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Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,475
Registered: ‎03-14-2015

My question is, why do car manufacturers even have speedometers that go up to 150mph?

 

 

There is no need for anybody to ever go that fast.

 

 

 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 24,105
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

I live in Southern NJ and if you don't speed on the Turnpike, 295, routes 42, 55 and others, you'll get run over. The highest speed limit here is 65 and if you go 65 on those roads you'll get shoved right off the road. Traffic on those roads tends to move in packs. I'll typically start out alone driving at 65 or so, then a pack of cars will near me and I'll inch up a bit in speed so they don't close in too fast on me. (Wide differences in speed tends to cause more accidents than speeding.) As the pack envelops me I'll speed up to try and stay more or less in the middle of that pack of cars, but if they're going too fast or driving too recklessly, I'll drift back through the pack and out the back where I'll drop back down to 65 until the next pack catches me. 

 

If the pack of cars stays in that 70-75 mph range I'll typically hang with them. When they're pushing 80-90, I drift back and slide out of the pack. If you're going 65 though and a pack of cars closes in on you going 90, that's a 25 mph speed difference and that's almost more dangerous than speeding. 

 

You want to use common sense when you're driving and avoid being the outlier. We had an old neighbor (Mrs. Rascher) who would never drive faster than 45, even on the interstates. The rate at which cars would close in on her was unnerving and she nearly had multiple accidents as a result of her driving that much slower than everyone else. If you're going too slow, a fast car will be on you before they realize it sometimes.

Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!
Honored Contributor
Posts: 20,019
Registered: ‎08-08-2010

Speed kills, period. It complicates the ability to react in time when anything goes wrong (something unexpected entering the roadway, a malfunction of the vehicle, the introduction of other drivers etc.) It risks not only the life of the person doing that speed, but anyone they come in contact with.

 

That said, I'm sure there are some areas in some states (I've driven through the west but decades ago) that still have virtually no traffic, and clear, open, easy to see and navigate roads with only good weather. But when you raise limits in these areas, people push it in other places where it isn't safe.

 

In this area on  many of the interstate highways in more rural areas, the limit is 70, and it is way too fast for very many of these places. And if people just really did 70 as the max, that would be bad enough, but they push it to 80 and more. 

 

Higher speeds would not be much of a problem if the roads were virtually empty and there was almost no one on the roads, but it simply isn't like that is most of the nation. You couple that higher speed, with traffic congestion increasing all the time, and add is the people who are driving impaired, distracted and almost asleep, and in my opinion, our highways are slaughter centers.

 

We are able to get the news from Columbus Ohio in our area, and accidents and deaths are reported every day on the highways in and around that city. It would make sense that the more congested the roads get (the closer to and in cities) the lower the speed limit should be, and the more enforced those limits should be. But they run the same 80 -90 mph on those highways as they do in the rural areas, and I rarely see law enforcement doing anything about it.

 

IF it were me, most interstates in this area would be a max speed of 60 inside the congested areas, and 65 other places. Honestly, I don't know how fast people think they need to get from point A to point B. Plan better, allow yourself the travel time you need to get there safely or just don't go. 

 

As I said, it isn't just the speed, but until we get people to stop driving under the influence, tired, and distracted, the speed simply increases the risks of something happening, or the results of the accidents more grave than they would be at lower speeds. 

 

 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 36,050
Registered: ‎08-19-2010

Can you imagine driving like that and texting !

God have mercy on us all.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 14,935
Registered: ‎03-11-2010

That's ridiculous. Now they will be driving 90-100 mph if 80 mph is the speed limit. Every time we drive to Fl there are so many lunatics driving over the speed limit. When we go thru Birmingham, Al I about have a heart attack. Last trip I did have an anxiety attack which I have never had due to the fast driving. We were driving the speed limit & everyone was flying around us. They act like they are asking for a death wish.

Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,665
Registered: ‎03-14-2010

Around here, people seem not to know how to read speed limit signs or  think that the speed limit posted is a "suggestion." ( my daughter's boyfriend falls into the "suggestion" group) 

 

Personally, I usually go 5 miles over whatever the posted limit is, I have people flying by me going at least 10 miles or more faster than I am. This is on streets near residential areas. On tollways, most are going 15-20 miles over the posted speed limit, if not more.

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Honored Contributor
Posts: 9,812
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

@software wrote:

I drive 80 on a 6-lane interstate and I'm the slow one.

If I drove 75, I'd probably get run over.

 

 


@software, that so sounds like I-75 through Atlanta.  I drove that everyday to Buckhead and back home in rush hour traffic.. that's the first thing I didn't miss when I stopped working.

 

As one of the radio announcers said, "There's nothing like sitting in Atlanta traffic and you see a woman coming up behind you doing 80 putting on her makeup."  

Go VOLS
Rocky Top you'll always be home sweet home to me.. Good ole Rocky Top, Rocky Top Tennessee... Rocky Top Tennessee
Honored Contributor
Posts: 18,415
Registered: ‎11-25-2011

Re: Speed Limit- 80 MPH

[ Edited ]

@Desertdi wrote:

@missy1 wrote:

 They figuered people were already driving 80+.


Yup...........I do more than that on the Interstate..................


....and we're proud of that why?

You're breaking the law.  

Speeding will kill more than the societial evil cell phone. 

 

Accident?  It's not 'if'...it's 'when'.

 

 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 9,139
Registered: ‎04-16-2010

Re: Speed Limit- 80 MPH

[ Edited ]

I learned to drive on the Autobahn.

 

No issue with it. Not to mention that driving I 95 every day, this is the norm.....

 

Last, just because it says you can, doesn't mean you have to. Those that choose to will simply not receive a ticket. One of my sons is a new driver and he stays on the far right as he is still not thrilled with driving 65-80 MPH at this point. As he gains skill and experience, I'm sure he will (just like I did).

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,475
Registered: ‎03-14-2015

@sidsmom wrote:

@Desertdi wrote:

@missy1 wrote:

 They figuered people were already driving 80+.


Yup...........I do more than that on the Interstate..................


....and we're proud of that why?

You're breaking the law.  

Speeding will kill more than the societial evil cell phone. 

 

Accident?  It's not 'if'...it's 'when'.

 

 


 

 

 

And how much do you want to bet that it will be the "other person's fault"?

 

 

This is why we need more cops on the road to catch more speeders.

 

And if they have a history of speeding?

 

 

Simple, make each subsequent ticket more expensive, and put points on their driving record after so many tickets.