The speed limit on the straight desolate paved road that goes past our place is 80 km/hr. The people who use the road drive whatever speed they please and for the most part it works fine ….. until you come across somebody driving 80 km per hour. The other day I was riding my bike through Banff national park and rode at the upper end of how fast traffic was moving …. about 130 km per hour. For the most part people drove 120 - 130 km/hr. Fortunately there wasn’t a sole driving the posted speed of 90 km/hr. How should we view speed limits? Is a speeding ticket simply a driving tax?

look at the bright side. you can drive 80. we have to drive 48. take the lemon and make lemonade.bumpuy

Years ago, when riding my bike across Montana, I was riding over the posted limit, but being passed by many vehicles. When stopped at a rest stop, I asked a guy about speed limit enforcement. He replied "if stopped, the fine is only $5.00, and ticket doesn't show on your record". I rarely got passed after that, and did lots of passing myself.I also remember riding in Canada, yes speeding, and many cars would pull to the shoulder to allow me by. Amazing, cars actually pulling over for a motorcycle! In my experience, Canadian folks were more courteous, which was noticed, beginning at the border crossings.Jerry

Speed limits need to be set to what the police are really going to enforce. What is legal and what you can get away with should be the same thing, especially as self driving vehicles become more common. One of the main issues with using Tesla self driving is that it won't let me keep up with traffic in many places. I can't blame manufacturers for not allowing people to use their programs to break the law since they could be held liable. Tesla does allow 5mph over the speed limit on non-divided roads and 10mph on divided roads but that generally isn't enough to keep up with traffic. If the cars were programmed to strictly follow the law there would be chaos on the roads. Limits should be limits, not political devices. They should also be reasonable.

Groover wrote:Speed limits need to be set to what the police are really going to enforce. What is legal and what you can get away with should be the same thing, especially as self driving vehicles become more common. IMHO, you have that bass ackward. If a cop is seen in traffic running over the limit, he better explain what is more important he is doing or head for unemployment line. Of course in many areas tickets are a tax. In my home town, every speed enforcement operation is out on the interstate. Limit 65, traffic moving 60+, tickets normally 75+, but all going the same direction. Most impact is between vehicles with a speed difference of maybe 20 MPH. Now look at the residential areas. Limit 25. At the limit, hit something coming out of cross street, 25 MPH impact. Then add the odds that crossing object might be a kid chasing a ball, 10 MPH over adds more risk. When the chief of police is asked, "It takes longer to spot 1 in light traffic, and cop is always facing the wrong way."

I agree that the posted 90 through Banff is painfully low. I drive that road a lot, and find everyone passes me. I used to be a road warrior in my younger years but now stick very close to the speed limit.I can't tell you how many times I run through that area and see speed traps. Not uncommon to see 3 or 4 from the gate at Canmore to Golden. And they always have people pulled over. Even though they have wildlife fences there are still those that make it past and cross the highway. That's one of the reasons they have it at 90. It's not until Canmore that it goes to 110. I'd hate to hit a deer while riding a bike.I drove it yesterday and was about 25K out of Calgary when 2 deer entered the highway right in front of me. Very close call.

Speed limits | Good Sam Community

MFL
Nomad II
Jul 20, 2021
Scoob...while above may be a good thought, whose son would want his friends to see him in that truck?

That is like telling him he can only date the xxx, xxxx girls, so that he won't be temped to take a test ride, and maybe ruin his future.

Lets be realistic!

Jerry
JRscooby
Explorer II
Jul 20, 2021
Bumpyroad wrote:
I haven't checked back to see if any body has mentioned it yet, but if every one dropped back the "recommended" spacing, 1 car length per 10 mph or whatever, you would end up with the traffic moving backwards as new cars got into the mix.
bumpy

I don't think that '1 car length per 10 mph' has been a recommendation for a long time. Mostly I have heard spacing given in seconds, not distance. And most do not mention that if you are following a car that can stop faster than you, you need to add time that you would be moving to the 2 seconds it takes you to react. In other words, a car 3 seconds behind a TT is likely not tailgating, but the TV pulling a TT 3 seconds behind the car probably is.

When I was old enough to get my DL, I drove 60 miles to Mom's house. She took me up to office, I took the written test to get the permit, then got in line for drivers part. Left with DL, drove back to farm. Next Sat night showing off my car, the first time driving it to town, a Deputy stopped me. Looked at DL, "I have seen you driving for years!"

Bumpyroad wrote:
toedtoes wrote:

My Mom wouldn't let us drive home after getting our permits or licenses. Her observations showed a lot of kids getting into accidents on those two days - so she removed them from the equation.

I can certainly agree on not letting a kid drive solo. I remember some states restricting driving with two young drivers. If one kid has an IQ of 100 and another gets in with an IQ of 100 the combined IQ would total out to about 60.
bumpy

This is 1 reason I always say the best vehicle for first car is a regular cab small pickup with 4 cyl, manual transmission. The low power reduces chance of showing off. Manual transmission mean pay more attention to driving. The frame IMHO is better when (not if) they wreck.
And most important; Think back, every time you got in trouble, or should of got in trouble, there was 3-4 friends in the car with you. The little cab reduces that chance.
time2roll
Nomad
Jul 20, 2021
Bumpyroad wrote:
I haven't checked back to see if any body has mentioned it yet, but if every one dropped back the "recommended" spacing, 1 car length per 10 mph or whatever, you would end up with the traffic moving backwards as new cars got into the mix.
bumpy
Nah. Those that cut in usually don't last long. They pop over to the fast lane and you can move forward again. Even if you let 105 cars in front of you at 4 second spacing you lose max 7 minutes at 60mph. Hardly going backward on a 6 hour drive.
toedtoes
Explorer III
Jul 20, 2021
Bumpyroad wrote:
toedtoes wrote:

My Mom wouldn't let us drive home after getting our permits or licenses. Her observations showed a lot of kids getting into accidents on those two days - so she removed them from the equation.

I can certainly agree on not letting a kid drive solo. I remember some states restricting driving with two young drivers. If one kid has an IQ of 100 and another gets in with an IQ of 100 the combined IQ would total out to about 60.
bumpy

My Mom didn't let us drive on those two days period. Even if she or my dad were in the car. She said too many of her friends let their kids drive home from taking the test and they got into accidents. She felt it was "tempting fate" to drive after the test.

She also made us wait until we were 18 to get our licenses. Hsr excuse was that by waiting we didn't have to take driver ed (which at that time was not offered by the school nor was free). The truth is that it saved her two years of headaches and high insurance premiums.
spoon059
Explorer II
Jul 20, 2021
Bumpyroad wrote:
If one kid has an IQ of 100 and another gets in with an IQ of 100 the combined IQ would total out to about 60.
bumpy

None of us are as dumb as all of us...
toedtoes
Explorer III
Jul 20, 2021
Bumpyroad wrote:
I haven't checked back to see if any body has mentioned it yet, but if every one dropped back the "recommended" spacing, 1 car length per 10 mph or whatever, you would end up with the traffic moving backwards as new cars got into the mix.
bumpy

Not true. It actually would result in a faster traffic.

Traffic slows down because folks are unable to merge at driving speeds. If they want to merge into another lane, they brake and move over or move over and brake. That braking requires those behind them to brake. The driving speed keeps going up and down in exaggeration.

In comparison, leaving the proper space between vehicles allows folks to merge at the driving speed. In order to maintain that distance, the car behind simply coasts for a few seconds. No braking required by anyone. The driving speed stays at a fairly stable rate of speed.

Remember, as long as you are driving forward you are getting to where you are going. Every time you have to lay on the brakes, you are stopping your forward progress.
Bumpyroad
Explorer
Jul 20, 2021
toedtoes wrote:

My Mom wouldn't let us drive home after getting our permits or licenses. Her observations showed a lot of kids getting into accidents on those two days - so she removed them from the equation.

I can certainly agree on not letting a kid drive solo. I remember some states restricting driving with two young drivers. If one kid has an IQ of 100 and another gets in with an IQ of 100 the combined IQ would total out to about 60.
bumpy
Bumpyroad
Explorer
Jul 20, 2021
I haven't checked back to see if any body has mentioned it yet, but if every one dropped back the "recommended" spacing, 1 car length per 10 mph or whatever, you would end up with the traffic moving backwards as new cars got into the mix.
bumpy
toedtoes
Explorer III
Jul 20, 2021
spoon059 wrote:
toedtoes wrote:
As such, the report shows that no one stated "he was driving too slow" as the cause of the accident. Yet many many people stated they were distracted, speeding, tailgating, or had fallen asleep, etc. and that's why they hit the other car.

What if the at-fault driver was tailgating because the other driver was "driving too slow"?

Again, the cause is tailgating. Had that person left more room between cars, there wouldn't have been a collision. People drive at different speeds - it's not for one person to "punish" others by tailgating them until they move out of the way. If traffic is so congested that you can not safely go around the slow driver, then you need to slow down accordingly. If traffic is such that you can safely go around the slow driver then you should do so. There is no legitimate reason for tailgating.

Keeping a safe distance from the car in front of you is Driving 101.
spoon059
Explorer II
Jul 20, 2021
toedtoes wrote:
As such, the report shows that no one stated "he was driving too slow" as the cause of the accident. Yet many many people stated they were distracted, speeding, tailgating, or had fallen asleep, etc. and that's why they hit the other car.

What if the at-fault driver was tailgating because the other driver was "driving too slow"?

Forum Discussion

Speed limits

About Travel Trailer Group

Related Content

75 Speed Limit - How Fast

Unbraked trailer, towing limitations

Robot Tolls - At My Limit!

40’+ limitations?

Fan Speed Control