Speed limit tolerances

[Brandon]

I got pulled over once for going 72 in a 65 zone in Wisconsin. I thought that was pretty lame. OTherwise, I usually drive 5-10 over the limit and never have a problem. I'm not totally sure what Wisconsin's standards are, but usually if you keep it under 10 over the limit you're ok.

TECHNICALLY: Wisconsin's standards are >= 1mph over - but that's often the judgment of the cop.  Remember - fines go towards profit for the state and cops's salaries.  They probably have quotas.

Racine County's standards are even lower for Illinois plates.  I think they're at 0.1mph over the limit. 

[bogdown]

I've gone 100 mph on I-45(it was in the middle of nowhere)

It should be noted that in Ontario, Canada, If you're 50 km over the limit (typical is 100km, 50km over is 93 mph), they fine you CAD$5,000

[Brandon]

The Pennsylvania State Police will let you alone up to 10 over the limit, but +11 is when you'll get noticed.

I was on I-476 several years ago keeping up with the rest of the traffic doing 80 in a 55 and no one braked upon seeing a cop car parked in the median, nor did the cop give chase.

That is a very, very rare situation.

Maybe in Pennsylvania, but in Michigan, especially Detroit, it's par for the course.  The old joke about Detroit freeway traffic is that the limit is 70mph, traffic is moving past the cop on the side at 85mph, and he's only looking for people doing triple digits.

[mobilene]

I've lived in Indiana all my life and have never, ever had a run in with the Indiana State Police, even though in my younger days I routinely pushed the envelope on the Interstates here.  The ISP has a reputation for being fairly relaxed about speeding up to 10 mph over, and tolerant beyond that if you're not stupid about it (e.g., passing a cop at 15 over the limit).   There are exceptions, including a well-known trooper who likes to patrol US 31 near where in intersects with US 24.  I've been driving Indiana's Interstates and expressways for 24 years and have never once been popped on them, despite driving considerably more stupidly when I was still in my 20s.

jim

[Mr_Northside]

The Pennsylvania State Police will let you alone up to 10 over the limit, but +11 is when you'll get noticed.

I was on I-476 several years ago keeping up with the rest of the traffic doing 80 in a 55 and no one braked upon seeing a cop car parked in the median, nor did the cop give chase.

That is a very, very rare situation.

It was in the news a couple of months ago that police along I-79 (I think somewhere between the Allegheny Co - Washington Co line and the Parkway West) were only targeting drivers doing 80+, and were still surprised at the amount of tickets they wrote.
(That was just their policy for this operation.  Certainly no guarantee that you won't get a ticket doing less)

[PAHighways]

Maybe in Pennsylvania, but in Michigan, especially Detroit, it's par for the course.  The old joke about Detroit freeway traffic is that the limit is 70mph, traffic is moving past the cop on the side at 85mph, and he's only looking for people doing triple digits.

Speeding is commonplace in the urban centers here too.  I'll have people blow by like I am standing still on the Turnpike outside Philadelphia or the Parkway East in Monroeville even going 75 (which is +20 on said sections).

I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've seen PSP sitting anywhere on the latter between Grant Street and the Turnpike over the years.

[tdindy88]

I've lived in Indiana all my life and have never, ever had a run in with the Indiana State Police, even though in my younger days I routinely pushed the envelope on the Interstates here.  The ISP has a reputation for being fairly relaxed about speeding up to 10 mph over, and tolerant beyond that if you're not stupid about it (e.g., passing a cop at 15 over the limit).   There are exceptions, including a well-known trooper who likes to patrol US 31 near where in intersects with US 24.  I've been driving Indiana's Interstates and expressways for 24 years and have never once been popped on them, despite driving considerably more stupidly when I was still in my 20s.

jim

Both times I've been pulled over in Indiana have been by ISP, of course, both times I was going 15 over the speed limit, and both times it was in the morning, which might be the main explanation. I usually do 80 on the rural interstates and 70 in Indianapolis and have never had a problem, I figure if I'm going at least 20 over I'm probably asking for it.

[realjd]

I've lived in Indiana all my life and have never, ever had a run in with the Indiana State Police, even though in my younger days I routinely pushed the envelope on the Interstates here.  The ISP has a reputation for being fairly relaxed about speeding up to 10 mph over, and tolerant beyond that if you're not stupid about it (e.g., passing a cop at 15 over the limit).   There are exceptions, including a well-known trooper who likes to patrol US 31 near where in intersects with US 24.  I've been driving Indiana's Interstates and expressways for 24 years and have never once been popped on them, despite driving considerably more stupidly when I was still in my 20s.

jim

You sure that's a trooper? Back when I was driving between Fort Wayne and Lafayette just about weekly, all I ever saw was Peru city cops.

[citrus]

I've been written up for 85 in a 65 in New York (state trooper), 80 in a 70 in Texas (county sheriff), and 81 in a 70 in California (CHP). In Rhode Island I got stopped for 45 in a 20 school zone but the officer (town officer) wrote down 30 in a 20, and the ticket eventually was dismissed. I grew up in Rhode Island and knew a lot of people getting pulled over for things like 90 in a 55, and being written up only for 10 over. The courtesy probably didn't extend to out of state plates.

[jgb191]

Wow, just hearing about all these people doing 20-30 over the limit makes me kind of jealous.  Just be glad you don't have to deal with the Texas law enforcement.

I've been pulled over doing 73 on 70 and 88 on 80, I was very lucky to escape without a ticket, the officers did administer a very stern warning to slow it down.  Some of the people around me haven't been that lucky; they've been written up doing anywhere from 5-15 over.

By complete contrast, have briefly driven in Chicago for a couple of days and I was overwhelmed by the sheer madness and chaos, I was doing 65 on 55 (average speed was anywhere between 70 and 80) and even police cars honked at me as they blew past me.  Makes me wonder why they even have a speed limit if nobody chooses to follow it.

[SSOWorld]

Its a clear indication that the police think the 55 zone buffer around Chicago is ridiculous.  on I-90 it extends as far west as Elgin and as far east as the West end plaza of the Closed loop portion of the Indiana Road.  I-94 has it's 55 buffer as far north as the Waukegan plaza (only 3 miles of 65 exist on I-94 in Illinois).

New York City area doesn't have such a buffer whatsoever.  The I-95 limit is 65 pretty much close to the middle of Westchester County, before its toned down to 55 - and then 50 once you get into the Bronx.  The limit is 45 (variable) on I-95 coming off the GWB, but goes up by 10s until you get to the split.  The boroughs are 50, but once you leave the city, you don't get far and it's 65 - esp on the Turnpike.  Exceptions made for the bridges which have insanely narrow lanes (Gothals comes to mind.))  I only speak from an I-95 point of view though since that was the only route I took for the most part (I-278 was 55 for the most part in Jersey).  I can't speak for I-87 or Long Island.  (I'm assuming the Parkways are 50 or thereabouts.

Los Angeles has 65 pretty much everywhere except right downtown.  Here I'm speaking only from an I-10 point of view.

So what the hell's wrong with Chicago that it warrants a huge 55 buffer?  The state government wants money - but judging by a post above, the police tend not to cooperate.

[vdeane]

I-87 is 55 upon leaving the Bronx but waits until after the Spring Valley toll barrier to go 65.  I imagine the parkways are 55 in Westchester County.

[deathtopumpkins]

Sprain Brook's 50, and I think the Taconic is 55 all the way. The Hutch I'm pretty sure is 55.

[citrus]

Cross County Pkwy is posted 45mph.

[mobilene]

There are exceptions, including a well-known trooper who likes to patrol US 31 near where in intersects with US 24.

You sure that's a trooper? Back when I was driving between Fort Wayne and Lafayette just about weekly, all I ever saw was Peru city cops.

They patrol US 31/US 24, too, but this ISP trooper I'm talking about was so notorious that there was once a big profile of him in the South Bend paper.

[burgess87]

In NY you can get pulled over for even 1mph over, but you're virtually guaranteed to get away with up to 5 over, and it's rare to be pulled over for anything less than 10 over, though I have heard rumors of a threshold of 68 mph.  Also watch out at the end of the month and heavy travel weekends - those are when the police are looking to ticket people.  Also, buses don't get pulled over for less than 80.

That explains why a Greyhound Toronto charter blew past me on the Thruway WB in the Exit 39-40 construction zone.  I was doing 55 (nighttime + workzone + no shoulders), and the Greyhound just BLOWS by me in the left-hand lane.

[vdeane]

Makes me wonder if anyone enforces the "no trucks, buses, trailers left lane" stuff.

[Brandon]

Makes me wonder if anyone enforces the "no trucks, buses, trailers left lane" stuff.

They sure as hell don't on the expressways around Chicago.

[burgess87]

Has anyone ever seen aircraft enforcing speed limits?  Most of us have seen signs like this:


Ex:  Virginia (recently suspended aerial speed limit enforcement detail)

I've only seen it once, and it was earlier this year.  I was on my way to Olean via the Thruway westbound.  I was riding shotgun, and I saw a chopper either hovering or moving very slowly.  The driver was speeding, so I told him to slow it down - that the chopper was running radar.

Sure enough, there's a state trooper sitting on the next onramp, waiting for the chopper to vector him in.

[agentsteel53]

Has anyone ever seen aircraft enforcing speed limits? 

yep, I see them all the time.  Look for white horizontal lines on the shoulder - they will measure a car's speed by seeing how much time it takes for it to go between two white lines.  Sometimes next to the white line, a little airplane is painted on the road surface as well.

[bugo]

Has anyone ever seen aircraft enforcing speed limits? 

yep, I see them all the time.  Look for white horizontal lines on the shoulder - they will measure a car's speed by seeing how much time it takes for it to go between two white lines.  Sometimes next to the white line, a little airplane is painted on the road surface as well.

Like the government doesn't have anything better to spend money on than planes going after somebody going 5 over.

[Brandon]

I've often wondered how the FAA looks at the speed patrol flights.  I cannot imagine they're very happy with them as they want flight plans from everyone who flys any non-military aircraft in the US.

[mightyace]

The driver was speeding, so I told him to slow it down - that the chopper was running radar.

They don't necessarily use radar.  Before it was discontinued in Pennsylvania, there were lines on the pavement 1/4 mile apart, IIRC.  The cop in the plane/chopper used a stop watch to time you and if you took too little time, gothca!

[Scott5114]

I suppose OK used to use the aircraft-enforcement method, since the white lines are painted extensively on the state's interstates, but I have never noticed aircraft actively in use to do so. OK used to have a non-standard sign for this–a yellow diamond reading "WATCH YOUR SPEED: WE ARE" with silhouettes of a motorcycle, police car, and airplane. I've only seen one or two of them, however. One used to be on I-40 WB west of downtown OKC but I'm not sure if it's there anymore.

[rawmustard]

OK used to have a non-standard sign for this–a yellow diamond reading "WATCH YOUR SPEED: WE ARE" with silhouettes of a motorcycle, police car, and airplane.

I used to see this type of sign in Indiana often. They would typically be posted where "WATCH FOR ICE ON BRIDGE" signs would be placed during colder months.