Whats up with "speed limits" in the NE?

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Dr_Deathweed

Dr_Deathweed

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I have only been driving up here for a couple days, but are traffic laws not enforced whatsoever? I mean, last time I drove 80 in a 55 in Texas I had to drain my savings to pay the ticket. The whole way between St. Louis and Pittsburgh I was getting flipped off for only going 10 over whatever posted limit... In my opinion, it is unsafe to post a limit and not enforce it. One law abiding citizen traveling the speed limit is at the mercy of every other jackass who thinks their time is more important than every one else's. Either change the limits to something more respectable (50 for a highway is ludicrous) or petition your cops to get out there and actually enforce the damn things.....

Well it looks like I am going to be pissing off some more drivers over the next few days 'cause like hell am I going to pay another ticket.....
 
I notice that too. My uncle, who lives in Cape Cod and came from Stamford, drives like a maniac. I think a whole lot more people have radar detectors up there. They're illegal here in VA :(
 
It is even worse here in Atlanta. Posted 55....deadly to go anything under 70.

EDIT: And the reason I say it is worse here is because in the NE people tend to be OK drivers, here in Georgia people really suck at driving.
 
Yeah, here in Mass. it seems that if you aren't going at least 10 miles over on the highway, you're driving "too slowly". Even on a side street, if you're going the limit you'll most likely have some ****** on your ass. (Most likely talking on a cell phone as well)
 
Safest is to follow the flow of traffic. Just go a few mph under the average. It's pretty unlikely that you will get tagged if you are going a few miles an hour less than the fastest car on the road.
 
Beerrific said:
It is even worse here in Atlanta. Posted 55....deadly to go anything under 70.

EDIT: And the reason I say it is worse here is because in the NE people tend to be OK drivers, here in Georgia people really suck at driving.
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I drive 80+ on my way into work everyday and I'm not passing people at all, just keeping up.
 
Jester369 said:
Safest is to follow the flow of traffic. Just go a few mph under the average. It's pretty unlikely that you will get tagged if you are going a few miles an hour less than the fastest car on the road.
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I am that guy who gets pulled over if I happen to touch the white line while driving and get cited with failure to control your vehicle (true story). I would rather piss a few people off and not risk another ticket. Besides, if some jackass on a cell phone plows into me I can sue the **** out of them, and possibly the city/state as well for not enforcing traffic laws....

Well, probably not, but I am kinda pissed after a semi doing close to 85 in a 55 almost ran my wife off the road a couple hours ago. In my experience truckers are usually the better drivers and not the ***holes on the road....
 
Jester369 said:
Safest is to follow the flow of traffic. Just go a few mph under the average. It's pretty unlikely that you will get tagged if you are going a few miles an hour less than the fastest car on the road.
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+1000. I know it sucks that the majority of the automobiles are going nearly reckless, but I tend to care more about safety than I do some arbitrary number. All studies on the subject have concluded that, at least to a certain point, it's safer to travel along with the flow than it is to stay slower or go faster. And like Jester notes, the probability of you getting pulled if you're in a pack of people going 80 is minuscule. If everyone's doing 80, then they're looking out for the guy going 95.

Nothing's worse, to me, than rolling along with the flow of traffic, usually around 10 over, and some *****ie is going the speed limit exactly, and so there ends up being this big, unsafe logjam while the rest of traffic moves around them. Idiots. Oh, yeah, you're just obeying the law...SHUT UP!
 
deathweed said:
I am that guy who gets pulled over if I happen to touch the white line while driving and get cited with failure to control your vehicle (true story). I would rather piss a few people off and not risk another ticket. Besides, if some jackass on a cell phone plows into me I can sue the **** out of them, and possibly the city/state as well for not enforcing traffic laws....

Well, probably not, but I am kinda pissed after a semi doing close to 85 in a 55 almost ran my wife off the road a couple hours ago. In my experience truckers are usually the better drivers and not the ***holes on the road....
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It's not as much about pissing people off as it is just trying to stay alive. I know it sucks that they're going too fast, but that doesn't change the fact that it's safer to go their speed than slower. If you really WANT to risk your life and then sue them, fine. Me, I prefer to just stay out of it altogether.

And if you're 'that guy' who gets pulled from a pack, then, I suggest you remove all those "I hate cops" and "suck my balls, piggy!" bumper stickers from your car. Probably doesn't help.
 
There's a reason we drive fast in the Northeast: we spend months crawling along because of snow that we're trying to make up for lost time.

Speed is a way of life here. We wonder why people in other places actually look at the posted speed limit.
 
They're more like speed suggestions... at least 'round these parts
 
Jester369 said:
Safest is to follow the flow of traffic. Just go a few mph under the average. It's pretty unlikely that you will get tagged if you are going a few miles an hour less than the fastest car on the road.
Click to expand...

That's always been my MO...just make sure SOMEBODY is going faster than you are. Somebody always will be. I've never had a ticket in 28 years of driving.
 
Actually, the sad part is even if you were driving over 10 miles over the posted speed limit and all the other drivers were passing you like you were parked you could still get a ticket for driving TOO SLOW and endangering other motorists. So true...


There's a reason truckers call the right-hand lane the "Granny Lane"...
 
What makes it really interesting is that different highways have different amounts over the limit that you can go. For example, I-95 between Boston and Providence you can pretty much go 80 with no problem. Meanwhile on 128 the norm is about 75. The Expressway is 70-80. 146 in RI is 70. And so on.

I think at this point the fear is that drivers are so used to exceeding the speed limit that if you raised them to what people are driving now we would all just go even faster.
 
Beerrific said:
It is even worse here in Atlanta. Posted 55....deadly to go anything under 70.

EDIT: And the reason I say it is worse here is because in the NE people tend to be OK drivers, here in Georgia people really suck at driving.
Click to expand...

I live in Boston, and driving in snow to me is like driving on normal ground, we get so much of it it hardly even registers anymore. About 2 years ago I was driving in DC just after a "freak snowstorm" apparently it doesn't snow that much down there, and half an inch of snow throws people off. I have to say the idiots on the road could not deal with 1/2 an inch of snow I mean come on southerners, it is bad enough that you don't speed, but to do 30 in a 50 because there is a half inch of snow.... and on top of it to have accidents every quarter mile....
 
TheJadedDog said:
I think at this point the fear is that drivers are so used to exceeding the speed limit that if you raised them to what people are driving now we would all just go even faster.
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I hate when people play the "everybody's stupid and clueless (except for me)" card. Sure, we all like to think we're special and that we're the only smart ones on the planet, but of course that's just an absurd thing to think. Everybody has a survival instinct- even soccer moms. If we raised the speed limits, people who tried to tack on an extra 10mph again would be feeling their tires do things that they really are not accustomed to and they would slow down.

The real reason, IMHO, for retaining slow speed limits is that it gives police probable cause to pull over anybody on the interstate because everybody is breaking the law. In other words, by making us all criminals, we now don't have the right to say, "I wasn't doing anything!". And to add insult to injury, how many of the people doing the speed limit do you think are legally drunk on a saturday morning?

The scary thing is, you're either a law breaker and the cops have an automatic right to pull you over, or else you're driving suspiciously and should probably be followed until probable cause can be attained for a stop.
 
Special Hops said:
I don't know but I don't think Pittsburg is in New England.
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I think the "NE" in the thread title is for "Northeast", not "New England". Though a lot of New Englanders seem to think otherwise.

The 'burgh doesn't really qualify as Northeast, either, though. It's the eastern boundary of the Midwest, at least sociologically.
 
Donasay said:
I live in Boston, and driving in snow to me is like driving on normal ground, we get so much of it it hardly even registers anymore. About 2 years ago I was driving in DC just after a "freak snowstorm" apparently it doesn't snow that much down there, and half an inch of snow throws people off. I have to say the idiots on the road could not deal with 1/2 an inch of snow I mean come on southerners, it is bad enough that you don't speed, but to do 30 in a 50 because there is a half inch of snow.... and on top of it to have accidents every quarter mile....
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Yeah, here in NH it can be funny. I have to admit, I am one of the many drivers who the OP is reffering to. When we get snow, unless its a monster storm of 3'' I will drop maybe 10-15mph on the highway. Once you get used to it its normal and the more you try to prevent something the more likley something will happen.

Jeff Foxworthy had a great skit about, you know your from New England when: and one was you like the snow because it fills the pot holes in.
 
Thats how it is here in DC. You have a very small number of motorist that actully try to drive safely. Then you have everyone else...There was an accident on I-95 right outside of my office. I guy slammed into a women that was doing no more the 40 in a 55. They other guy was going about 85+...killed them both. Every time I get on the highway here it's a white knuckle ride, more like playing Russian roulette with my life on the highways
 
Bike N Brew said:
I think the "NE" in the thread title is for "Northeast", not "New England". Though a lot of New Englanders seem to think otherwise.

The 'burgh doesn't really qualify as Northeast, either, though. It's the eastern boundary of the Midwest, at least sociologically.
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Yeah, I meant Northeast. Sorry if I am outside my "sociological boundaries" :D
 
I'm from NJ and I never could understand why NY, NJ and PA are not part of New England. Especially since New Jersey is named after the English island of Jersey, New York after York and well, Billy Penn was from England also...

In my mind all the original 13 colonies should have been labeled "New England"...;)
 
Anything north of Virginia qualifies as Northeast. :D


Atlanta has the worst drivers and traffic of any place I have ever been. Bumper to bumper traffic 6 lanes wide going 80 mph+. And they wonder why it takes them hours to get anywhere......
 
Sir Humpsalot said:
I hate when people play the "everybody's stupid and clueless (except for me)" card. Sure, we all like to think we're special and that we're the only smart ones on the planet, but of course that's just an absurd thing to think.
Click to expand...

I'm not really sure how this relates to my original post. I wasn't implying that anyone was stupid or clueless or that I was special. I was just pointing out that if you raised the speed limit 10 mph to the speed people are going know, everyone would go 10mph faster than what they are going now rather than suddenly obeying the speed limit.
 
TheJadedDog said:
I'm not really sure how this relates to my original post. I wasn't implying that anyone was stupid or clueless or that I was special. I was just pointing out that if you raised the speed limit 10 mph to the speed people are going know, everyone would go 10mph faster than what they are going now rather than suddenly obeying the speed limit.
Click to expand...

Is that what you would do? Would you assume that your car that is safe at 80 is suddenly safe at 90 because the speed limits were increased? If not, then why do you think others would think this?

As far as I can tell, the whole argument is based on the premise that people are too dumb to realize that an increase in the speed limit doesn't make their cars any safer at higher speed.

My apologies for jumping the gun on this. I just find it to be a poorly thought out argument (and one that I probably hear at least once a week). I don't believe people choose their speed based on the speed limit. They choose it based upon what feels safe to them under the circumstances. Altering a sign on the side of the road should have no effect on that except, perhaps, a slight bump in speed given that slower traffic should now be moving faster, so there may be a slight tolerance for an extra mph or two given that there is less of a dangerous discrepancy between the faster and slower traffic.

Traffic is safest when all vehicles are traveling at the same speed. Speed limits should be set at the 80th percentile, they should be determined by engineers, not politicians.
 
homebrewer_99 said:
I'm from NJ and I never could understand why NY, NJ and PA are not part of New England. Especially since New Jersey is named after the English island of Jersey, New York after York and well, Billy Penn was from England also...

In my mind all the original 13 colonies should have been labeled "New England"...;)
Click to expand...

As a native New Englander married to a Jersey girl, might I say that we New Englanders do not want New Jersey associated with us. New York, either. Pennsylvania, maybe.;)
 
I think it might be best to drive 55 absolutely everywhere!! In cities you are going too fast, on highways you are going to slow.....Piss off everyone in one fell swoop IMO! :D

My biggest gripe is with all the stop signs. Why do we have to stop absolutely EVERYWHERE? Especially when there is no other car in sight, but one police car hidden behind a bush. :(
 
Sir Humpsalot said:
Is that what you would do? Would you assume that your car that is safe at 80 is suddenly safe at 90 because the speed limits were increased? If not, then why do you think others would think this?

As far as I can tell, the whole argument is based on the premise that people are too dumb to realize that an increase in the speed limit doesn't make their cars any safer at higher speed.

My apologies for jumping the gun on this. I just find it to be a poorly thought out argument (and one that I probably hear at least once a week). I don't believe people choose their speed based on the speed limit. They choose it based upon what feels safe to them under the circumstances. Altering a sign on the side of the road should have no effect on that except, perhaps, a slight bump in speed given that slower traffic should now be moving faster, so there may be a slight tolerance for an extra mph or two given that there is less of a dangerous discrepancy between the faster and slower traffic.

Traffic is safest when all vehicles are traveling at the same speed. Speed limits should be set at the 80th percentile, they should be determined by engineers, not politicians.
Click to expand...

Ok, but why even post a limit if it is not enforced? You are correct, traffic is safest when all vehicles are traveling at the same speed, but unless you enforce this somehow, everyone is going to try to get wherever they are going as fast as they can get away with.
 
I am particularly fond of the drivers who think that by flashing their highbeams at you, you are required to open the lane for them so they may continue to speed through.

I drive a 3/4 ton truck and don't give a flip so I slow down nd force the *****y to go around.

Once, I was fortunate enough to have a cop in front so when the DB sped around me........Busted! I was more than happy to point my finger at the guy and give him a big grin and a laugh.
 
deathweed said:
Ok, but why even post a limit if it is not enforced? You are correct, traffic is safest when all vehicles are traveling at the same speed, but unless you enforce this somehow, everyone is going to try to get wherever they are going as fast as they can get away with.
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No, every one will NOT try to get wherever they are going as fast as they can get away with. That assumes nobody values their life. Actually, what they will do is try to get where they are going as quickly as they safely can. Yes, there will always be the hoodlum doing 120 down the interstate, but that's going to happen regardless of the speed limit. The average person is going to select the speed that they feel is a reasonable compromise between safety, speed, and efficiency.

Why post a speed limit that's not enforced? My conspiracy theory is that it's a police state thing. If the constitution doesn't allow us to stop people without probable cause, we'll create a law that nobody follows and then we'll always have probable cause.
 
Sir Humpsalot said:
Me too. So I move to the right so that they stop bothering me. And, in an instant, they are gone.
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I for one, Thank you for doing that. I speed all the time but never recklessly in traffic. I have topped 160 on open roads with no other cars. As I've always said, You pay to play. If I get caught, so be it.
 
VatorMan said:
I for one, Thank you for doing that. I speed all the time but never recklessly in traffic. I have topped 160 on open roads with no other cars. As I've always said, You pay to play. If I get caught, so be it.
Click to expand...

Damn.. that's fast. I'm not usually too comfortable much over about 135 or so... the wind blast gets to be a bit much... not that I haven't experimented a time or two... I'm sure I'd feel differently in the safety of a cage though. :)
 
shecky said:
As a native New Englander married to a Jersey girl, might I say that we New Englanders do not want New Jersey associated with us. New York, either. Pennsylvania, maybe.;)
Click to expand...

Nope, and I'd rather not have CT associated with New England either. NY can keep CT. I'd rather it just be MA,RI (they're ok), NH, VT, and ME.
 
Joe C said:
Nope, and I'd rather not have CT associated with New England either. NY can keep CT. I'd rather it just be MA,RI (they're ok), NH, VT, and ME.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I live in Western CT, which seems far more interested in being part of NY than NE. Fine with me. I haven't lived in my native state of Mass. in nearly 20 years, but it's still home.

I must say, though, that western CT certainly looks like NE. It's damn beautiful.
 

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