Speed Limits - Yea or Nay?

[Synobun]

I don't think I'd really feel comfortable on the road if there were no speed limits, considering how people already drive like maniacs here but keep their speed "acceptable" to avoid tickets. I've been hit by too many cars not following the rules that I don't think I can support getting rid of them because it's a "nanny-state".

 

[Deaths Advocate]

Agreed. But I did kinda suggest that in the last sentence

Whoops, skipped that line, sorry!

 

[Grisu]

And without a speed limit, the speed differential between the fastest and slowest drivers tend to be higher, which has detrimental effects on safety and maximum capacity of a given road.

Yeah, that's what usually bothers me the most when driving a german autobahn...so you're stuck on a slow lane, because some truck only does 90...finally the way is clear, so you switch lanes and floor the pedal....you can bet that as soon as I have changed lanes some idiot doing 150 or more comes up behind me, flashing his lights and pressing his number plate to my behind.

Speed limits weren't necessary in a ideal place where people drive sensible...unfortunately, too many otherwise reasonable people turn into wannabe Schumachers as soon as they're behind the wheel

 

[metatron]

Yeah, that's what usually bothers me the most when driving a german autobahn...so you're stuck on a slow lane, because some truck only does 90...finally the way is clear, so you switch lanes and floor the pedal....you can bet that as soon as I have changed lanes some idiot doing 150 or more comes up behind me, flashing his lights and pressing his number plate to my behind.

Speed limits weren't necessary in a ideal place where people drive sensible...unfortunately, too many otherwise reasonable people turn into wannabe Schumachers as soon as they're behind the wheel

You are doing it wrong.

Only because people want to go faster than you doesn't mean they're entitled to it.
Most likely you screwed up before you ended up behind that truck. If such a truck is allready in sight and coming closer rather fast you are not really obligated to make way for some silly racecar driver behind you if there is a high likelyhood that you will not make it to the left in time.
We could look it up in the rules (i.e. how close you have to be to the truck to allready have the right of using the left lane) but afaik they are pretty generous in this regard.
Anyway... fundamentally one needs the right amount of hatred for people with expensive fast cars and a stern commitment to not paying the least bit of respect to their interests.

And if such a jackass comes just way too close the way you described there is a simple solution to that: You unfloor that pedal. Slowly of course. The truck is long enough. You shouldn't be in any hurry to go from 90 to 110. That would be stressful and stress is allmost as lethal as traffic...

 

[rugbyLEAGUEfan]

Any European complaining about European driving habits hasn't driven elsewhere. It's like a beautiful dreamlike hippy land of courtesy and respect.

 

[metatron]

Any European complaining about European driving habits hasn't driven elsewhere. It's like a beautiful dreamlike hippy land of courtesy and respect.

I blame Grisu.

 

[Grisu]

You are doing it wrong.

Only because people want to go faster than you doesn't mean they're entitled to it.
Most likely you screwed up before you ended up behind that truck. If such a truck is allready in sight and coming closer rather fast you are not really obligated to make way for some silly racecar driver behind you if there is a high likelyhood that you will not make it to the left in time.
We could look it up in the rules (i.e. how close you have to be to the truck to allready have the right of using the left lane) but afaik they are pretty generous in this regard.
Anyway... fundamentally one needs the right amount of hatred for people with expensive fast cars and a stern commitment to not paying the least bit of respect to their interests.

true, enough, but the problem is, not everybody drives as defensively as I do (actually, most don't, I regularly get berated by my wife why I didn't take a specific gap that she found big enough ) some guys will switch lanes with smaller gaps and this is where it gets dangerous. Of course, such a scenario needs two idiots (one driving way too fast and another driving too slow/taking a too small gap), but there's plenty of idiots on the streets that such a scenario isn't exactly unlikely

And if such a jackass comes just way too close the way you described there is a simple solution to that: You unfloor that pedal. Slowly of course. The truck is long enough. You shouldn't be in any hurry to go from 90 to 110. That would be stressful and stress is allmost as lethal as traffic...

problem is, seeing the radiator grill pressed against my windshiled kinda stresses me as well

Any European complaining about European driving habits hasn't driven elsewhere. It's like a beautiful dreamlike hippy land of courtesy and respect.

Outside of Europe, I've driven in Canada, US, Australia and New Zealand...I'd take traffic in any of those countries over your average central European traffic any day of the week

 

[sophie]

I have no problem with speed limits. Even though everybody for the most part ignores them entirely in California, they do I think keep the overall speed down, even if it isn't necessarily down to the level that the signs would want. Most Californians in my experience are comfortable cruising in the 70-80 mph range on the highways (65 mph speed limit), and somewhere in the 45-55 range in 40 zones, which I imagine is because most drivers are wary of going too far above the limit, and once you hit 85 mph on the freeway you stand the risk of collecting a reckless driving ticket rather than just an ordinary old speeding ticket (much much steeper fine).

The thing I have a problem with are speed traps. They don't work, in fact I'd say they're more of an endangerment to the overall highway safety than a boon. As I said before, essentially everyone speeds in California, so when people see a speed trap (often too late) they slam on the brakes to avoid ticking in over the limit on the radar. This can cause accidents if the person behind isn't paying attention, and even if it doesn't it slows down the overall flow of traffic as each subsequent driver has to brake to avoid hitting the car in front of them.

Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with patrol cars on the highways keeping people honest. Most cops in Cali won't pull you over for speeding unless you're being reckless or otherwise douchey about it (weaving through traffic or going well above the flow of traffic). It's just speed traps that are bad.

 

[Borachio]

This is just another case of sending mixed messages. (Like drug controls)

Society in general should make its mind up. Either speed limits are a good idea, in which case they should be enforced, or they aren't.

If you want to enforce them then do so. There's no reason speed traps shouldn't be hidden so that rtpeople don't know where they are. (Except, of course, at the moment they rely on a pattern painted on the road surface.)

If speeding was an offence which meant taking away someone's driving licence, and driving without a licence was also enforced, then people might start driving within the limit.

It's a difficult psychological question, though. Everyone thinks that they themselves are perfectly capable safe drivers whatever they do. It's always someone else who drives recklessly or badly. Have you noticed?

 

[sophie]

If you want to enforce them then do so. There's no reason speed traps shouldn't be hidden so that people don't know where they are. (Except, of course, at the moment they rely on a pattern painted on the road surface.)

Again. In California they are seen as guidelines. You stay within the accepted deviation from the limit (somewhere between 65 and 80), you stay to the right if you want to go the limit itself, and you in general just stick with the flow of traffic. As long as everybody does this there are no problems. This is how patrol cars operate. The problem with speed traps is that they subvert this common understanding. It no longer matters if you were just going with the flow of traffic , you're just a number on a screen to that cop and he can and will ticket you for going over the limit.

Again I have no problem with the idea of enforcing speed limits, I have a problem with speed traps which do more harm than good because EVERYBODY goes over the limit in California. A slow person in California does 70 in a 65 zone. Any time you are forcing a driver to react quickly to an unexpected situation such as a speed trap, you are going to cause dangers to that driver and anybody around him. The other thing about speed traps is everybody slams on the brakes for the trap, and then immediately speed back up as soon as they pass the cop. They do literally nothing unless the object of the trap was to slow traffic down for that 50 yard stretch of road.

 

[Borachio]

The solution to the speed trap problem seems obvious to me: don't send mixed messages. I.e. that the speed limit is such and such, but in reality it's OK to exceed it to another (un)certain limit. This is just asking for trouble, IMO.

 

[sophie]

The solution to the speed trap problem seems obvious to me: don't send mixed messages. I.e. that the speed limit is such and such, but in reality it's OK to exceed it to another (un)certain limit. This is just asking for trouble, IMO.

No. The solution is to not have speed traps.

 

[Borachio]

Have you got any figures for how many accidents are caused by speed traps?

The evidence from the UK, iirc, is that they reduce the number of fatal accidents.

 

[Tahuti]

On highways, speed limits are completely useless. If the roads are straight and wide enough, you are naturally inclined to go say 150 km/h, only slowing down to avoid a ticket (the typical speed limit in the Netherlands for highways is 120/130 km/h, with a sluggish 80 km/h limit during "special events" like rain).

Outside the highways, and especially in cities, speeds limits might be useful, considering there are much more traffic participants than just cars and their drivers. However, in most cases, speeds limits aren't really useful there either, as physical inpediments such as crossings, traffic jams and large amounts of curves already deter most people from speeding in the cities.

So all and all, I'm quite skeptical about the safety bringing power of speed limits.

 

[Tee Kay]

Speed limits on most Victorian roads should be raised by 10 or 20 km/hr.

Residential areas - 60km/h
Main roads - 80km/h
Highways - 100km/h
Freeways and others - 120km/h


School zones can be 40km/hr, I don't care too much about those.

Fines should vary according to how much you go over the speed limit.

 

[Borachio]

Can the man with a red flag run that fast?

 

[Tee Kay]

Speed limits should be set by engineers, cars should have GPS trackers built-in which automatically issue steep fines for exceeding the speed limit, followed by police seizure of the vehicle for repeated violations.

Any revenue generated by fines and impounding is only to be used for traffic safety related expenditures, to help avoid conflicts of interest.

I like this idea.

 

[ace99]

I'm an atrocious driver so speed limits are probably for the best. You wouldn't want me or my compatriots going faster than a slow crawl. I'm liable to haphazardly mow down pedestrians.

Goddam pedestrians....

 

[Tee Kay]

I'm an atrocious driver so speed limits are probably for the best. You wouldn't want me or my compatriots going faster than a slow crawl. I'm liable to haphazardly mow down pedestrians.

Goddam pedestrians....

Goddamn motorists...


We can all agree on one thing though: we all hate cyclists

 

[azzaman333]

Speed limits on most Victorian roads should be raised by 10 or 20 km/hr.

Residential areas - 60km/h
Main roads - 80km/h
Highways - 100km/h
Freeways and others - 120km/h


School zones can be 40km/hr, I don't care too much about those.

Fines should vary according to how much you go over the speed limit.

That would require the state and/or federal government to actually maintain our roads so they're in a suitable condition to drive safely at those speeds. There are parts of Maroondah Highway where I barely feel safe driving at 80, let alone if I were to increase that another 20kph.