Speed Kills Your Pocketbook

[thspfc]

As far as this forum goes I guess I'm on the low end for speed limits. But I don't know how anyone would think that a 55 MPH limit on rural Interstates is reasonable. 65 for some, 70 or 75 for most, and 80 for a select few is what it should be.

[thspfc]

80 is my enjoy the scenery speed. 70-75 nph would be good minimum speeds though, especially for roads like I-80 through Utah, Nevada, and Nebraska.

How fast do you drive on I-80 in that part of the country? 95? 105?

[sprjus4]

80 is my enjoy the scenery speed. 70-75 nph would be good minimum speeds though, especially for roads like I-80 through Utah, Nevada, and Nebraska.

How fast do you drive on I-80 in that part of the country? 95? 105?

Probably isn't unreasonable in those large, rural, desolate areas currently posted for 80 mph, especially if there's very little to no traffic around for miles.

[Scott5114]

National Highway Safety Administration also, but the thing is even if the advocates don't care or exist anymore, those 55 mph speed limits have hardly been raised, and even the higher speed limits will drop again when you are within 50 miles of a city.

(taken 6 miles away from Oklahoma City limits)

[Scott5114]

Nice. 60 mph is a high minimum speed also. Oklahoma recently allowed 80 mph limits on turnpikes. In the Northeast, speed limits go up to 65 mph, but will drop instantly, without warning, seemingly for no reason. 35 mph in "work zones" where the highways empty and not one cone or a guy in a hard hat in sight. So 1 minute you are going 70 in a 65, and the next minute you are going double the speed limit in a "construction zone". Also, there are some 55 mph roads with 45 mph minimum speeds, as if that makes alot of sense.

Oklahoma also has a policy of stepping down speed limits in 10 mph increments as you approach a lower-speed zone. So as you approach a town, you go from 65 to 55, to 45, to 35, to 25 through the downtown area. You don't see sudden 65→35 drops like you see in other states.

[I-55]

Nice. 60 mph is a high minimum speed also. Oklahoma recently allowed 80 mph limits on turnpikes. In the Northeast, speed limits go up to 65 mph, but will drop instantly, without warning, seemingly for no reason. 35 mph in "work zones" where the highways empty and not one cone or a guy in a hard hat in sight. So 1 minute you are going 70 in a 65, and the next minute you are going double the speed limit in a "construction zone". Also, there are some 55 mph roads with 45 mph minimum speeds, as if that makes alot of sense.

Yeah I had several phantom 45 zones on IN-25 going to uni today. Speed limit decreased to 45, lasted about 1/4 mile, then cones show up for 1/4 mile on the shoulder where the uncovered 60 mph signs were. After the third one I stopped lowering my cruise speed.

[Max Rockatansky]

Well sudden drops obviously make more money and leads to possible reckless driving charges for going double the limit for a few seconds. Oklahoma seems more rational.

I've found them to be more tedious than the sudden drop.  Florida also does the same thing and even raises speeds back up often in the same interval.  I much rather have an advisory about a speed limit drop and have it hit a couple hundred feet down the road.  That's how Caltrans handles speed reductions anyways.

[I-55]

Well sudden drops obviously make more money and leads to possible reckless driving charges for going double the limit for a few seconds. Oklahoma seems more rational.

I've found them to be more tedious than the sudden drop.  Florida also does the same thing and even raises speeds back up often in the same interval.  I much rather have an advisory about a speed limit drop and have it hit a couple hundred feet down the road.  That's how Caltrans handles speed reductions anyways.

Usually in Indiana we either have signs indicating a speed limit drop or we can see small towns far enough out to expect the drop.

[1995hoo]

Even for people who support higher speed limits, the two videos in the OP are beyond genius. Those are what I call effort!

You seem very inve$ted in getting ¢licks. I wonder why?

Sigh, those are not my videos, but I do intend for them to get clicks nonetheless because it is an extremely important subject matter. It's better than babyshark for sure!

I haven't watched the video in the OP, but as to the boldfaced, the 2019 World Series compels me to disagree....

https://youtu.be/AetTT3d5k70

https://youtu.be/hSDqYypxfz8

[GCrites]

My area has so much commercial traffic that raising speed limits wouldn't change anything.

[SkyPesos]

I've never seen high speed limits being discussed this much since Ethanman.

[sprjus4]

I've never seen high speed limits being discussed this much since Ethanman.

I mean, nothing is really wrong about it. Most of the information is accurate and based on reality, engineering logic.

[SkyPesos]

I've never seen high speed limits being discussed this much since Ethanman.

I mean, nothing is really wrong about it. Most of the information is accurate and based on reality, engineering logic.

I know. It just reminds me of the "85 mph on I-366" thing, as well as Ethanman saying that he'll allow us to drive that fast on it.

[kphoger]

I know the Autobohn in Germany is safer because Americans can't drive by comparison, but they should have advanced driving courses in the US for people who want to go faster. A speed limit exemption at least.

And how, exactly, would the police enforce the speed limit for everyone else?

BTW, if anyone's curious, the highest speed limit on any road in the world (that's not unlimited like the autobahn) is 160 kph (99 mph) on 2 motorways in the UAE. And even the speed limits that Germany does have are in the 80 to 93 mph range, not 65 like the stupid USA!

"The stupid USA" doesn't have a 65mph speed limit.  Unless I'm counting wrong, more states allow speed limits of 75 than cap them at 65 or less.

Also, where does Germany have a speed limit of 150 km/h?

[kphoger]

The advanced driving course people could have some kind of printed documentation, where if they get pulled over, they show the cop and don't get a ticket. Or some kind of license plate tag so the cop sees beforehand and doesn't pull them over in the 1st place.

1.  Printed documentation would only help after the fact.  I doubt police officers would want to waste their time pulling over drivers who have speeding-friendly papers.

2.  Yeah, right, why would anyone ever remove such a license plate tag?  Say I have such an exemption and then my wife drives the car.  What reason would she have to remove it rather than just drive as fast as she wanted?

The UAE stands for United Arab Emirates, that's where the two 160 kph limits are, highest limited roads ever.

I know what UAE stands for.  And I know that's where there's 160 km/h can be found.

That's not what I questioned.  You said "the speed limits that Germany does have are in the 80 to 93 mph range".  93 mph is 150 km/h.  I asked you where Germany has 150 km/h speed limits.

As I said the stupid USA has mostly 65-70 mph speed limits with very few roads getting up to the maximums ...

Most roads in Germany aren't 130 km/h either.  The default speed limit for rural highways in Germany is 100 km/h.  Only on the Autobahn or certain special roads will you find speed limits higher than that.

[1995hoo]

Isn't there also a recommended speed limit (Richtgeschwindigkeit) of 130 km/h even on the parts of the autobahn with no speed limit, such that if you exceed 130, you may face greater financial liability in the event you are deemed at fault in an accident?

[kphoger]

Isn't there also a recommended speed limit (Richtgeschwindigkeit) of 130 km/h even on the parts of the autobahn with no speed limit, such that if you exceed 130, you may face greater financial liability in the event you are deemed at fault in an accident?

Yes.

[kphoger]

... and it was found that you were exceeding the roads' design speed ...

So, for every accident, they'll have to look up the design speed for the stretch of road in question?

Countdown until someone contests the design speed of the road he had an accident on...

[sprjus4]

... and it was found that you were exceeding the roads' design speed ...

So, for every accident, they'll have to look up the design speed for the stretch of road in question?

Countdown until someone contests the design speed of the road he had an accident on...

^ Just base it off the existing speed limit. If you exceed it, you can be found at fault for an accident if speed is a factor.

But merely doing 100 mph on a wide open desert highway wouldn't be an automatic ticket.

[sprjus4]

That's the risk you take exceeding the posted speed limit. And if it's truly not your fault, regardless of speed, then not speed related. If someone comes into my lane and sideswipes me off the road, even if I'm going 5-10 mph over, it's blatantly their fault.

[kphoger]

Or...people could just be civil and not automatically resort to blaming each other for an accident, and just accept that accidents happen, and move on. Finding someone to blame for an automobile accident accomplishes nothing. People assume the risk when driving on a public road, including myself, and people shouldn't be pressing charges after an accident, unless one of the drivers was committing a very serious infraction such as being drunk or knowingly driving with a defective car..etc, not just because of speed.

So, when our insurance companies figure out who pays for the damages, fault doesn't matter?

[kphoger]

That's the risk you take exceeding the posted speed limit. And if it's truly not your fault, regardless of speed, then not speed related. If someone comes into my lane and sideswipes me off the road, even if I'm going 5-10 mph over, it's blatantly their fault.

It could be, if driving slower would have given the driver better reaction time to get back into his own lane and avoid the collision–or if it would have allowed you enough reaction time to brake and/or swerve out of the way.

[sprjus4]

^ So I should have to pay more in insurance because someone ran a stop sign and crashed into my side?

[kphoger]

The insurance company should be the ones paying, that's why we pay for insurance. Germany has far higher premiums than the US due to their lack of speed limits. Instead of the drivers suing each other, simply have both pay higher insurance to begin with.

In the case of an accident, there are two companies involved.  Who pays what amount?  That depends on how much blame goes to each person.  The last time I had a fender bender, I was found at 20% fault and the other driver at 80% fault.  Speed is a part of such a determination.

Imagine if you get in a wreck, call your insurance agent, they ask you what speed you were driving, and you answer "That shouldn't matter."

[kphoger]

^ So I should have to pay more in insurance because someone ran a stop sign and crashed into my side?

No, and that isn't what I said.

I think I misconstrued your hypothetical as a head-on situation, but you actually meant same-direction traffic.