@Pavlov That right there shows a flaw in the metric system. It clearly should have been 300,000,000 meters per second. Or perhaps 314,159,265 meters per second, just for fun? But no, they made the meter the wrong length!
@ChunkyBitz I still think we need to adjust the length of the second by a bit, then worry about the meter length from there. A second should be 1/100000th of a day, instead of 1/86400th of a day.
@mekantor That was a retroactive thing, trying to find a mathematical definition to make the second the length that it was already commonly used as, and that common use was the ancient base-60 time system that made a second be 1/(24*60*60) of a day.
@narfcake Yep; prevailing speed. Driving the limit when traffic wants to be going more than a few miles an hour faster than the limit is unsafe, as well as just damn rude.
As long as you're not an a-hole switchin lanes without a turn signal, passing in the breakdown lane or just being a dick, go nutty. Finding a driver who doesn't offend any of these road etiquettes in MA is impossible...
@distractedriver I had to drive from Leominster to Boston (Logan?) airport once during afternoon rush. I'll never forget that, and hope to never repeat it. Worse than some of the videos of third world drivers in overcrowded tiny-street cities.
You usually can get away with 9 over unless you're in a sensitive area (school zone, hospital, etc). Or so the police in WI and OH (the two states I have lived the longest in) have told me.
Depends. On surface streets I drive the limit to maybe 10 over depending. On residential streets I always drive slow. I don't want to hit a kid or a dog. In the middle of nowhere on a highway? I've been known to hit 150 without breaking a sweat.
@Headly Agree. Only you were more polite than me. I was going to point out that it's a stupid question, because it always DOTS. Depends On The Situation.
@Headly yep, especially on the residential streets. "Drive like your kid lives here". A local neighborhood actually put up signs saying that. Seems reasonable.
Speedometers are considered accurate as long as they're within 10% of the actual speed. So, pretty much no cop will stop you for doing 77 in a 70 zone. Of course, if your speedometer is off by +10% and you're doing 10% over that, then you're doing nearly 85...so it's best to know how accurate your speedometer is before you decide to speed.
Beyond that, your particular tires could easily be over- or under-sized by as much as 10%, even if they claim to be the exact size that your car originally came with. It's best to use a GPS to find your actual speed, and then calculate the percentage error of your speedometer before you decide to speed.
@ChunkyBitz I should clarify that the 10% error is actually +/- 5%. However, the police will almost always give you an extra 5% because it's almost impossible to keep your vehicle at the exact speed you're attempting. The 10% figure has been told to me by several police friends, with that being the reason given. Also, they said that they'll never bother with anything under 5 MPH over, so 30 in a 25 is safe. So, I always go 5 over unless 10% over is faster. And then if everybody is going 90 in a 70, go with the flow. I've never gotten a speeding ticket in 30+ years.
@ChunkyBitz Actually, after some investigation, the truth is this: There is no Federal regulation concerning the accuracy of passenger car speedometers. There is for commercial vehicles, though. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration says: "Each bus, truck, and truck-tractor must be equipped with a speedometer indicating vehicle speed in miles per hour and/or kilometers per hour. The speedometer must be accurate to within plus or minus 8 km/hr (5 mph) at a speed of 80 km/hr (50 mph)." So, that's +/- 10% at 50 MPH. Individual states may have regulations on the accuracy of passenger car speedometers.
@ChunkyBitz I got a ticket for 64 in a 60 once. Any amount over the speed limit is breaking the law...it's your responsibility to obey the law, your vehicle isn't doing the driving. With GPS now everyone really knows how fast they are going...I am usually going 5-7 over...
@adr5 Not everyone has a speedometer either...they are not required and not having one is not an excuse for breaking the law. The +/- % is nice but not an excuse that stands up in court.
@tightwad Consult an experienced lawyer licensed to practice law in your jurisdiction with experience in this area of law for a definitive reference. In my state, if it is a mass production vehicle, then it has to meet certain standards before it can be sold. What this means is, if you make less than 50 cars, you don't need to put VINS on them, do EPA testing, crash testing, or a whole bunch of other stuff that the big companies have to do. I strongly suspect that speedometers are required to sell a mass market car. It is illegal to operate a car on a public road without current registration (except in parades, with police escort, and other such exceptions). To register a car, it must comply with many standards. I wouldn't be surprised if one of those requirements is a functional speedometer. To operate a vehicle on a public road, it must have working brake lights, head lights, bumpers at the right height, tires with sufficient tread, and a bunch of other stuff, possibly including a functional speedometer (check with your lawyer).
About a decade ago, I was driving to work behind a slow moving truck. I heard a snap from the instrument panel, and saw that my speedometer was registering 120 MPH. As I did not actually collide with the slow moving truck, I concluded that I did not suddenly accelerate, rather the speedometer had a problem. As I drove further, it swung to from 0 to 120 a few times before going to zero and staying there.
I continued to drive to work, in the (possibly mistaken) belief that it was probably legal to continue to operate the minivan. Although, it probably wouldn't pass inspection in many states, and it might not be legal to sell it or register it in some jurisdictions. It was certainly legal to leave it parked at work without a functional speedometer.
I was working at a company that made and installed instrumentation for race cars. Replacing speed sensors was not a problem. My car was fixed before I left the parking lot.
The vast majority of cars are definitely required to have speedometers in order to be sold. Depending on jurisdiction, they may need speedometers for inspections, registration, licensing, and/or operation.
@RedHot Wrong. PA code 175.80 which is the Inspection Procedure includes the following (see #5): (f) Road test. Perform road test and reject if one or more of the following apply: (1) The parking brake fails to exhibit normal resistance when an attempt is made to move the vehicle both forward and backward from a stopped position. (2) The automatic transmission will not hold in the park position. (3) The vehicle is not capable of stopping within the maximum stopping distance prescribed in Table I (relating to brake performance) or swerves so that any part leaves the 12-foot lane. (4) There is a malfunction of the braking or steering mechanism, particular shimmy, wander, pull or another questionable operating behavior that affects safe operation of the vehicle. (5) The speedometer does not operate. (6) The odometer does not operate, except on a motor vehicle at least 25 years old. (7) The vehicle cannot be driven both forward and backward.
@cinoclav hmmm, well, NC does not require the speedometer to work, I'm kind of curious how they check it. Do they drive the vehicle? as long as the speed sensor works the OBD will not display an error code for the speedometer not working. Those codes are the same no matter where you are.
@RedHot Apparently they're not all that concerned about accuracy, just that it appears to be working. Yes, they drive the vehicle as it states in the first line: (f) Road test. Perform road test and reject if one or more of the following apply:
I clicked 'a couple', which is apparently different from '5mph or so' now. You know I ain't got time to read and understand entire things before acting on them.
I've heard from some cops that 10MPH in a normal area, or 8mph in a school zone is where they usually give tickets, below that is a sometimes ticket range. I usually go 4mph over at most myself though, unless the flow of traffic is higher than that. (1-4mph is the lowest tier of speeding ticket, 5-9 mph is the second tier. They definitely won't write one 1-4mph most of the time because it's only worth $10 or so to them. 5mph is where it starts getting marginally worth writing. My current car's speedometer reads about 2mph out of 40 high usually. My other car is about 3mph out of 40 low, both calibrated against the speed monitoring posts the cops put around the city.)
@saodell It was some time ago that I looked it up, and that's in Colorado. It appears that in some parts of colorado, 0-4mph is a $100 ticket now, but I doubt that's the case outside of the eastern side of the state. I know that 10mph over was around $60 a few years ago here on the west part of the state. It varies by county though, so it's hard to find concrete information.
~70 on the freeway (speed limit is 65) although I drive through a construction zone every day with a 55 limit and I do 55 there. The cops have been nailing people for doing 60 and up and it's not worth the hefty fine to save two minutes.
This is a big damn country. You want to do 140 in Montana, then go for it. But 26 in a school zone posted 25, and they should cut off your nutz.
I swear, I've never been on the I-75/I-85 section of ATL where the average speed wasn't 85 mph. Never seen an accident there. But I saw a truck hit a dodge neon on I-90 in Chicago when the truck was doing 2 mph and the neon was doing 0. Slowest accident I've ever seen.
@saodell I don't necessarily agree with the school zone thing. Where I live they roll out signs that lower the limit to 15 and double the fine. THe city uses is as a revenue generator because "for the children". Rolling through that intersection at 11 AM when there literally isn't a kid for 1/4 mile should not have a ticket that costs $500. It's stupid.
@DaveInSoCal Note it's not "children present" but "school in session". The cops love to hang out mid day when there aren't any kids because they don't have to deal with parent traffic. And people tend to drive faster when there aren't any kits around. Cha-ching!: The Scottsdale Police Department issued 59 citations for school-zone violations in August 2012, compared with 459 citations in August 2013, according to police records. For those playing along that's about $250,000. As far as my research indicates there hasn't been school crosswalk fatality in years. But hey, the city needs money for council member retreats and statues and shit. So yay, I guess?
@Headly it's probably because I just didn't drive around school zones all that much while they were in session in California, but I don't really remember most people taking them seriously. I can say that here in the Dallas area people DO go 20 mph in school zones when the lights are flashing.
@JonT Yeah, I'm all for safety and such, but the obvious money grab here is obvious. The only possible point of giving someone a $500 ticket for doing 30 through a school zone completely devoid of children, when the posted limit is 45 or 50 is... revenue.
@Headly Huh, in NC they post specific hours when the school zone speed limits apply, an hour each at the start and end of the day. The rest of the time the speed limit is 10 mph higher. I assumed it was like that everywhere.
@DaveInSoCal@Headly@jqubed In Pennsylvania it's rare to see a school zone without the flashing lights/speed limit signs. They're on in the morning and the afternoon with no silly worries about there being 'children present' while they're sitting in a classroom not paying attention.
I usually drive within 1-2 mph of the posted limit. Of course, most of the highways here have a 75 mph limit, which is about as fast as I would want to go in my tiny toy car.
Even so, I have been stopped both by locals and troopers numerous times. Never a ticket, always a warning. The last time I was pulled over, the cop actually told me that he had clocked me going 67 in a 65 zone. I asked him if he was joking, he said he was not and wrote me another warning.
@2many2no I'd be curious to know what kind of vehicle you have. I had a brother-in-law whose primary job as a highway patrol was drug interdiction. He would pull over people doing 1-2 over, not because he wanted to give them a ticket for that, but to investigate possible drug running.
@smyle It's a 15 year old Saturn SL2. I keep thinking I'll get something newer, but it's paid for and gets 38 mpg.
And it's blue, so "they always stop red cars" doesn't apply. One of the stops/warnings came from a trooper who was the husband of our HR director. He knew me and my car, but pulled me over anyway.
Generally between 10-15 over, I've heard from several cops in my township that they won't ticket anyone under 15 unless there's something else worthy of it (running a red, driving recklessly, etc) I'd probably do more if I still did a lot of highway driving, but it's fairly rare anymore
In northern Minnesota, what ever the weather allows. We have a police academy in my town, so you'll get pulled over no matter what, but they never give tickets, so might as well speed when you can. And don't when you'll go in a ditch.
Several years ago, Ohio police were much more strict than those in Michigan. Crossing the state line going north, and traffic would speed up by 15 (or more) MPH. On the other hand, going south, you could see the brake lights as everyone prepared for crossing into Ohio.
As @marvelljones said above, now 9 mph over the limit seems to be okay in Ohio these days. Also they raised the speed limits on several highways. So now the change in speed at the border is more subtle.
@hamjudoOhio finally got tired of being so hated by everyone having to drive through it with those revenue-enhancement speed limits. Finally sanity. We like you much better now, Ohio.
In city traffic, whatever the prevailing speed is. Bay Area, that’s usually about 10MPH. Chicago, that’s at least 70 in a posted 45 construction zone, and it would be suicidal to try and drive any slower. Otherwise I just take the safe, low-stress option and set the cruise control right at the speed limit (compensated for whatever my car’s measured speedometer offset is) and forget it.
Worst drivers I’ve ever seen: Abu Dhabi. They text you speeding tickets instead of stopping you, and there’s no penalty past the fine, so people who can afford it routinely drive at ludicrous speeds. Doing about 75 (which was already well over the limit) in a taxi got passed by a Mercedes like we were standing still more than once.
Whenever i get to construction I just do a straight 100mph if traffic allows. Yeah yadda yadda yadda fines doubled. Been driving construction zones in OH and PA my whole life and never once saw a cop near one, it is like safety zone.
Oh and if there are workers I slam on the break, not going to be a dick and put them at unnecessary risk. However, construction usually just means 10 miles of bullshit barricades, extra challenge level up at 100mph, and no workers anywhere. Fun, fun, fun I tell ya! Just like an underpants full of jellyfish.
Driving fast through construction zones is stupid. Workers on equipment or on foot can pop out and wham. Goo0dnight Sally. I've seen it too much. Slow the f___ down and stay alive. Or not and end up in a sewer trench. The crew might just keep on working and backfill your ass in there. As far as speed goes I have been involved in pro racing most of my life and now its all about how fast can I go safely and is the law around to spoil my fun.
Wisconsin interstate - Posted: 65mph, Actual: no more than 70mph (Especially in Kenosha county, jerks)
Chicago interstate - Posted: 55mph, Actual: 65-90mph (Going anywhere near the speed limit there is going to get you run off the road. Seriously, if you're not going to enforce the joke of a posted limit then raise it to something reasonable.)
Other roads with <55mph posted limit: 5 over or prevailing traffic speed
@plastrd Ohio cop told me, at least his dept., the "rule of thumb" is don't bother if it is 10 and below. 11, 12, 13 - according to whim. 15 - ticket for sure.
I feel like I'm alone here but I'm also pretty sure I have a problem. 10 over is the minimum most times. I've got my share of tickets the last one was bad...28 over in a 55, but I still got it reduced to 9 over. I have a legal service on retainer through work and they do a great job of taking care of things. I usually don't have to show up. All told its probably an addiction. There is no other feeling like what happens inside of me when the speedometer ticks over 85mph. Its an outlet more than anything I guess. increase adrenalin and reduce stress. It makes it worse that I design roads and have a better understanding of the speeds the designs truly fit.
Yes, its dangerous. Yes, I could die. No, I don't care what you think. My wife doesn't like the tickets but has accepted that they are a fact of life for me at least until we have children.
Also I don't speed through work-zones as I am usually working for DOT's and they care about that.
@Teripie I've got choices :-) my everyday is nothing fantastic or really fast (Toyota Camry) we did just get an old Spyder back on the road (with some added extras :-) though and my god, that thing is fun to drive. It was my wife's first car. My new position has afforded me the luxury of an upgrade in the near future. I'm looking at an R5.
@RedHot Pretty much this. I get a "free" ticket every 18 months. I typically know where the cops are, and aren't. It's almost impossible to drive a 350z under 90MPH.
As someone who was an exchange student in Germany (and has been back a few times) during my "formative" years, I have a slightly different take on things:
I think we (in the USA) need better driver training so that we can put more of the responsibility on drivers and less on arbitrary numbers - at least in non-residential and non-commercial areas. There is no reason that someone cannot drive 130+mph on a well maintained and relatively straight rural highway. (I've done it many times myself - legally.) But if it's not safe to be driving that fast (eg, weather, traffic, whatever) it should be on the driver. Driving is a responsibility and rather than have it be somewhat nanny-like like we suffer through now, we need to put more of that onus on the individual drivers. At this point, drivers are so lax about driving on the freeway that they can be eating, shaving, or putting on makeup etc (I see it all the time) while driving. Driving more slowly but distracted is MUCH more dangerous than driving fast with your full attention.
And if you think that we can't put a little more responsibility on drivers, you probably don't realize just how much we put on them now. Every driver out there on the roads right now is driving around a weapon capable of taking numerous people's lives. You already trust every driver around you to not kill you - because they easily could at pretty much any given moment when you're on or near a road.
Side note: Residential areas are different. I think there is too much that can and does go wrong there to drive anything faster than the normally posted 25mph limit - sometimes even slower.
@bakerzdosen There is a very important point here, "well maintained" roads are getting difficult to come by, especially on these older eastern roads where I drive. The states don't seem to be able to keep roads paved and draining well enough to raise speed limits. It's unfortunate. Also how can we expect a government with Social Security, Medicaid and medicare to charge anyone with being more responsible for their actions? Hell, we aren't even trusted to take care of our health insurance in a way that fits our lifestyle. I love the point you're making, I feel this way about a lot aspects of life than driving. unfortunately we live in a coddled society of fewer and fewer self made people.
@bakerzdosen I have definitely noticed that every close call I've had on the road has been with people going the speed limit or under. Even when I sneak up on people who are driving semi-aggressively they always are cognizant of other cars on the road and take note of my position. The problem is designing a country so so many people who hate driving are still forced to do it. But there is nothing worse than someone responding to a comment like this by talking about 'public transport'. Get real, guys, USA population densities are not compatible with it. If a direct bus to your destination could serve no more than 2 or 3 other people and would take 45 minutes, the economic and environmental COST of that 'public transport' is going to be worse than 2-3 private cars. People need to start loving high rises. I do. Go check out China. Nothing but skyscrapers as far as the eye can see, in small 'villages' of 2 million. The improvements to social life when you have decent population density are massively underrated and Americans don't understand what it is like to have things to do available and convenient.
@parasitius I don't know if you've ever driven at Autobahn-like speeds, but even when you're not constantly looking for police (because what you're doing is completely legal) it is a mentally taxing experience. You know that you either pay attention or you die. I live about an hour from my office and I have three options to get to/from work (on those days I go into the office): train, car, or motorcycle. I actually enjoy the video game-like aspects of riding my motorcycle to work (although the 'game over' aspect isn't the best) simply because it is mentally challenging to me. But yes, I recognize the simple fact that I should live closer to work. I'm just not willing to give up the advantages of the neighborhood my family lives in.
@bakerzdosen I went to Germany for the sole purpose of driving fast, drove 2000km in rented basic Mercedez and diesel Jag. :) I don't think you should live closer to work if the cost benefit makes it worth your trouble traveling an hour. Especially considering you didn't mention hating driving AND you said you can take a train. Then it's your free time you're wasting, maybe it's worth it. I just mean, the people on the road who are tortured to be there... I wish society would be organized such that they would have better options than the next best alternative (driving) and stay off the road -- because they don't want to be there -- they are a hazard because their response to not wanting to be there is talking on the phone, eating, doing make-up, or just zoning out. When I drive I'm always 100% attention, and I believe that's why I've never had a wreck and it took 15 years of speeding before I got my first ticket (and I mean 90+ in 65...for 15 years). Ha!
@parasitius I'll keep my single family dwelling and my land. I'm close enough to the city to do things far enough for privacy. I also LOVE to drive. You're going to be hard pressed to convince me to move inward. I've lived in the city and had a number of apartments. I won't do it again.
@RedHot I'm talking about getting the people who DISLIKE driving off the road! If the cost is worth the benefit for you, I'm all for it. It's the people who hate driving and therefore daydream, eat, talk on the phone... that I take issue with.
@parasitius I do like to drive/ride. And apparently raising children without a yard is cruel and unusual punishment. But sometime this Summer or Fall I'll probably start "only" commuting 3 days a week and working 2 days from home. But yes, if we could get those that don't enjoy driving off the road, it'd help. Personal pet peeve: Those who feel that a safe distance between them and the vehicle in front of them is roughly a half mile - especially in the HOV lane.
@bakerzdosen I think this is totally correct. If I remember correctly, not only is the time it takes to obtain a driver's license much longer in Europe, but the training is way more intensive and it's fairly expensive too. You know what my driving lessons were? I got mailed a huge packet of forms and an accompanying booklet with all the answers. I wasn't supposed to use it to cheat but…come on. Part of the problem is that people usually need to drive to get to work, so we need a large percentage of the population to have licenses. I totally agree that we need way more emphasis on driver's training and we should probably make it a little harder to get a license.
@bakerzdosen I remember seeing that fines are also much higher in Germany (proportional to your income or net worth, IIRC). They do much better about following the remaining rules, like keeping right except when passing.
I go the speed limit. It drives passengers nuts but I've gotten too many tickets (two in four hours once). I get nervous going just a couple MPH over now.
@Moose Remember your speedometer is at least 1.5 ~ 2 miles under to save the manufacturer from liability. So go 1 or 2 over to go "the limit" exactly :)
@Moose I got you beat. I got two tickets within 10 mionutes. I got clocked going 20 over. I came to a light stopped and took off again doing 20 over. Nothing unsafe here. But the cop clocked me twice, pulled me over and wrote me two tickets.
The correct, and only answer, is the speed appropriate for road conditions. Your survey points to a MAJOR problem that we have in that road users think the speed limit is the recommended travel speed. It isn't!
Politicians treat the limit as a way to make more money, so we get stuck with unsafe and artificially low speed limits. If speed limits were properly set traffic engineers would be doing it, not politicians. Then by definition there would be very little speeding on the road.
@adr5 If I ever ran for any sort of political office, one of my campaign points would be to detach revenue from tickets/fines from government budgets. Everyone knows (or should know) that you never do anything remotely illegal towards the end of the month because you'll get caught by some cop trying to make his/her monthly quota. Police should be about safety, not making up for revenue shortfalls.
Just don't be the asshole in the far left lane on a major freeway driving slower than (or equal to) traffic in the lanes to the right (especially if you're in the HOV lane and/or on a road with four or five lanes in one direction) while you talk on your cell phone.
DFW residents who've driven 75, 635, 30, 35, 121, the PGBT or the DNT, can I get an amen? And please don't tell me you're that guy.
@joelmw Or the asshole that flashes lights because you want to pass, despite there being a line of 15 cars ahead of me. Yes we get it, you want to go faster, everyone does, being one car further ahead isn't going to save you time.
@denboy So, I think "guy" can be and usually is gender neutral and I recognize that you might just be being a smartass, but I feel the pain you might be feeling. And from that perspective you're right, and if I could still change it I would.
I have a group of friends who used to email each other every few months with one or another rant about something or another (we were all writers of one sort or another and worked at one time for the same software company); we were three men and one woman. She didn't mind being one of the "guys." Sometimes just for the sake of equity, we'd refer to ourselves as the "girls." So, yaknow, I'm open to it going the other way.
@joelmw Yup, just being a smartass as you figured. Equal rights like many ideals get people all spun up....which in turn makes it more fun to be a smartass about. Hell, if every person, gender or other sub-set had exactly the same physcial and mental capabilities, this world would be an awfully boring place to be. Still would love to eliminate the genes that cause people to go slow in the fast lane.
@joelmw In 2013, while trying to win an argument on Facebook, I discovered that it's legal to pass on the right in North Carolina. That became my favorite day of 2013 (and I got hired that year after being out of work for 8 months).
@jqubed Sometimes it's necessary to pass on the right. Whatever's wrong with it is the fault of assholes driving slowly (and usually inattentively) on the left.
I don't really drive fast anymore. (I spend so much of my time in a situation where 1mph over could supposedly get you in a lot of hot water that I've fallen out of the habit. (Except on Atlanta's I-285, where not speeding could get you killed.))
But! When I did drive fast, my M.O. was to make sure that two drivers ahead of me were going at least a little faster. If I lost them, I'd stick to 9-over until I found some new suckers.
In California I went around 85 on the freeways when I could since most of the speed limits there are 75.
For some ungodly reason almost all of the highways in the Dallas Metroplex have a limit of 60 and I still have California plates so I know I'm more likely to get pulled over and now I rarely go over 65-70.
When I was first driving here from California I got my first ever speeding ticket shortly after entering West Texas in a godawful small town called Childress. It was my 2nd day of driving and I had been at it since midnight and it was just before 7am, almost no cars on the road and I have my cruise control set to 80 on a road with a limit of 75. I see him camping out on the median and I know I'm screwed, got hit for $165 for going 83 with no cars around in podunk nowhere. Guess they gotta pay the bills somehow.
Truly depends on where and the flow of traffic. I drive 75 miles round trip to work. I'd say 42 of those miles are on either 55 or 65 mph highways, while the final stretch (about 8 miles each way) is on a 50 mph back country road. I'd say I average about 15 over on the highways, but that's not much faster than the general flow. I try to contain myself on the back road, but uh... About 3 weeks ago (on my first day back to work after a ski trip), I was pulled over about a 1/2 mile from the hospital where I work. I could literally see it directly in front of me. I was already running late as there was an accident on the major highway and I had to exit and cut through a crappy, dangerous town (Chester, PA for those that know) to get to the bridge into NJ. There are no local police so it's NJ State Troopers that patrol the area. He kindly informed me I was doing 75 on that 50 mph road. Asked me where I worked, mentioned I couldn't have anything hanging from my rear view mirror (I have a single dog tag hanging there) then of course made me another 10 minutes late while he sat in his car. Came back with a warning for the speeding and a fine for the obstruction for $54. I have no doubt it was the fact that I was wearing my scrubs and worked at the hospital that he let me go with just the warning. I've had many friends in healthcare tell me their scrubs were absolutely their get out of jail free card.
299,792,458 meters per second.
I'll outlive you all if I could get even close.
@Pavlov You do realize that there's still no chance Meh fulfillment will be any quicker when you return, right?
@Pavlov That right there shows a flaw in the metric system. It clearly should have been 300,000,000 meters per second. Or perhaps 314,159,265 meters per second, just for fun? But no, they made the meter the wrong length!
@ChunkyBitz I still think we need to adjust the length of the second by a bit, then worry about the meter length from there. A second should be 1/100000th of a day, instead of 1/86400th of a day.
@ChunkyBitz 1,802,617 Furlongs per Microfortnight, it's the law.
@Pavlov what is that in 12 parsecs?
@Headly Parsec = distance, not time.
http://scifi.about.com/od/starwarsglossaryandfaq/a/Star-Wars-Faq_Why-Did-Han-Solo-Say-He-Made-The-Kessel-Run-In-12-Parsecs.htm
@Pavlov That's a lot of gyrations to go through to cover up George Lucas' ignorance.
@Headly You realize that for a lot of fans, that is the short explanation, right?
@Pavlov Yeah - too much time on their hands and a desperate attempt to rationalize things. c'est la vie
@kazriko 1 second is not defined by the day, but by the amount of time light travels that many meters in a vacuum
@mekantor That was a retroactive thing, trying to find a mathematical definition to make the second the length that it was already commonly used as, and that common use was the ancient base-60 time system that made a second be 1/(24*60*60) of a day.
Obamacare!!
Depends on the speed limit. Also depends on how much gas I want to save.
14mph over
@MsELizardBeth This ain't Disneyland.
@Headly Well if you go 15 over you get a wreckless ticket. 14 not so much :)
@MsELizardBeth
@Headly So there I would drive 28 ;)
@MsELizardBeth Mickey would not approve...
I usually go about 5-10% over.
Prior to getting the G8 GXP? Speed Limit. Since getting the G8 GXP? "Speed Limit."
The flow of traffic, whether that's 10 over, 10 under, or being I'm in SoCal, 10 mph. :(
@narfcake Yep; prevailing speed. Driving the limit when traffic wants to be going more than a few miles an hour faster than the limit is unsafe, as well as just damn rude.
As long as you're not an a-hole switchin lanes without a turn signal, passing in the breakdown lane or just being a dick, go nutty. Finding a driver who doesn't offend any of these road etiquettes in MA is impossible...
@distractedriver MA definitely gets my vote!
@distractedriver I had to drive from Leominster to Boston (Logan?) airport once during afternoon rush. I'll never forget that, and hope to never repeat it. Worse than some of the videos of third world drivers in overcrowded tiny-street cities.
@distractedriver Which is why motorists from MA are known as massholes :) GO RED SOX!
You usually can get away with 9 over unless you're in a sensitive area (school zone, hospital, etc). Or so the police in WI and OH (the two states I have lived the longest in) have told me.
My town has no police so... 70 in a 55 zone is acceptable as long as you're not a dick driver.
Depends. On surface streets I drive the limit to maybe 10 over depending. On residential streets I always drive slow. I don't want to hit a kid or a dog. In the middle of nowhere on a highway? I've been known to hit 150 without breaking a sweat.
@Headly Agree. Only you were more polite than me. I was going to point out that it's a stupid question, because it always DOTS. Depends On The Situation.
@Headly yep, especially on the residential streets. "Drive like your kid lives here". A local neighborhood actually put up signs saying that. Seems reasonable.
@saodell more DOTS
@Headly Pretty similar for me, but I've never gone nearly that fast on a public road.
Most state police/troopers in the western states give 5 over, imho. Anywhere else you toss the dice. :)
@kc5rbq 10
Speedometers are considered accurate as long as they're within 10% of the actual speed. So, pretty much no cop will stop you for doing 77 in a 70 zone. Of course, if your speedometer is off by +10% and you're doing 10% over that, then you're doing nearly 85...so it's best to know how accurate your speedometer is before you decide to speed.
Beyond that, your particular tires could easily be over- or under-sized by as much as 10%, even if they claim to be the exact size that your car originally came with. It's best to use a GPS to find your actual speed, and then calculate the percentage error of your speedometer before you decide to speed.
@ChunkyBitz I've always heard the number is 5%.... but that's total. So 2.5 in either direction.
@ChunkyBitz Car and Driver (last paragraph) says it's +/- 2% in either direction (http://www.caranddriver.com/features/speedometer-scandal) while Fox News says it's 5% total. http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2012/05/11/how-fast-are-really-going-accuracy-speedometers/ ...so what rule of thumb you go by depends on how much you want to gamble :P
@Collin1000 - Well, we all know that Faux News is made up, so you'd better go with Car and Driver.
@ChunkyBitz I should clarify that the 10% error is actually +/- 5%. However, the police will almost always give you an extra 5% because it's almost impossible to keep your vehicle at the exact speed you're attempting. The 10% figure has been told to me by several police friends, with that being the reason given. Also, they said that they'll never bother with anything under 5 MPH over, so 30 in a 25 is safe. So, I always go 5 over unless 10% over is faster. And then if everybody is going 90 in a 70, go with the flow. I've never gotten a speeding ticket in 30+ years.
@ChunkyBitz Actually, after some investigation, the truth is this: There is no Federal regulation concerning the accuracy of passenger car speedometers. There is for commercial vehicles, though. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration says: "Each bus, truck, and truck-tractor must be equipped with a speedometer indicating vehicle speed in miles per hour and/or kilometers per hour. The speedometer must be accurate to within plus or minus 8 km/hr (5 mph) at a speed of 80 km/hr (50 mph)." So, that's +/- 10% at 50 MPH. Individual states may have regulations on the accuracy of passenger car speedometers.
@ChunkyBitz I got a ticket for 64 in a 60 once. Any amount over the speed limit is breaking the law...it's your responsibility to obey the law, your vehicle isn't doing the driving. With GPS now everyone really knows how fast they are going...I am usually going 5-7 over...
@tightwad Not everyone has, or uses, GPS. It's not mandated, so the only thing most people will have to rely on is the speedometer in their car
@adr5 Not everyone has a speedometer either...they are not required and not having one is not an excuse for breaking the law. The +/- % is nice but not an excuse that stands up in court.
@tightwad All cars are required to have a speedometer. It's the law.
@adr5 Really? Do you have references for this requirement?
@tightwad Consult an experienced lawyer licensed to practice law in your jurisdiction with experience in this area of law for a definitive reference. In my state, if it is a mass production vehicle, then it has to meet certain standards before it can be sold. What this means is, if you make less than 50 cars, you don't need to put VINS on them, do EPA testing, crash testing, or a whole bunch of other stuff that the big companies have to do. I strongly suspect that speedometers are required to sell a mass market car. It is illegal to operate a car on a public road without current registration (except in parades, with police escort, and other such exceptions). To register a car, it must comply with many standards. I wouldn't be surprised if one of those requirements is a functional speedometer. To operate a vehicle on a public road, it must have working brake lights, head lights, bumpers at the right height, tires with sufficient tread, and a bunch of other stuff, possibly including a functional speedometer (check with your lawyer).
About a decade ago, I was driving to work behind a slow moving truck. I heard a snap from the instrument panel, and saw that my speedometer was registering 120 MPH. As I did not actually collide with the slow moving truck, I concluded that I did not suddenly accelerate, rather the speedometer had a problem. As I drove further, it swung to from 0 to 120 a few times before going to zero and staying there.
I continued to drive to work, in the (possibly mistaken) belief that it was probably legal to continue to operate the minivan. Although, it probably wouldn't pass inspection in many states, and it might not be legal to sell it or register it in some jurisdictions. It was certainly legal to leave it parked at work without a functional speedometer.
I was working at a company that made and installed instrumentation for race cars. Replacing speed sensors was not a problem. My car was fixed before I left the parking lot.
The vast majority of cars are definitely required to have speedometers in order to be sold. Depending on jurisdiction, they may need speedometers for inspections, registration, licensing, and/or operation.
@hamjudo none of the standards for a vehicle to pass inspection include a working speedometer.
@RedHot Wrong. PA code 175.80 which is the Inspection Procedure includes the following (see #5):
(f) Road test. Perform road test and reject if one or more of the following apply:
(1) The parking brake fails to exhibit normal resistance when an attempt is made to move the vehicle both forward and backward from a stopped position.
(2) The automatic transmission will not hold in the park position.
(3) The vehicle is not capable of stopping within the maximum stopping distance prescribed in Table I (relating to brake performance) or swerves so that any part leaves the 12-foot lane.
(4) There is a malfunction of the braking or steering mechanism, particular shimmy, wander, pull or another questionable operating behavior that affects safe operation of the vehicle.
(5) The speedometer does not operate.
(6) The odometer does not operate, except on a motor vehicle at least 25 years old.
(7) The vehicle cannot be driven both forward and backward.
@cinoclav hmmm, well, NC does not require the speedometer to work, I'm kind of curious how they check it. Do they drive the vehicle? as long as the speed sensor works the OBD will not display an error code for the speedometer not working. Those codes are the same no matter where you are.
@RedHot Apparently they're not all that concerned about accuracy, just that it appears to be working. Yes, they drive the vehicle as it states in the first line: (f) Road test. Perform road test and reject if one or more of the following apply:
I clicked 'a couple', which is apparently different from '5mph or so' now. You know I ain't got time to read and understand entire things before acting on them.
I've heard from some cops that 10MPH in a normal area, or 8mph in a school zone is where they usually give tickets, below that is a sometimes ticket range. I usually go 4mph over at most myself though, unless the flow of traffic is higher than that. (1-4mph is the lowest tier of speeding ticket, 5-9 mph is the second tier. They definitely won't write one 1-4mph most of the time because it's only worth $10 or so to them. 5mph is where it starts getting marginally worth writing. My current car's speedometer reads about 2mph out of 40 high usually. My other car is about 3mph out of 40 low, both calibrated against the speed monitoring posts the cops put around the city.)
And yes, I'll preemptively add a tl;dr. ;)
@kazriko $10? Where's that? Minimum ticket here is $100.
@saodell It was some time ago that I looked it up, and that's in Colorado. It appears that in some parts of colorado, 0-4mph is a $100 ticket now, but I doubt that's the case outside of the eastern side of the state. I know that 10mph over was around $60 a few years ago here on the west part of the state. It varies by county though, so it's hard to find concrete information.
@kazriko Actually, I did find information on Denver. 1 point tickets are $30, (1-9mph), 3 point tickets are $70. (10-19mph)
~70 on the freeway (speed limit is 65) although I drive through a construction zone every day with a 55 limit and I do 55 there. The cops have been nailing people for doing 60 and up and it's not worth the hefty fine to save two minutes.
A hundred and plenty..
This is a big damn country. You want to do 140 in Montana, then go for it. But 26 in a school zone posted 25, and they should cut off your nutz.
I swear, I've never been on the I-75/I-85 section of ATL where the average speed wasn't 85 mph. Never seen an accident there. But I saw a truck hit a dodge neon on I-90 in Chicago when the truck was doing 2 mph and the neon was doing 0. Slowest accident I've ever seen.
@saodell I don't necessarily agree with the school zone thing. Where I live they roll out signs that lower the limit to 15 and double the fine. THe city uses is as a revenue generator because "for the children". Rolling through that intersection at 11 AM when there literally isn't a kid for 1/4 mile should not have a ticket that costs $500. It's stupid.
@Headly Signs here say "25 mph when children are present"
@DaveInSoCal
Note it's not "children present" but "school in session". The cops love to hang out mid day when there aren't any kids because they don't have to deal with parent traffic. And people tend to drive faster when there aren't any kits around.
Cha-ching!: The Scottsdale Police Department issued 59 citations for school-zone violations in August 2012, compared with 459 citations in August 2013, according to police records. For those playing along that's about $250,000. As far as my research indicates there hasn't been school crosswalk fatality in years. But hey, the city needs money for council member retreats and statues and shit. So yay, I guess?
@Headly it's probably because I just didn't drive around school zones all that much while they were in session in California, but I don't really remember most people taking them seriously. I can say that here in the Dallas area people DO go 20 mph in school zones when the lights are flashing.
@JonT Yeah, I'm all for safety and such, but the obvious money grab here is obvious. The only possible point of giving someone a $500 ticket for doing 30 through a school zone completely devoid of children, when the posted limit is 45 or 50 is... revenue.
@Headly Huh, in NC they post specific hours when the school zone speed limits apply, an hour each at the start and end of the day. The rest of the time the speed limit is 10 mph higher. I assumed it was like that everywhere.
@DaveInSoCal @Headly @jqubed In Pennsylvania it's rare to see a school zone without the flashing lights/speed limit signs. They're on in the morning and the afternoon with no silly worries about there being 'children present' while they're sitting in a classroom not paying attention.
@cinoclav I have started seeing more of those, particularly at the year-round schools. Makes things a lot easier.
How nice that you all are above the law!
@Rossome I am the law!
I usually drive within 1-2 mph of the posted limit. Of course, most of the highways here have a 75 mph limit, which is about as fast as I would want to go in my tiny toy car.
Even so, I have been stopped both by locals and troopers numerous times. Never a ticket, always a warning. The last time I was pulled over, the cop actually told me that he had clocked me going 67 in a 65 zone. I asked him if he was joking, he said he was not and wrote me another warning.
@2many2no you're driving too slow obviously.
@2many2no I'd be curious to know what kind of vehicle you have. I had a brother-in-law whose primary job as a highway patrol was drug interdiction. He would pull over people doing 1-2 over, not because he wanted to give them a ticket for that, but to investigate possible drug running.
@smyle It's a 15 year old Saturn SL2. I keep thinking I'll get something newer, but it's paid for and gets 38 mpg.
And it's blue, so "they always stop red cars" doesn't apply. One of the stops/warnings came from a trooper who was the husband of our HR director. He knew me and my car, but pulled me over anyway.
I have no clue why I'm so lucky.
@2many2no I'm picturing this and I'd pull you over too.
@cinoclav As awesome as that appears, my wife would just turn it into a coffin.
@2many2no You mean, that's not your car and your wife? Live the fantasy man, it's getting me through the day.
@cinoclav Niiiice!
But get out of my head. That's not my fantasy, I don't care what you've heard.
(Well, OK, maybe some of it.)
Generally between 10-15 over, I've heard from several cops in my township that they won't ticket anyone under 15 unless there's something else worthy of it (running a red, driving recklessly, etc)
I'd probably do more if I still did a lot of highway driving, but it's fairly rare anymore
In northern Minnesota, what ever the weather allows. We have a police academy in my town, so you'll get pulled over no matter what, but they never give tickets, so might as well speed when you can. And don't when you'll go in a ditch.
@simplersimon Good rule of thumb!
Several years ago, Ohio police were much more strict than those in Michigan. Crossing the state line going north, and traffic would speed up by 15 (or more) MPH. On the other hand, going south, you could see the brake lights as everyone prepared for crossing into Ohio.
As @marvelljones said above, now 9 mph over the limit seems to be okay in Ohio these days. Also they raised the speed limits on several highways. So now the change in speed at the border is more subtle.
@hamjudo Ohio finally got tired of being so hated by everyone having to drive through it with those revenue-enhancement speed limits. Finally sanity. We like you much better now, Ohio.
In city traffic, whatever the prevailing speed is. Bay Area, that’s usually about 10MPH. Chicago, that’s at least 70 in a posted 45 construction zone, and it would be suicidal to try and drive any slower. Otherwise I just take the safe, low-stress option and set the cruise control right at the speed limit (compensated for whatever my car’s measured speedometer offset is) and forget it.
Worst drivers I’ve ever seen: Abu Dhabi. They text you speeding tickets instead of stopping you, and there’s no penalty past the fine, so people who can afford it routinely drive at ludicrous speeds. Doing about 75 (which was already well over the limit) in a taxi got passed by a Mercedes like we were standing still more than once.
@bmf Thread winner.
Whenever i get to construction I just do a straight 100mph if traffic allows. Yeah yadda yadda yadda fines doubled. Been driving construction zones in OH and PA my whole life and never once saw a cop near one, it is like safety zone.
Oh and if there are workers I slam on the break, not going to be a dick and put them at unnecessary risk. However, construction usually just means 10 miles of bullshit barricades, extra challenge level up at 100mph, and no workers anywhere. Fun, fun, fun I tell ya! Just like an underpants full of jellyfish.
@parasitius *brake
Driving fast through construction zones is stupid. Workers on equipment or on foot can pop out and wham. Goo0dnight Sally. I've seen it too much. Slow the f___
down and stay alive. Or not and end up in a sewer trench.
The crew might just keep on working and backfill your ass in there.
As far as speed goes I have been involved in pro racing most of my life and now its all about how fast can I go safely and is the law around to spoil my fun.
Depends on location and posted speed limit.
@plastrd Ohio cop told me, at least his dept., the "rule of thumb" is don't bother if it is 10 and below. 11, 12, 13 - according to whim. 15 - ticket for sure.
I feel like I'm alone here but I'm also pretty sure I have a problem. 10 over is the minimum most times. I've got my share of tickets the last one was bad...28 over in a 55, but I still got it reduced to 9 over. I have a legal service on retainer through work and they do a great job of taking care of things. I usually don't have to show up. All told its probably an addiction. There is no other feeling like what happens inside of me when the speedometer ticks over 85mph. Its an outlet more than anything I guess. increase adrenalin and reduce stress. It makes it worse that I design roads and have a better understanding of the speeds the designs truly fit.
Yes, its dangerous. Yes, I could die. No, I don't care what you think. My wife doesn't like the tickets but has accepted that they are a fact of life for me at least until we have children.
Also I don't speed through work-zones as I am usually working for DOT's and they care about that.
@RedHot What are you driving?
@Teripie I've got choices :-) my everyday is nothing fantastic or really fast (Toyota Camry) we did just get an old Spyder back on the road (with some added extras :-) though and my god, that thing is fun to drive. It was my wife's first car. My new position has afforded me the luxury of an upgrade in the near future. I'm looking at an R5.
@Teripie I'm not allowed to drive my wifes car :-(
@RedHot Pretty much this. I get a "free" ticket every 18 months. I typically know where the cops are, and aren't. It's almost impossible to drive a 350z under 90MPH.
@RedHot I was going to star this, then remembered from other posts it sounds like you live in my general area. Don't hit me!
Been doing 5 over my whole life and have never gotten a ticket, though I've been warned before to not speed in the small towns nearby.
As someone who was an exchange student in Germany (and has been back a few times) during my "formative" years, I have a slightly different take on things:
I think we (in the USA) need better driver training so that we can put more of the responsibility on drivers and less on arbitrary numbers - at least in non-residential and non-commercial areas. There is no reason that someone cannot drive 130+mph on a well maintained and relatively straight rural highway. (I've done it many times myself - legally.) But if it's not safe to be driving that fast (eg, weather, traffic, whatever) it should be on the driver. Driving is a responsibility and rather than have it be somewhat nanny-like like we suffer through now, we need to put more of that onus on the individual drivers. At this point, drivers are so lax about driving on the freeway that they can be eating, shaving, or putting on makeup etc (I see it all the time) while driving. Driving more slowly but distracted is MUCH more dangerous than driving fast with your full attention.
And if you think that we can't put a little more responsibility on drivers, you probably don't realize just how much we put on them now. Every driver out there on the roads right now is driving around a weapon capable of taking numerous people's lives. You already trust every driver around you to not kill you - because they easily could at pretty much any given moment when you're on or near a road.
Side note: Residential areas are different. I think there is too much that can and does go wrong there to drive anything faster than the normally posted 25mph limit - sometimes even slower.
[/soapbox]
@bakerzdosen There is a very important point here, "well maintained" roads are getting difficult to come by, especially on these older eastern roads where I drive. The states don't seem to be able to keep roads paved and draining well enough to raise speed limits. It's unfortunate. Also how can we expect a government with Social Security, Medicaid and medicare to charge anyone with being more responsible for their actions? Hell, we aren't even trusted to take care of our health insurance in a way that fits our lifestyle. I love the point you're making, I feel this way about a lot aspects of life than driving. unfortunately we live in a coddled society of fewer and fewer self made people.
@bakerzdosen I have definitely noticed that every close call I've had on the road has been with people going the speed limit or under. Even when I sneak up on people who are driving semi-aggressively they always are cognizant of other cars on the road and take note of my position. The problem is designing a country so so many people who hate driving are still forced to do it. But there is nothing worse than someone responding to a comment like this by talking about 'public transport'. Get real, guys, USA population densities are not compatible with it. If a direct bus to your destination could serve no more than 2 or 3 other people and would take 45 minutes, the economic and environmental COST of that 'public transport' is going to be worse than 2-3 private cars. People need to start loving high rises. I do. Go check out China. Nothing but skyscrapers as far as the eye can see, in small 'villages' of 2 million. The improvements to social life when you have decent population density are massively underrated and Americans don't understand what it is like to have things to do available and convenient.
@bakerzdosen Germany gets everything to do with cars right.
@RedHot You've gotta start somewhere. So why not an obscure (relatively speaking) comment board? :)
@parasitius I don't know if you've ever driven at Autobahn-like speeds, but even when you're not constantly looking for police (because what you're doing is completely legal) it is a mentally taxing experience. You know that you either pay attention or you die. I live about an hour from my office and I have three options to get to/from work (on those days I go into the office): train, car, or motorcycle. I actually enjoy the video game-like aspects of riding my motorcycle to work (although the 'game over' aspect isn't the best) simply because it is mentally challenging to me. But yes, I recognize the simple fact that I should live closer to work. I'm just not willing to give up the advantages of the neighborhood my family lives in.
@bakerzdosen I went to Germany for the sole purpose of driving fast, drove 2000km in rented basic Mercedez and diesel Jag. :) I don't think you should live closer to work if the cost benefit makes it worth your trouble traveling an hour. Especially considering you didn't mention hating driving AND you said you can take a train. Then it's your free time you're wasting, maybe it's worth it. I just mean, the people on the road who are tortured to be there... I wish society would be organized such that they would have better options than the next best alternative (driving) and stay off the road -- because they don't want to be there -- they are a hazard because their response to not wanting to be there is talking on the phone, eating, doing make-up, or just zoning out. When I drive I'm always 100% attention, and I believe that's why I've never had a wreck and it took 15 years of speeding before I got my first ticket (and I mean 90+ in 65...for 15 years). Ha!
@parasitius I'll keep my single family dwelling and my land. I'm close enough to the city to do things far enough for privacy. I also LOVE to drive. You're going to be hard pressed to convince me to move inward. I've lived in the city and had a number of apartments. I won't do it again.
@RedHot I'm talking about getting the people who DISLIKE driving off the road! If the cost is worth the benefit for you, I'm all for it. It's the people who hate driving and therefore daydream, eat, talk on the phone... that I take issue with.
@parasitius I do like to drive/ride. And apparently raising children without a yard is cruel and unusual punishment. But sometime this Summer or Fall I'll probably start "only" commuting 3 days a week and working 2 days from home. But yes, if we could get those that don't enjoy driving off the road, it'd help. Personal pet peeve: Those who feel that a safe distance between them and the vehicle in front of them is roughly a half mile - especially in the HOV lane.
@bakerzdosen I think this is totally correct. If I remember correctly, not only is the time it takes to obtain a driver's license much longer in Europe, but the training is way more intensive and it's fairly expensive too. You know what my driving lessons were? I got mailed a huge packet of forms and an accompanying booklet with all the answers. I wasn't supposed to use it to cheat but…come on. Part of the problem is that people usually need to drive to get to work, so we need a large percentage of the population to have licenses. I totally agree that we need way more emphasis on driver's training and we should probably make it a little harder to get a license.
@bakerzdosen I remember seeing that fines are also much higher in Germany (proportional to your income or net worth, IIRC). They do much better about following the remaining rules, like keeping right except when passing.
Sorry I was the one that ruined this:
@bakerzdosen Goat nomination!!
I go the speed limit. It drives passengers nuts but I've gotten too many tickets (two in four hours once). I get nervous going just a couple MPH over now.
@Moose Remember your speedometer is at least 1.5 ~ 2 miles under to save the manufacturer from liability. So go 1 or 2 over to go "the limit" exactly :)
@Moose I got you beat. I got two tickets within 10 mionutes. I got clocked going 20 over. I came to a light stopped and took off again doing 20 over. Nothing unsafe here. But the cop clocked me twice, pulled me over and wrote me two tickets.
@parasitius a GPS is spot on. Always have a GPS for this reason.
The correct, and only answer, is the speed appropriate for road conditions. Your survey points to a MAJOR problem that we have in that road users think the speed limit is the recommended travel speed. It isn't!
Politicians treat the limit as a way to make more money, so we get stuck with unsafe and artificially low speed limits. If speed limits were properly set traffic engineers would be doing it, not politicians. Then by definition there would be very little speeding on the road.
@adr5 If I ever ran for any sort of political office, one of my campaign points would be to detach revenue from tickets/fines from government budgets. Everyone knows (or should know) that you never do anything remotely illegal towards the end of the month because you'll get caught by some cop trying to make his/her monthly quota. Police should be about safety, not making up for revenue shortfalls.
@bakerzdosen let me know and I'll vote for you.
Just don't be the asshole in the far left lane on a major freeway driving slower than (or equal to) traffic in the lanes to the right (especially if you're in the HOV lane and/or on a road with four or five lanes in one direction) while you talk on your cell phone.
DFW residents who've driven 75, 635, 30, 35, 121, the PGBT or the DNT, can I get an amen? And please don't tell me you're that guy.
@joelmw or that girl, how dare you be so sexist
@joelmw Or the asshole that flashes lights because you want to pass, despite there being a line of 15 cars ahead of me. Yes we get it, you want to go faster, everyone does, being one car further ahead isn't going to save you time.
@denboy So, I think "guy" can be and usually is gender neutral and I recognize that you might just be being a smartass, but I feel the pain you might be feeling. And from that perspective you're right, and if I could still change it I would.
I have a group of friends who used to email each other every few months with one or another rant about something or another (we were all writers of one sort or another and worked at one time for the same software company); we were three men and one woman. She didn't mind being one of the "guys." Sometimes just for the sake of equity, we'd refer to ourselves as the "girls." So, yaknow, I'm open to it going the other way.
@joelmw Yup, just being a smartass as you figured. Equal rights like many ideals get people all spun up....which in turn makes it more fun to be a smartass about. Hell, if every person, gender or other sub-set had exactly the same physcial and mental capabilities, this world would be an awfully boring place to be. Still would love to eliminate the genes that cause people to go slow in the fast lane.
@joelmw In 2013, while trying to win an argument on Facebook, I discovered that it's legal to pass on the right in North Carolina. That became my favorite day of 2013 (and I got hired that year after being out of work for 8 months).
@jqubed Sometimes it's necessary to pass on the right. Whatever's wrong with it is the fault of assholes driving slowly (and usually inattentively) on the left.
I don't really drive fast anymore. (I spend so much of my time in a situation where 1mph over could supposedly get you in a lot of hot water that I've fallen out of the habit. (Except on Atlanta's I-285, where not speeding could get you killed.))
But! When I did drive fast, my M.O. was to make sure that two drivers ahead of me were going at least a little faster. If I lost them, I'd stick to 9-over until I found some new suckers.
It's one's moral responsibility to drive as fast as possible all of the time.
I drive more in Need for Speed than I do in Forza and, let's face it, you're gonna drive fast in Need for Speed. It's right there in the name.
In California I went around 85 on the freeways when I could since most of the speed limits there are 75.
For some ungodly reason almost all of the highways in the Dallas Metroplex have a limit of 60 and I still have California plates so I know I'm more likely to get pulled over and now I rarely go over 65-70.
When I was first driving here from California I got my first ever speeding ticket shortly after entering West Texas in a godawful small town called Childress. It was my 2nd day of driving and I had been at it since midnight and it was just before 7am, almost no cars on the road and I have my cruise control set to 80 on a road with a limit of 75. I see him camping out on the median and I know I'm screwed, got hit for $165 for going 83 with no cars around in podunk nowhere. Guess they gotta pay the bills somehow.
@JonT It didn't hurt that you were young too. "Law enforcement" can be such bullshit. They don't have to pay the bills that way.
@JonT get a toll tag. speed limit is usually 70 on the tollways.
Truly depends on where and the flow of traffic. I drive 75 miles round trip to work. I'd say 42 of those miles are on either 55 or 65 mph highways, while the final stretch (about 8 miles each way) is on a 50 mph back country road. I'd say I average about 15 over on the highways, but that's not much faster than the general flow. I try to contain myself on the back road, but uh... About 3 weeks ago (on my first day back to work after a ski trip), I was pulled over about a 1/2 mile from the hospital where I work. I could literally see it directly in front of me. I was already running late as there was an accident on the major highway and I had to exit and cut through a crappy, dangerous town (Chester, PA for those that know) to get to the bridge into NJ. There are no local police so it's NJ State Troopers that patrol the area. He kindly informed me I was doing 75 on that 50 mph road. Asked me where I worked, mentioned I couldn't have anything hanging from my rear view mirror (I have a single dog tag hanging there) then of course made me another 10 minutes late while he sat in his car. Came back with a warning for the speeding and a fine for the obstruction for $54. I have no doubt it was the fact that I was wearing my scrubs and worked at the hospital that he let me go with just the warning. I've had many friends in healthcare tell me their scrubs were absolutely their get out of jail free card.
I subscribe to The Sammy Hagar School of Driving.
@parodymandotcom This is sort of how we set encoder bitrates at TV stations. Cut the bitrate down until it's un-airable. Go one step above that.