4 ms·

I agree with you in general. There needs to be a common speed for all cars because difference in speed is, I believe, the real cause of danger. However, there

I agree with you in general. There needs to be a common speed for all cars because difference in speed is, I believe, the real cause of danger. However, there is one common case where the speeding law seems unnecessary at best. I live in Texas. Florida is similar in that there can be large stretches of empty highway. When I travel outside the city there is often very little traffic and very open country. If I can see for a mile and I am the only one out there, why shouldn't I travel at the fastest speed I can manage safely? In the city speeding rarely pays off, what with traffic and traffic controls. On a trip of 200 miles (Austin to Dallas for example) the difference between an average speed of 60 m/hr and 90 m/hr is an hour of travel. It seems wrong that I should be limited in this situation because an 18-wheeler cannot handle more than 60 or 70 safely. Worse is when you have small towns that drop the speed limit to 55 or 45 for a tiny stretch of road when the road does not even go through the town. That kind of speed trap is what angers people, especially when you see an officer blow through with impunity.

mcguire 14y ago
I-35 between Austin and Dallas is a spectacularly bad example, give that the traffic is routinely congested. http://cbsdallas.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/i-35-texas_671318.jpg http://cbsdallas.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/i-35-texas_6713... (Ok, that's downtown Austin; how about this one: http://www.bartcop.com/Austin-Garbage-09.jpg http://www.bartcop.com/Austin-Garbage-09.jpg )
talmand 14y ago
You make good points, but I'll say first your example of the obvious speed trap is a different problem of which I agree with you. There are examples of US interstates with no speed limits within, to some people, reasonable limits: http://www.motorists.org/press/montana-no-speed-limit-safety-paradox http://www.motorists.org/press/montana-no-speed-limit-safety... They even discuss how in some cases fatalities go up with new road laws and speed limits. I have driven that stretch of road between Austin and Dallas as I live in the Dallas area. I have also lived in Florida with it's stretches of long, boring roads. Plus, I've lived in Vegas with that incredibly boring route into Los Angeles. In every case I would agree with you that the idea of being able to go a bit faster would have been nice. But the question that will come up is how do you determine the maximum speed that you can safely manage? What if your assessment of your max speed differs with that of the police officer who witnesses what he feels is a dangerous amount of speed? What about other people on the road that you will eventually come across that can't handle the situation that you present if you decide that the person can handle a speed that in truth they cannot? I'm sure you're thinking you'll just slow down when you see someone but you cannot foresee the possibilities plus your reaction time dwindles quite effectively the faster you go. A mile at 60 MPH is one thing, a mile at 120 MPH is another. My example against this, which is interesting considering the topic of this thread, is when I was in Vegas an off-duty cop was speeding (I forget how much but in excess of 100 MPH) on one of the interstates outside of the main part of town and rear-ended a family in their car. The resulting accident killed a number of them including children. Therefore, I personally don't like the idea of a free-for-all on the interstate where different cars can drive at different speeds based on criteria that will be different for each individual driver and car. I would rather we all agree on a maximum speed that makes sense for the conditions of the road and expected traffic. Now if a road has too slow of a speed limit for the typical conditions of that road, then that is a different discussion.

mcguire 14y ago

I-35 between Austin and Dallas is a spectacularly bad example, give that the traffic is routinely congested. http://cbsdallas.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/i-35-texas_671318.jpg http://cbsdallas.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/i-35-texas_6713... (Ok, that's downtown Austin; how about this one: http://www.bartcop.com/Austin-Garbage-09.jpg http://www.bartcop.com/Austin-Garbage-09.jpg )

talmand 14y ago

You make good points, but I'll say first your example of the obvious speed trap is a different problem of which I agree with you. There are examples of US interstates with no speed limits within, to some people, reasonable limits: http://www.motorists.org/press/montana-no-speed-limit-safety-paradox http://www.motorists.org/press/montana-no-speed-limit-safety... They even discuss how in some cases fatalities go up with new road laws and speed limits. I have driven that stretch of road between Austin and Dallas as I live in the Dallas area. I have also lived in Florida with it's stretches of long, boring roads. Plus, I've lived in Vegas with that incredibly boring route into Los Angeles. In every case I would agree with you that the idea of being able to go a bit faster would have been nice. But the question that will come up is how do you determine the maximum speed that you can safely manage? What if your assessment of your max speed differs with that of the police officer who witnesses what he feels is a dangerous amount of speed? What about other people on the road that you will eventually come across that can't handle the situation that you present if you decide that the person can handle a speed that in truth they cannot? I'm sure you're thinking you'll just slow down when you see someone but you cannot foresee the possibilities plus your reaction time dwindles quite effectively the faster you go. A mile at 60 MPH is one thing, a mile at 120 MPH is another. My example against this, which is interesting considering the topic of this thread, is when I was in Vegas an off-duty cop was speeding (I forget how much but in excess of 100 MPH) on one of the interstates outside of the main part of town and rear-ended a family in their car. The resulting accident killed a number of them including children. Therefore, I personally don't like the idea of a free-for-all on the interstate where different cars can drive at different speeds based on criteria that will be different for each individual driver and car. I would rather we all agree on a maximum speed that makes sense for the conditions of the road and expected traffic. Now if a road has too slow of a speed limit for the typical conditions of that road, then that is a different discussion.