Do speed limits change the feel of the road?

Started by Hurricane Rex, May 23, 2018, 12:52:48 AM

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jeffandnicole

Quote from: webny99 on June 20, 2018, 12:10:10 PM
Quote from: jeffandnicole on June 20, 2018, 09:46:11 AM
I always wonder why people thing their area is unique in terms of speeding. 
This happens country-wide.

I've been to Michigan several times in the last few years. You can pretty much guarantee that traffic in the left lane will be moving at least 80 mph.

That cannot be said of Upstate NY, or many other rural areas across the country, where 80 could get you pulled over, especially on 55 mph freeways. Granted, Michigan is decent with setting their speed limits, and I'm sure that plays into it as well.

Hopefully there aren't many rural areas with 55 mph speed limits.  A few states still have some issues with this, but they're in the minority thankfully.

If you're doing 80 and still getting passed, that faster speeder may be the one getting the ticket further down the road.  But the point is, you were still getting passed while doing 80!



Flint1979

Quote from: ftballfan on June 20, 2018, 08:56:59 AM
Quote from: Flint1979 on June 19, 2018, 12:24:05 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on May 23, 2018, 11:50:40 PM
60 MPH on I-5 up around Seattle this past week sure made it feel substandard...which it is..  When Michigan bumped speed limits up to 70 MPH on I-96 it made feel more modernized even though nothing had changed.  Everyone was going 70 MPH already and the speed limit increase bumped things up to about 80 MPH.
People in Michigan drive 80 mph on the freeways regardless of what the speed limit is. I'll have my cruise control set for 80 and still get passed.
I-96 and M-6 are infamous for this IMHO
IMHO the most infamous speeding freeway in Michigan is either I-696 or the Lodge. It seems like the closer you are to the bigger cities in the state this happens more often. I don't really notice a ton of speeding in rural areas.

Flint1979

Quote from: webny99 on June 20, 2018, 12:10:10 PM
Quote from: jeffandnicole on June 20, 2018, 09:46:11 AM
I always wonder why people thing their area is unique in terms of speeding. 
This happens country-wide.

I've been to Michigan several times in the last few years. You can pretty much guarantee that traffic in the left lane will be moving at least 80 mph.

That cannot be said of Upstate NY, or many other rural areas across the country, where 80 could get you pulled over, especially on 55 mph freeways. Granted, Michigan is decent with setting their speed limits, and I'm sure that plays into it as well.
That's how it's been in Michigan for years. Now that they've upped the speed limit in areas to 75 you'll see people doing 85-90 but not as much as you'd think. I still try to keep it at 80 even with the 75 mph speed limits. I guess people could say we left lane camp but I don't consider it left lane camping when your doing at least 80 mph and actually passing the traffic on the right. My excuse to staying in the left lane is, I'm using it for what it's suppose to be used for I'm passing traffic lol and I mean staying in the left lane and not getting back over for awhile. I'll see these cars doing about 65-70 in the left lane and I'm thinking what in the hell are you doing in the left lane holding up traffic from passing? It kills me when a semi truck gets over on a two lane rural freeway and takes over a mile to pass another semi truck going 2-3 mph slower.

Flint1979

Quote from: jeffandnicole on June 20, 2018, 01:12:12 PM
Quote from: webny99 on June 20, 2018, 12:10:10 PM
Quote from: jeffandnicole on June 20, 2018, 09:46:11 AM
I always wonder why people thing their area is unique in terms of speeding. 
This happens country-wide.

I've been to Michigan several times in the last few years. You can pretty much guarantee that traffic in the left lane will be moving at least 80 mph.

That cannot be said of Upstate NY, or many other rural areas across the country, where 80 could get you pulled over, especially on 55 mph freeways. Granted, Michigan is decent with setting their speed limits, and I'm sure that plays into it as well.

Hopefully there aren't many rural areas with 55 mph speed limits.  A few states still have some issues with this, but they're in the minority thankfully.

If you're doing 80 and still getting passed, that faster speeder may be the one getting the ticket further down the road.  But the point is, you were still getting passed while doing 80!
I've traveled on I-75 between Saginaw and Detroit and vice versa so much in my lifetime that I know every curve, overpass and exit for about 100 miles of I-75 as well as knowing every knook and cranny where the cops have sat over the years. It's pretty funny when I know where one will be sitting and seeing a guy that had just passed me getting pulled over and I keep going.

kkt

Quote from: theline on June 18, 2018, 11:28:01 PM
Quote from: capt.ron on June 18, 2018, 12:34:58 PM
Quote from: theline on May 23, 2018, 10:24:09 PM
Implementation of the national 55 MPH limit made all roads feel different. (Well at least those that previously had a higher limit.) Those that are too young to remember will just have to take my word for it that it was sheer agony.  :banghead:
And NOBODY paid any attention to the 55 limit. The national speed limit of 55 came into being when I was 3 years old so that's all I knew until the limit was increased to 65 in 1987 (I think) and then repealed in the early 1990's. But when I was a kid in SoCal in the 1970's, NOBODY drove 55 on the freeways. Traffic moved at 65.
Still, some states are stuck in the past regarding their 2 lane roads (I'm looking at YOU, Arkansas!!) signing them at 55 when some of them can benefit for a speed increase to 60 or even 65.
When I drove in Texas, I was taken aback by the higher speed limits on their 2 lane rural highways. To me, any limit higher than 55 on a 2 lane highway feels rather strange to me.

As someone who was driving in the 1970s, I'll take exception to your assertion that "NOBODY paid any attention to the 55 limit." Traffic definitely slowed, at least here in the Midwest, when the limit was first adopted. Over time, traffic speed crept up again as enforcement eased in many states. The feds noticed the lack of enforcement and threatened states with loss of federal funding for the offending states and many of those states stepped up enforcement for a time.

In the mid '70s we were returning to Indiana on I-70 from a vacation to the east. My wife was stopped on the small section of 70 in West Virginia. She got a ticket for going 64. I took over driving and was stopped a few miles into Ohio. I was going 60 and got off with a warning. I kept it at 55 on I-70 all the way back to Indiana. It was agony.

In Indiana, the limit on rural 2-lanes was 65 before implementation of the national limit. Those roads still have the 55 limit that was imposed then. Because of that lower limit I still drive slower on those roads than I did before the limit was reduced, and I think that's true for most drivers.

This is what I saw too.  When 55 was first adopted, it was pretty strictly enforced.  Tickets at 6 over.  After the first year or two they became less strict and driving 5-10 over became common.  Still, it did have an effect.  It slowed traffic down from 70 to 60.



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