring the fact that most everybody thinks they're the next Ayrton Senna, and that people are very bad at estimating risks.
skrebbel 15y ago
...I tended to scan the lane to the right for cars with foreign license plates. These had an immensely increased probability to switch lanes at 120-130 km/h when I was approaching on an otherwise safe/clear/free lane with 220-230 km/h. Hah! That was me you were braking for. Never realised that that's dangerous. Thanks for the heads-up!
mikeash 15y ago
As a compromise, how about setting speed limits based on safety rather than revenue? If a particular stretch of highway can support 80MPH, set the limit to 80. If the difference from the current limit is large, the change could be made gradually. I don't think speed limits are a problem per se, the problem is that they're not set rationally. How many roads have you seen where traffic flows 10MPH above the limit? It happens all over the place here, and it's a sure sign that the limit is improperly set.

dexen 15y ago

> On the other hand I cannot imagine reintroducing that concept of 'no limit' easily. Advisory signs suggesting speed for /typical/ car. Adjusted once in a while by local citizens as they know the local road conditions best. The driver can now make well-informed decisions. If you have super-duper tyres and suspension you mentally add 32% to suggested speed. If you are the next Ayrton Senna, you add 64%. You can re-define legal sense of current speed limit signs overnight, with one congressional act. I believe drivers would trust citizen-maintained signs much more & follow the advice, to the boot.

darklajid 15y ago
While I'd like that approach in theory, I see two issues with this: 1) It doesn't answer my 'going from some limit to no (declared) limit' thought experiment. I still think that this is ~hard~. 2) Who are the local citizens to change the signs? Who's responsible for signs on highways/streets through parts of the country w/o a lot of people? On a sidenote: Advisory speed limits are exactly what DE is doing: If there's no sign indicating something otherwise, the Autobahn has an advised maximum speed limit of 130km/h. If you go faster, you might lose parts of your insurance protection (depending on the results in case of an accident). It's legal, but in that case you're just ignoring the friendly suggestion to stay at 130.
arnoooooo 15y ago
You're completely ignoring the fact that most everybody thinks they're the next Ayrton Senna, and that people are very bad at estimating risks.

skrebbel 15y ago

...I tended to scan the lane to the right for cars with foreign license plates. These had an immensely increased probability to switch lanes at 120-130 km/h when I was approaching on an otherwise safe/clear/free lane with 220-230 km/h. Hah! That was me you were braking for. Never realised that that's dangerous. Thanks for the heads-up!

mikeash 15y ago

As a compromise, how about setting speed limits based on safety rather than revenue? If a particular stretch of highway can support 80MPH, set the limit to 80. If the difference from the current limit is large, the change could be made gradually. I don't think speed limits are a problem per se, the problem is that they're not set rationally. How many roads have you seen where traffic flows 10MPH above the limit? It happens all over the place here, and it's a sure sign that the limit is improperly set.