How fast do you drive?

[Locut0s]

Last edited Wed Jul 3, 2013, 01:58 AM - Edit history (1)

I'm 31 and just getting my license, still on my learners right now. Of course my parents think I drive too fast. I probably do but I'm trying to decided if their worry is really warranted or not. One reason they worry is that early on I had 2 accidents, one was not my fault, one was a really stupid mistake and was. The one that was my fault didn't have to do with speed. I'm driving my mother's car, a small Ford Festiva. Being small is part of the reason they thing I drive fast as all else being equal the same speed in a smaller car is more dangerous.

The thing is I tend to drive the same speed as the other cars on the road. Now this usually means that I AM speeding technically as the average speed of the cars on the road is almost always over the limit by a bit. There are times though that I know I get a little too fast. I also have to work on stopping distance a bit. I'm not attempting to speed either, it just seems natural when driving. I don't take big risks and I don't believe I'm a reckless driver in any way. But I suppose I could be wrong?

In the city the speed limit here is 50 kph (31 mph) on most roads, however I find most traffic moves at about 60 kph (37 mph) and that's the speed I tend to travel at. On highways the posted speeds tend to be between 80 kph and 90 kph ( 50 mph to 56 mph) However I find most traffic is moving at 90 to 100 kph ( 56 to 62 mph). This does mean I'm sometimes going 20 kph over the limit on the highway (12 mph) but not if the rest of the traffic isn't. Again the main reason this seems too fast I think is my lack of experience mixed with the small car I'm driving. I try not to drive fast but these speeds just seem normal to me.

What's your opinion?

Also how fast do you drive on average?

10 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	I drive at the average speed of the rest of the cars on the road (usually speeding a little).
	5 (50%)
	I drive the posted limit almost all the time, no mater what the other cars are doing.
	2 (20%)
	I tend to speed. Faster than the average of the other cars.
	3 (30%)
	I drive under the posted limit most of the time.
	0 (0%)
	I don\'t drive.
	0 (0%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[hrmjustin]

1. I don't have a license.

[Locut0s]

2. My 2nd test is next week..

Failed my first one due to stupidness induced by being too nervous

[hrmjustin]

3. You will be OK! You have seen it once and the second time will be easier.

[d_r]

4. the key is to stay within 10 mph over the limit

so if it is 55, don't go over 64.

eta well around here.

[Locut0s]

5. That's basically what I do. Usually less...

Sometimes perhaps a little more. I think the more dangerous thing I do is my stopping distance isn't as consistent as it should be.

[ConcernedCanuk]

6. it seems driving the posted speed limit is dangerous.

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I get transports within a few feet of my back bumper

Cars roar past me.

so my most dangerous driving habit seems to be driving the speed limit!

Where's all the cops?

Ah - I know -

gettin coffee and donuts somewhere

Just got a new Tim Horton's in town here - wanna find a cop?

Don't bother going to the cop shop - Go to Timmy's!

CC

[pipi_k]

19. One guy in a

BMW got a big surprise the day he passed me on a stretch of country road and went speeding off. Because I was, you know, doing the speed limit.

About a mile down the road I passed him...pulled over to the side getting a speeding ticket.

Hah!

[ConcernedCanuk]

21. I live in snow country, Northern Ontario

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More than once I've seen some idiot pass me in the winter when the roads are bad,

and see him/her in the ditch a few miles down the road.

Once was held up for 6 hours because some idiot killed himself, and most of his passengers while trying to pass on a blind curve (in a snowstorm) and hit a transport head on.

And we are the "Master" Race??

I think not.

CC

[pipi_k]

29. Oooh....

blind curves always freak me out, even in good weather.

One of the roads into town from my house is full of them, with a rather steep drop on one side for a distance...into a rocky creek.

More than once the Mr and I have been on that road when some maniac came whizzing around the bend. Two weeks ago we were nearly run off the road by someone who must have seen us from far enough away to move over but didn't, as he roared down the hill at us when we came up.

Being on the roads these days scares the shit out of me.

[Dash87]

25. I once saw some doofus driving like a fool, and I called it.

20 seconds later, he went flying and slammed into the back of some old guy's car. Epic fail...

[pipi_k]

30. It really doesn't take very long...

A young girl I was acquainted with lost her brother in an accident when he leaned forward to adjust the radio, taking his eyes from the road for maybe two or three seconds. He smashed right into the back of a trash truck and was killed instantly.

[Major Nikon]

34. Speed limits are designated for the speed the road was engineered

Driving at or below the posted speed limit is the safest option. If someone tailgates you, you should allow more room to the car in front of you. That way if they slam on their brakes, you can make a more controlled stop and help prevent whatever is behind from squashing you like a bug.

[ConcernedCanuk]

35. I ALWAYS have lots of room in front of me

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when someone tailgates me, I put on my warning/hazard flashers.

reasons,

blinking lights bother the tailgater, also they get the idea I'm pissed off.

some may get the idea that if a cop coming from the opposite direction might take notice.

Regardless, turning on the hazard lights works 90% of the the time for the tailgaters to back off.

If the above don't work, I'll pull off to the side at the nearest safe spot and let them pass.

Don't like no one on my ass, on the road, or in my life.

CC

[Major Nikon]

36. I just turn on my window washers

The spray will get on the window of the car behind you if they are close. It almost never fails to get them to back off.

I've always thought a strategically placed 747 landing light wouldn't be a bad idea.

[fizzgig]

7. usually not much more than five over

unless i catch me a rabbit and i'm feeling a bit stupid, then i'll cruise along with them.

[Populist_Prole]

8. I basically obey but cheat on a sliding scale

Pretty much go only that much faster so that it requires no braking only a throttle lift to be in benefit of the doubt territory:

35 = 38

45 = 48-50

55 = 62

60 = 65

I see no need to push it. 65 is fast enough for me.

[Chan790]

9. This is a tricky question.

I don't have a license so I never drive on the road, but I have driven on a race track so the median speed when I drive is around 130MPH...in a car designed to safely do that kind of speed on a track-surface designed to handle that kind of speed.

[OriginalGeek]

10. I'm usually faster than the cars around me

but that's almost always because the idiots are driving under the posted limit.



I don't know if they don't see the signs are they are deliberately trying to keep me from my destination but the drivers on my regular route to and from work have certainly been subject to my disapproving glare on more than one occasion.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

11. That would depend on if it is a straightway and how much money is in it.

[struggle4progress]

12. .

[olddots]

13. I drive the road and the conditions and barely look at the speedometer

So I drive very cautiously and make believe I have 2 dead bodies in the trunk, 7 murder warrants out for me , 80 pounds of heroin in the trunk with the dead bodies . I drove for 6 years without a license ,insurance and all that legal stuff .( oh I have sinned )

Now I drive like a complete putz because I have nowhere to go .

[Tobin S.]

14. I do the speed limit.

My driver's license equals my livelihood. I can't afford to be playing around with it.

[MrScorpio]

15. Not so fast that the Martini doesn't stay in the glass nt

[bigwillq]

16. Well, I have gotten three speeding tickets.

I tend to drive over the speed limit.

[BillStein]

17. Faster

This morning I was driving up I-95, and realized there was a state trooper in front of me. He was pacing the cars in front of him, so I paced him. Then I realized we had been driving a steady 75 MPH when the posted speed limit was 55.

On edit, in reply to bigwillq, I haven't gotten a ticket since 1982

[femmocrat]

18. I have become more cautious in recent years.

I was pulled over by a local cop recently and it gave me a wake-up call, so now I try to stay pretty close to the speed limit.

He was just a young kid (IMO) and took pity on me, and just gave me a warning. Bless his heart. But I am super careful driving through his jurisdiction now!

[pipi_k]

20. I'm one of those

under-the-speed-limit drivers.

But, to be fair, I try not to be a jerk about it. I stay in the far right lane whenever possible, and whenever possible I move over a bit so cars in back of me can pass if it's safe.

[michreject]

22. In SE MI, the right lane is the speed lane

The left lane is for those drivers that drive 10 mph under the posted speed.

[pipi_k]

31. I know, huh...

what is it that makes drivers so clueless...or oblivious...to the fact that they are holding up traffic behind them?

Or maybe it's arrogance?

I just don't get it.

I'm always aware of who's behind me, and how many people I might be holding up, so I try to accommodate them without driving past the speed I'm comfortable with.

[Dash87]

23. Generally keep up with other cars.

Going the speed limit can be pretty dangerous on highways - sometimes just as dangerous as speeding.

On side roads I generally go the speed limit, but not strictly (usually 5 - 10 over).

[dr.strangelove]

24. I drive very fast

but I drive a big Ford F-150, so I feel pretty safe on straight highways that anything but a tractor or a bus is smaller than me.
The highway speed limit is 65 mph and I drive between 85 and 90 mph most of the time. I find most cars move at about 70 mph, but some pass me going 95+ mph.

[liberal N proud]

26. Not fast enough

I feel the need for speed!

[Loryn]

27. I stay within 5 miles of the speed limit.

I'm on country roads, so people blow past me all the time.

There was a time when I was in my 20's that I was close to losing my license because of speeding tickets.
They were much less expensive then, than they are now!

[progressoid]

28. I'm the governor of Iowa. I get to go 90mph

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10511311

[In_The_Wind]

32. Ha!

[ConcernedCanuk]

33. Reminded me - once went 110 in my 62 Lincoln

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That was back around 1974

It was what they called a suicide door Continental, exactly the same model (but not convertible) that JFK got assassinated in.

Now, I drive pretty moderate - having recently restored my driving privileges, I pretty much stay within all the legal speed limits.

Miss the old days . . .

and JFK

CC

[rrneck]

37. Nowadays I tend to run with the traffic.

When I was young and foolish I used to get those letters from the state threatening me with "one more point boy...". And when I got that motorcycle, oh shit.