I'm sorry - call me crazy but I just don't believe in speed limits.

[Taverner]

I just don't

Autobahn speeds, people. Just because its the limit doesn't mean its the standard...

[DS1]

1. I do believe in stupid people, which is why I believe in speed limits

[Taverner]

2. Stupid people eat their own

Speed limits only cause us pain and misery, and to fill the coffers of Highway Based economies.

[DS1]

4. Are you being like this on purpose?

:crazy:

[Taverner]

10. Explain please

[DS1]

12. Stupid people kill people of all types

not just themselves. If they only killed other stupid people, I'd be in favor of dropping limits altogether as well. But they don't. They never do.

[Taverner]

13. I'm just saying on highways - not residential - you should drive as fast as you want

Trust me, most people will go 45

[ChazII]

28. They are making the city of Scottsdale, AZ

and other parts of Arizona more $$$. (Photo radar)

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

3. If we're talking about freeways, absolutely.

while I respect the gall of people who drive 120 down a narrow alley past a school for slow children, I'm OK with that being a ticketable offense.

[Taverner]

11. Ahhh ok true that...

Highways, not streets.

[Gormy Cuss]

5. So,

how much was the ticket?

[cleveramerican]

6. We all have inner speed limits.

People in general will go as fast as they feel safe going.
People don't scare themselves on purpose.
Different car, different weather, different roads.
we all weigh these variables every day.

[Blue-Jay]

7. Drive as fast as you want.

That'll be awesome.

[KitchenWitch]

8. They hate us for our freedoms.

[Rabrrrrrr]

9. You *should* believe in them, because they exist.

But feel free to believe that they shouldn't exist. I'm with you on that one.

[Critters2]

14. I saw or just missed seeing three fatal accidents in a single day, driving

from North Central Iowa to North Central Illinois. 5 people killed in 24 hours. And every accident was caused by speeding. I don't know where they were all going in such a damn hurry, but they didn't get there.

I'm a big fan of speed limits.

[Taverner]

15. If people want to do a speed that kills them - let them

Nanny State-ism is never a good idea.

[DS1]

16. They don't just kill themselves, you dolt!

[Taverner]

17. The damage from an insane driver usually just kills the insane driver

In most cases, the party not behaving in such a way may have car damage - but rarely hospital work.

[Critters2]

18. One of these was a truck that plowed into a car. The couple in the car were killed.

Another was a speeding semi that hit a tow truck operator who was dealing with the scene of a previous accident. The tow truck driver was killed.

Innocent bystanders. Innocent dead bystanders.

[DS1]

19. Fine. Keep thinking that, it's clearly working for you.

[Shakespeare]

20. As someone who was almost killed by an insane driver, I'm going to have to go ahead and...

...disagree with you there. 13 years out, and I still have health issues from the accident (cluster headaches--such fun!). There was definitely "hospital work," as you call it.

So yeah, those limits are there for very good reasons.

[DS1]

21. The hightway isn't the time to be learning about 140Mph closing rates

shit moves real quick at those speeds, to get down to 70 takes about 2 football fields, and then you're still doing 70.


and :eyes: for this thread

[Richardo]

33. Did you get that from the same fact book as 'pee comes from the vagina'?

I'd bet you'd find it's exactly the opposite. The speeder sees what's coming - the poor slower bastards never know what hits them.

[MissMillie]

49. uh.... you got verifyable data on that?

because there was an accident just yesterday where the speeder clipped a semi, who went careening head-firstinto a pickup, and it was the guy in the pickup that lost his life.

So..... I'm willing to bet that this "most cases" thing is suspect.

innocent by-standers die in accidents all the time. It's not a freak thing.

[Orsino]

51. That is no comfort to the families of innocents killed by speeders.

Supposedly, there are studies showing that the speed of impact does not affect injury/fatality rate. I doubt I could believe that, and have been nearly or actually run off the road by enough speeders to want people confined to relatively safe legal limits.

Inconsistent enforcement is not entirely satisfactory, but I'm relatively content with the typical current situation--posted limits, but people pulled over only for greatly exceeding them. That's leeway for the leadfoots to get their game on, as long as they do it safely, and additional fines if they screw it up.

[Phillycat]

69. Hey, that's my word!

:D

[alarimer]

22. Speed kills.

Both kinds, actually, but I am talking about simple physics here. The faster the speed, the worse the impact. Now that people are driving less (and possibly because they are driving slower as well), fatality rates have started to drop.

And I like to think of speeding fines as taxes on the stupid. Including me because I got one the other day. I sure was stupid and not paying attention that day. I had it coming.

[flvegan]

23. Neither our roads nor our drivers could support that.

Especially while our drivers are texting their kids in the back seat while clutching a fistful of chicken rocketing down a 3 lane highway in a mini-van with underinflated tires.

[Greyskye]

24. OK.

You're crazy.

I was almost hit hard a couple weeks ago by an asshole going at least 20 mph faster then I was - and I was doing 5 mph over the speed limit on the freeway. Me (and most of the rest of the traffic) = 70 mph. Asshole = 90 mph, weaving through traffic.

Fuck all of you assholes who think you're not only more important than the rest of us, but invulnerable as well. :grr:

[Swede]

25. Here 's an 11 year old boy getting killed by a speeding driver a few weeks back.

WARNING THIS IS GRAPHIC.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=3a8_1216534946

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

26. Yeah. Good luck with that.

:eyes:

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

27. I always considered them more a friendly suggestion than a rule.

That being said, in my old age I find myself following the "suggestion" a lot more often- I have far better uses for my money than to let some heavily armed thug force me off the road and suck it all from my wallet.

[bigwillq]

29. On the highway

I am cool with not having a speed limit. I think sometimes, on the highway, the slower drivers are worse.

Anyway, with the way Connecticut traffic is you sometimes can't go over the speed limit because there is no where to go...too many cars.


But on any other road, other than a highway, I feel there should be speed limits. So many people get hit or killed by speeders, especially in larger cities. It's a damn shame.

[Silver Swan]

30. I don't believe in speed limits either.

But I believe motor vehicles should be manufactured to only be able to travel a maximum of 55 miles per hour.

Why is everyone in such a big hurry?

[NewEnglandGirl]

31. Most people don't

unless you see a cop around you. :P

[DarkTirade]

32. Whether you believe in 'em or not, they still exist.

[Zuiderelle]

34. You really stepped in it with this thread.

[ccharles000]

35. Yes you are crazy.

[datasuspect]

36. i believe in maintaining lane composure

ensuring that i am clear of people pacing me, too close in front, too close in back, in my blind spot, or if i am in theirs.

avoiding other drivers as much as possible will prolong your life.

this can be accomplished at very high speeds on rural interstates, secondary US and state highways, and many rural county routes.

[Pierre.Suave]

37. ok, how about this...

we remove limits on freeways only, AND make a drivers license as hard and expensive to get as a pilots license AND we regulate the cars as much as we do the planes?

Edit, I estimate, that it would remove 80% of the vehicles from the road.

[kentauros]

40. Actually, I agree with making the licenses harder to obtain

whether it means faster or no speed limits or not. However, there are some other factors not being taken into consideration here.

First, I take it those advocating the removal of the speed limits are not familiar with debris-riddled roadways, and I'm not talking about in-city roads only. In the Houston and Greater Houston area I have yet to see anyone being pulled over for an unsecured load. And yet, their tools, furniture, clothing, building supplies and so on are all over the place, some of it never sufficiently cleared later, either. I've noticed that accident sites are often only cleared of the largest pieces of debris with glass and other smaller yet still damaging pieces left for everyone to run over. How often do you see shredded semi tires all over the roadways? Ever run over one of those, at "slower" speeds like 60? You would never see it in time at 120. Even at 60, I barely missed the remains of someone's former chest of drawers on one of the local freeways because it was just over a slight rise. I managed to veer in time. At higher speeds you would have plowed into it, and left the freeway in an uncontrolled manner.

Second, unless you have some kind of superhuman power to read the minds of every other driver on the roads around you and far in front of you, there is no way you can reasonably predict what they will do next. As an example, driving home late one night from a local public radio station I volunteered at (this was around 3:30 ayem, Saturday night/Sunday morning) I see two cars barreling down the road in my rearview. So, I do the sensible thing and attempt to move over to the outside right lane, near the shoulder as I was in the middle. However, as I moved to the right, the car on the right moved exactly the same as I. So I moved the other way. He second-guessed me and moved in unison. We did that about three times total before I finally stayed put as both zoomed past me easily going 120 to my 65. I had to pull over and stop for a full 15 minutes to calm down. Had I not stopped trying to get out of his way, there would have been a very nasty and fatal accident for both of us. And that was on an empty freeway, too.

Third, if you're driving an unlimited speed out away from the city, at those upper speeds, it takes less to cause you to lose control. One bump and that's it. Hit a rabbit, armadillo, raccoon, dog or even a buzzard taking care of some roadkill and you join it. In case y'all aren't aware of it, the Autobahn is designed and built for these speeds. There's no more than a 4 degree grade anywhere along its length. Curves are banked and they have a maintenance crew unlike any we see anywhere else in the world. They don't have potholes on their roads. Can you say the same for our slowly deteriorating roadways? Do you have those stretches you want to drive an unlimited speed etched into memory and constantly amended for all the little areas that are falling apart? Probably not.

As is said below, what you want is speed, and seemingly, at any cost. Get yourself a professional driver's license and take it to the track. I don't want to share our roads with those that can't drive a reasonable speed and understand just how dangerous it is to all of us when you can't keep it sane.

[Pierre.Suave]

41. OK, I accept your challenge...

First, those people would not be driving if Licenses were both more expensive to get and much harder to get. Go try to get a pilots license, even a private pilot, single engine land WITHOUT an instrument rating. Come back and tell me if it is easy, and if you think a lot of people will pass. As an added bonus, this would cut our oil consumption tremendously.

Second, as stated above, there would be less people on the road in general, and far fewer idiots.

Third, that would be the risk we take. I think it would be safer to be in less traveled roads than it would be to be on a road packed full of any moron that they give a license to who has no clue how to drive, has no common sense or concern for anyone else on the road, etc...

Fourth, I DO take my car to the track.

[kentauros]

42. One major problem with accepting this "challenge":

In taking care of the problems I point out, you would basically be shutting a large part of society down, just to appease your need for speed. How are all the delivery, transport, repair and building contractors supposed to get around? What about their need to service people in the country, those only connected by the freeways? Mass-transit can't support their needs nor can it support the masses of people displaced by no more access to our current means of mass-travel. Things would collapse fast without first getting Euro/Japan-style mass-transit in place, that could also handle the plumbers, electricians, bricklayers, ambulances, police, and so on... By then, though, we may not have cars quite like they are now ;)

You would likely find, too, that with fewer cars on the roads that there would be less tax money to repair and maintain the roadways.

Why not just join the Air Force or become a shuttle pilot? Get your speed-fix beyond what can be achieved on the ground... ;)

[Pierre.Suave]

50. They seem to do ok in Germany

[kentauros]

53. And, uh, how big is Germany

compared to the US? Did they ever tear up all their rail in favor of roads only? ;)

[Pierre.Suave]

61. Your reluctance

is why we will never reduce our dependence on foreign oil until it is all gone.

Think about that.

[DS1]

54. They also have much stricter driving exams

You did know that, right?

You're average American shit driver would fail the driving exam over there many times over before realizing they were in fact 'average American shit drivers'

[Pierre.Suave]

58. Yes, I know that. Been there, done that.

read my reply above that got this convo started.

[Debi]

67. Unfortunately many see driving as a right not a privilege

and don't care if the have a 'license' to do so. If they can get their hands on a car, they drive. Which is why we see so many Driving While Barred/Driving While Suspended cases walk into my husband's law office. Their excuse? "How can I go to work/school/store if I can't drive"? :banghead:

[jobycom]

38. The only crime I believe in the death penalty for is speeding.

Start with Sammy Hagar, but that's not just about the speeding.

[bluesbassman]

39. You got a need for speed...Go to the track.

Eliminate speed limits, and every yahoo with a fast car or bike is gonna be weaving in and out of traffic doin' a hundred. Most people aren't skilled enough to handle that.

[LeftyMom]

43. I keep telling the CHP that. Why do they disrespect my beliefs?!? Fascists!!11!!!!!

[DS1]

44. Kick

[Zuiderelle]

46. ...

:spray:

[MissMillie]

45. well, I know I get better gas mileage when I stay between 65 and 70

versus when I drive faster than that.

[wickerwoman]

47. It's not so much about speed as predictability.

If you go at a predictable speed in a predictable direction you and everyone else will be fine (more or less regardless of what the speed is and obviously making an effort to avoid obstacles but still in a predictable way.)

My mom never speeds but she's still the worst driver I know because she gets jumpy and slams on the brakes all the time. My friend never speeds but he's been in tons of accidents because he changes lanes without signaling.

Unfortunately, it's hard for cops to enforce "predictability limits" before the actual accident occurs. Stupidity is hard to regulate so the rest of us suffer. Such is the way of the world.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

48. doesnt it save gas to not speed? isnt that why the rule was first created?

[TheFriendlyAnarchist]

52. Yea, I've recently turned into the people I used to hate.

I've been driving about 55 on the freeway whenever traffic is light, and coasting a lot more. I've been driving alot, and I can't afford a 1/4 of a tank in one day that I could avoid using by going a little slower.

[Shell Beau]

55. So you find it perfectly safe for one to go 85 and on the

same road someone else could be going 30? That is just disaster waiting to happen. And some people would go waaaay too fast!

[Bake]

56. It's OK, though.

I have it on good authority that the speed limits do not apply to you.

Bake

[SacredCow]

57. The Autobahn works in Germany....

because the drivers on it actually obey the rules... Slower drivers keep to the right. Each lane to the left you move is for a (much) increased speed range. And people know these rules and from what I understand, they actually follow them.

Here? Not so much... Some dumbass will get in the left lane at 35 mph... Or worse, they'll go exactly the same speed as someone in the RIGHT lane. Everybody starts tailgating and lane-jockeying. Then somebody will decide to pass on the shoulder, freaking out the guy in the right lane, who then slams on his brakes and...... Sooner or later, it becomes a 10-car pileup- all because someone doesn't know how to drive reasonably.

If I thought that no speed limit would mean that most people would be cruising at 85-90 mph, I probably wouldn't care all that much. But there are enough dumbasses out there who will want to run their new sports cars wide open when traffic is heavy and make (at least) a nuisance of themselves.


On Edit...

THIS is the type I'm talking about. Someone who waited 2 years to get a 2005 Fort GT40, and with 9 miles on the odometer decides to see how fast it will go. Next to a golf course (no chance of any pedestrians there, right?)

[kick-ass-bob]

62. Its not just the autobahn

all multi lane highways in Germany follow that rule. You get over *ONLY* to pass someone, then you immediately get back in the right lane. It's much safer because everyone is going about the same speed, and there isn't the mass of lane changings like we have here with all sorts of speeds in all sorts of lanes.

[SacredCow]

63. Yeah...

and if I thought for a second that could be accomplished here, I'd be all for it. But there's just way too much of the "It's all about ME!" attitude here.

[kick-ass-bob]

64. Yeah - I've thought about that too

And even 'tried to do it' myself, but it is such a losing battle on the road.

Thank god I take a bus to work every day :D

[SacredCow]

65. I wish I could take a bus...

I've got a 25 mile commute morning and afternoon. I started setting the cruise control at 60 to save on gas (BIG difference) and you'd think I was standing still. I would GLADLY do public transportation if it were available.

[kick-ass-bob]

66. Mine is 25 (or so) miles too!

My car would never make it - I have a nice express route that takes me from 2 miles from my house right onto campus.

And I get a free pass. I am so lucky :D

[SacredCow]

68. I see you're in Raleigh, NC....

That explains a lot. Baton Rouge is, far and away, the WORST city I've ever seen for public transportation. There is just zero effort put towards any transportation that doesn't involve cars. The bus system sucks, and they actively discourage bikes by refusing to have bike lanes or even shoulders on most roads.

[Fran Kubelik]

59. Crazy

[PeaceNikki]

60. Speed limits aren't some deity in which one "believes"