On Interstate 10 and some of Interstate 20 in Texas you can drive 80 M.P.H
Do yall like it?
Do yall dislike it?
Do yall think it's exeptable
Do yall say "Other people can go 80 but i'll just go 70"?
I don't drive but i think it's cool
BigMatt
I drive 80 every day. It's considered like the speed of light in the US (just kidding :pan:), but 80 mph (130 km/h) is a very common speed limit in Europe.
I think every midwest and western state should consider raising the speed limit to 80 mph outside urban areas.
QuoteDo yall like it?
I love that limit. Wish it were legal everywhere. :D
QuoteDo yall think it's exeptable
It's reasonable. Folks are already going that fast anyway.
QuoteDo yall say "Other people can go 80 but i'll just go 70"?
People who say that seem to be brainwashed into thinking "speed kills" by itself. Speed, inexperience and impatience are a combination for injury and/or death, not just speed in and of itself.
Be well,
Bryant
I love 80 mph speed limits, but I'll never see 'em here in the northeast.
I bet soon we might see 80 mph in some more locations, and there are certainly places that can handle it.
I wish that 80mph (130kmph) was legal here, but going that speed is 30kmph faster than the freeways down in Southern Ontario, up here the fastest is 90kmph on almost every highway.
QuoteOn Interstate 10 and some of Interstate 20 in Texas you can drive 80 M.P.H
And also on a couple spots of I-15 in Utah, but there's supposed to be zero tolerance - no 5 mph leeway - enforcement.
QuoteDo yall say "Other people can go 80 but i'll just go 70"?
For me it depends on how I feel that day, whether I have to be somewhere at a certain time, or maybe how strong the wind is. If it's a day with a 20 mph headwind, I don't have any major time issues, and there isn't a parallel state or US route, I'd probably only go 70 or 75 - unless gas is less than $2/gal.
(Edited to fix quoting error)
Garden State Parkway traffic routinely moves in the 70's. Occasional cars on the NJ Turnpike move in the mid-high 80's. I think "reasonable and prudent" could really work if better defined than in the Montana experiment - and in any state, not just a Midwestern one. The cars that weave between traffic and tailgate are the ones who should get pulled. If you're going 85 in the left lane comfortably, you should be let go.
^^ :clap:
Be well,
Bryant
Meh this is nothing compared to the German Autobahn. No speed limit enforced! :sombrero:
Actually most highways in Europe and Asia are posted at 130km/h (about 80 MPH) but everyone goes at least 150.
Round here the speed limit is 100km/h (about 60 MPH) but everyone goes at least 115 (about 70 MPH).
Goes to show ya that if you increase the maximum speed limit, drivers will always try to go faster! :-P
QuoteMeh this is nothing compared to the German Autobahn. No speed limit enforced!
Actually most highways in Europe and Asia are posted at 130km/h (about 80 MPH) but everyone goes at least 150.
Well, I noticed the speeds dropped significantly in Germany in the last few years. Gas prices are really high at € 1.30 per liter or like $ 6.5 per gallon, and if you drive 130 on an Autobahn, most people do not pass you anymore at high speeds, only a few drive faster than 150 km/h.
I was on an empty Autobahn a few years ago (AADT:25,000) and there was literally a line of BMW's and Mercedeses doing 120 miles an hour, just crazy.
Montana "experiment"? Did they go back to having speed limits?
Quote from: cjk374Montana "experiment"? Did they go back to having speed limits?
Yeah, I think the top speed in Montanta now is 75 mph.
Be well,
Bryant
Wasn't really an experiment, was more "our law was ruled unconstitutional, and we never felt like passing a new law until the federal government threatened to without federal highway funds if we didn't".
Really wish I could've driven it back then. Even when I drove through before, I still topped out at 100mph on US 12 east of Miles City.
Sykotyk
West Texas and its 80 mph speed limits are ok given the low traffic counts. 80 mph though for several hundred miles was not my cup of tea, and I instead opted for 72 to extend my gas mileage. You would be surprised at how far some interchanges with services can be when the miles to San Antonio are still above 300...
The population and traffic are extremely low through Southwest Texas. The handful of towns of considerable size, and thusly road services (stores, restaurants, gas stations), are about 40 to 60 miles apart. The 80 MPH limit stretches from Fabens to Kerrville, outside that zone, it'll reduce to 75 MPH.
I've done it a few times, I've traversed I-10 from San Antonio to El Paso, a 560-mile stretch, and I get bored out of my mind, there is just not much to look at. There are some pretty scenic spots of limestone canyons that I-10 cuts through....other than that, not much else.
Probably don't even need I-10 through half of West Texas. Hell, a 2-lane road might suffice!
I think some other good candidates for 80 mph are I-49 and I-10 from Pensacola to Lake City (except Tallahassee). DEAD STRETCHES!!
indeed, West Texas is pretty barren. I have gotten off the road to get gas, got on, set cruise control to 84 ...
and not stopped until the next need for gas, 310 miles later.
some good candidates for 80mph (or, Hell, 90 or 95 mph, even) include I-90 and I-94 from Minnesota to the Rockies, I-80 across Nebraska, I-70 in particular stretches west of Glenwood Canyon and various other stretches without too much occupancy and geographic difficulty.
oh, and as far as Montana speed limits go. In the old days, there was no posted limit, and the unofficial law was "let's try to keep it under 90, shall we?"
in 1973, to comply with CAFE regulations, they signed 55, and charged people $5 for speeding, when they bothered to pull them over ... usually, anything under 90 was tolerated, as long as you weren't actively running over small children and housepets.
in 1995 they got rid of the signed speed limit, and this got people in trouble, because people were routinely getting out of speeding tickets arguing that speeds like 100-110mph were reasonable and prudent. As the story goes, in 1998 or so, someone got pulled over on I-94 just east of Miles City, doing something like 137 mph in a Camaro. The driver argued that it was a clear day and good visibility, and if he wanted to go 137 then it was his god-given right to do so, since the road was free of small children and housepets.
The cop that pulled him over was tired of wasting his time losing these cases in court, and he finally found a cousin who knew a guy whose father was a state representative, and finally the legislature passed a formal, codified speed limit of 75.
that said, they don't pull you over for under 90 unless they receive a complaint from small children and housepets.
Quote from: agentsteel53 on July 14, 2009, 03:39:20 PM
some good candidates for 80mph (or, Hell, 90 or 95 mph, even) include I-90 and I-94 from Minnesota to the Rockies, I-80 across Nebraska, I-70 in particular stretches west of Glenwood Canyon and various other stretches without too much occupancy and geographic difficulty.
In my opinion, every Interstate which has a decent alignment outside urban areas can have an 80 mph speed limit, even on the east coast. 65 mph is just like falling asleep.
agreed... with much heavier penalties for reckless driving - which includes doing 20 under the limit in the fast lane.
Quote from: agentsteel53 on July 14, 2009, 03:46:34 PM
oh, and as far as Montana speed limits go. In the old days, there was no posted limit, and the unofficial law was "let's try to keep it under 90, shall we?"
in 1973, to comply with CAFE regulations, they signed 55, and charged people $5 for speeding, when they bothered to pull them over ... usually, anything under 90 was tolerated, as long as you weren't actively running over small children and housepets.
in 1995 they got rid of the signed speed limit, and this got people in trouble, because people were routinely getting out of speeding tickets arguing that speeds like 100-110mph were reasonable and prudent. As the story goes, in 1998 or so, someone got pulled over on I-94 just east of Miles City, doing something like 137 mph in a Camaro. The driver argued that it was a clear day and good visibility, and if he wanted to go 137 then it was his god-given right to do so, since the road was free of small children and housepets.
The cop that pulled him over was tired of wasting his time losing these cases in court, and he finally found a cousin who knew a guy whose father was a state representative, and finally the legislature passed a formal, codified speed limit of 75.
that said, they don't pull you over for under 90 unless they receive a complaint from small children and housepets.
Close, but not quite. The guy who got pulled over fought the ticket. Finally, the Montana Supreme Court ruled that "Reasonable and Prudent" was not an acceptable law, and threw it out. By doing that, Montana no longer had a speed limit on any road (local speed limits still applied).
This lasted for a while. There was no speed limit at all. You could pass a cop at 200mph and legally they couldn't pull you over. You can't claim reckless driving, either, because reckless driving doesn't account for pre-ordained maximum speed limit (speed limit laws do that).
The DOT threatened to withhold federal highway funds if they didn't institute a speed limit. Hence the 75/65 speed limit now in place. DOT has used their practice with other states to either require seatbelt use, drunk driving, etc. Ohioans are worried, as the DOT is starting to put pressure on Ohio to institute some sort of annual vehicle inspection. Which, currently, Ohio does not have. They just do surprise roadside checks (setup like a DUI checkpoint, but to check out your car).
Sykotyk
I had forgotten about the part where, for a while, there was no speed limit, reasonable or otherwise. The part of the story that keeps popping up is that it was a Camaro on I-94 east of Miles City.
I just wonder why Montana didn't thumb their nose at the feds and institute a speed limit of something like 150mph, with the standard "conditions permitting" clause.
Quotereckless driving doesn't account for pre-ordained maximum speed limit
that sounds about right. If I can handle my car safely at 200 mph, I should not be cited for reckless driving. That said, if I'm going in the wrong-direction lanes at 8mph then I'd assume someone would like to have a blue flashing word with me real soon.
as for the surprise inspections in Ohio ... damn. Both for that and for surprise drunk checkpoints. I don't think either of those are particularly constitutional. But what do I know; I'm the one who submitted a term paper about the fourteenth amendment with a short "the fourteenth amendment prohibits you from forcing me to complete this assignment". The pertinent authority figures were not amused.
Tennessee doesn't have auto inspections either. Though I haven't heard of anything like that being added, yet. :wow:
Quote from: agentsteel53 on July 14, 2009, 06:08:06 PM
as for the surprise inspections in Ohio ... damn. Both for that and for surprise drunk checkpoints. I don't think either of those are particularly constitutional. But what do I know; I'm the one who submitted a term paper about the fourteenth amendment with a short "the fourteenth amendment prohibits you from forcing me to complete this assignment". The pertinent authority figures were not amused.
That's funny. Although, in Ohio, we prefer the inspection checkpoints over actually paying for an annual inspection. Verifying you pass an inspection (can be costly). Taking the time to take your car to get it inspected, etc.
A lot of clunkers on the road in Ohio, sure, but just across the border in PA, family member regularly have to get costly repairs to pass inspection.
In Ohio, you can drive without doors, head lights (daytime only), working signals (arm signals work). You can also hold your bumper on with duct tape if the need arose (!).
Sykotyk
Iowa doesn't have vehicle inspections, either.
Quote from: agentsteel53 on July 14, 2009, 03:46:34 PM
oh, and as far as Montana speed limits go. In the old days, there was no posted limit, and the unofficial law was "let's try to keep it under 90, shall we?"
in 1973, to comply with CAFE regulations, they signed 55, and charged people $5 for speeding, when they bothered to pull them over ... usually, anything under 90 was tolerated, as long as you weren't actively running over small children and house pets.
Question I have for the Montana laws: It was still only a $5 fine for speeding on the open road (outside of municipalities) and NO POINTS. When I briefly lived there in 1992, the state government tried to DOUBLE the fine to $10.00 to cover processing fees, but the measure was defeated!!!
Did they ever get to raise the speeding fines on the open road? If so, when and how much?
(Unfortunately, my one and only speeding ticket was awarded to me in Loma, MT -- population 5?? -- for going 52 in a 45 zone on 10/30/92. And because it was in a municipality (!?!??) I got hit for $35 and 2 points. Go Figure!!!)
Quote from: Sykotyk on July 14, 2009, 05:57:42 PM
Ohioans are worried, as the DOT is starting to put pressure on Ohio to institute some sort of annual vehicle inspection. Which, currently, Ohio does not have. They just do surprise roadside checks (setup like a DUI checkpoint, but to check out your car).
And those safety checkpoints go wayyy back to at least the early 70s. If you passed, you'd get a sticker (color-coded by year, hole-punched by month) to place on the inside of the front passenger windshield. The sticker would exempt you from any additional checkpoints for about the next 12 months.
Regarding the checkpoints:
a) They always had to be done on quieter, more rural stretches of highways (usually limited to 2-lane roads or highway ramps.
b) They seemed to be fewer and farther between in the last couple of decades -- they just don't have the manpower or as many quiet, rural locations to perform them anymore.
As much as people moan about annual tests I believe they should be compulsory everywhere. It's quite unacceptable to have 30 year old wrecks which are ready to disintegrate and could cause a major accident. I usually find it's the same type of cars which are responsible for dangerous weaving and general ignorance of traffic laws. It's as though the owner doesn't care about the vehicle and will run it into the ground and buy another banger when it finally dies.