Speed limits across the US are on the rise! Up-to-date state-to-state info & news...

waltzconmigo

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they are not one time use, i went back and quoted them today. I am not going to go citing sources from Timbuktu to Kathmandu to justify my position. I am talking about the problems we have had locally, if the government works perfectly where you live great. If you had read the article I just cited you would realize it does not everywhere.

I have never received a ticket from a red-light camera and have only received one speeding ticket, about 15 yrs ago.
 

GoFaster

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But I still support red light cams and the data shows them to be effective at changing drivers dangerous driving habits. Decreasing injuries at intersections.
That has not been the general result. Often, rear-end collisions increase substantially.

http://blog.motorists.org/la-red-light-cameras-increase-accidents/

http://blog.motorists.org/red-light-camera-peoria-accidents-double/

and if you don't like the source of those ...

http://eyeingchicago.com/red-light-camera-study/

http://blog.esurance.com/are-red-light-cameras-actually-causing-accidents/#.VB-E5xbFSSo
 
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GoFaster

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Just reviewing this thread now. 3 seconds is about right for yellow-light duration but I will explain where it starts getting marginal. At 90 km/h (highest speed limit on a road where one would find a traffic signal at is 80 km/h, plus another 10 km/h for good measure) you cover 25 m/s and it will take around 4 seconds including 1 second of reaction time to stop a car with good brakes, in that time you would cover about 62.5 metres of distance (and stopping about 1 second after the light turned red). Or you could choose to go through, covering 75 metres of distance in 3 seconds and hopefully being through the intersection by the time it turns red. Obviously this is right on the borderline and you had better have good brakes and good distance judgment, and if you are driving a dump truck or tractor-trailer rig you ain't gonna be able to stop in that time or distance.

Re-do the numbers for 60 km/h (16.7 m/s) ... It would take 1 second reaction plus 2 seconds braking to stop; you could stop a car (but not a dump truck!) fully within the 3 second yellow time and it would cover 33.3 metres. If you decide to go through, you would cover 50 metres of distance in the 3 seconds and the difference between those two is pretty close to the width of the intersection ... judge it right, and you are either clear of the intersection on the other side, or stopped in front of it, just as the light turns red.

Shorten the yellow much below 3 seconds and a lot of drivers won't be clear of the intersection by the time the light turns red. If the road has a lot of heavy truck traffic, 3 seconds probably isn't quite enough for them, particularly if it is a suburban or arterial route with higher speeds.

edit: Evidently in the USA, FHWA requires yellow duration to be a minimum of 3 seconds and a maximum of 6 seconds. Makes sense in view of the math.
 
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rotarykid

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The problem with speed limits and the way they’re enforced across Australia

Australian car magazine article discussing the fact that across Australia they have spent a fortune over the last 3 decades to built high speed freeways but have limits more suited to two lane highways.....


The problem with speed limits and the way they’re enforced across Australia



There isn’t a single facet in life where Australians are so comprehensively conned in the same way as they are with the enforcement of speed limits.

Note that I didn’t say ‘the enforcement of speeding’ here.

Saying that ‘speed kills’ is a most factually correct point of physics because the human body is unable to withstand such forces as that created by an object moving them, then suddenly slowing them from speed. So when authorities state that, you can’t argue … but you can argue that they’re just stating the obvious.



‘Speeding’ is a more relative term that may be applied to driving too fast for the conditions or too fast compared with those surrounding them. In short, speeding is very different to exceeding the speed limit, and here the problem lies.

Speed limits in this country are rigidly enforced. We’re told, ‘There’s no such thing as safe speeding’, and if you go 3km/h over the limit you will die. That’s a fair enough assumption if speed limits were created by human beings with a modicum of intelligence, but they simply are not.

The examples of why could take up the rest of this piece, but I’ll use only some that are a handful of kilometres from my house.



I live in probably the tightest city street in the world – so tight that I can’t fit a Porsche Panamera down it when parked cars flank either side of the road. The speed limit for my street is 50km/h, a speed you simply cannot do without taking out cars and probably people. Venture into the city and that speed limit too feels too quick when there are hundreds of pedestrians around.

Get out onto the Anzac bridge, four lanes wide with good sight lines, and the speed limit is 60km/h. It used to be 70km/h, so apparently doing 65km/h a few years ago was safe, but doing it now is dangerous.

Maybe that’s a good first question to pose to authorities who chirp that speed kills. Or perhaps to the highway patrol officer who sits at the bottom of the crest of the Anzac bridge pointing a radar gun towards motorists who aren’t continually on their brakes in a tight tailgating bunch coming down the hill, all in the name of road safety.



If you think there may be a slight chance of defence for the reduced speed limit on the Anzac bridge – just 10km/h higher than my Panamera-quashing laneway remember – just keep travelling onto the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Unlike the Anzac, which has a thick concrete divider almost entirely eliminating the chance of a head on accident, the SHB does not have such a divider so there is every chance of a head-on. In fact, maybe there’s more chance because the middle lane changes direction depending on peak flow. Yet the speed limit on this bridge is 70km/h.

Incidentally, the NSW government a few years ago allowed motorists to name the roads which they thought had an inappropriate speed limit and the top 100 most popular roads would come in for a review. Guess which came in number one spot? You guessed it, the bridge that crosses Glebe Island named to commemorate our diggers. Reckon many other limits were changed? They weren’t, but ones that did mostly went down.



In other blindingly contradictory speed limit movements, Parramatta Road is 60km/h but parts of the technically identical Victoria Road that runs parallel to it is 70km/h. Except for the bit where it’s 60km/h, flat and four lanes over a bridge where the Highway Patrol sit with their gun.

So, we’ve established that speed limits are not created by intelligent people. There are holes in the system, and therefore the system cannot be respected. Yet these loose, arbitrary digits with a red circle around them are enforced more rigidly than in any first world country I’ve been to, most of which interestingly have higher speed limits.

Not only are they harshly enforced, however, but sneaky tactics are used by the highway patrol to enforce them. Sneaky? Is that too harsh? No.


In addition to the Anzac bridge example – waiting downhill on a stretch of road NSW citizens all believe has a too-low limit – and the Victoria road bridge example where the cops seize upon a speed limit change to ‘catch’ motorists, there are other much worse examples.

At the start of the Sydney-Newcastle Pacific Motorway, formerly called the F3, there is an 80km/h limit that exists for far, far too long. The road is straight and three lanes wide, the on-ramp well past and the motorway officially has begun. Yet in the dark of night, the highway patrol will sit 100 metres before the switch to 110km/h and shoot down anyone who dares to speed up before the sign.

One evening recently while vehicle testing doing laps of the motorway for an economy drive, I saw three people shot down within the hour.



On the rear bumper of the highway patrol car reads, ‘THERE IS NO EXCUSE’.

Excuse me? So let me get this straight: before you even open your mouth to an officer, he won’t be accepting any reason for exceeding 80km/h on a perfectly straight bit of three-lane highway that turns to 110km/h in a hundred metres with no change to surfacing and conditions? What can the police officer possibly say to argue the case?

Is this primary school? Well, it would be, except kids are no longer hit with a stick into submission like motorists are.


When ‘speeders’ get a reminder notice to pay their fine in the mail, they’re politely reminded (or is that bullied?) that should you choose to fight the case, “less than 4 per cent of reviews result in the recipient not needing to pay the penalty” and “less than 1 per cent of penalties result in a not guilty verdict in court”.

Those who travel between Goulburn and Sydney will know that a particular long downhill stretch of Hume highway is also a favourite with the highway patrol.

When driving back from Melbourne last weekend, at a mind-numbing 110km/h, I was surprised to see the HP weren’t at that spot. Then I hit the resume button on the cruise control to just over the limit only to see the HP had pulled over someone ahead.


A friend of mine was once pulled over for overtaking a truck quickly and efficiently at 125km/h, and the patrol officer simply booked him, told him to use cruise control and walked off. Use cruise control? Oh yeah, switch off and contribute to the 20 per cent of fatalities on our roads caused by fatigue.

Every single day around three highway patrol cops will sit on Sydney’s newest motorway, the M7, which has perfect surfacing, perfect visibility and every safety net, barrier and run-off cushion imaginable. The speed limit for this perfect bit of road is 100km/h.

The net effect of all this stick-whacking is a scared and timid Australian motorist that sometimes also make a dangerous one.


Speeding and highway patrol-10Above: 80km/h old (top) and 100km/h new (bottom) sections of the Pacific Highway, New South Wales, with just 20km/h speed difference.

We all know that a lack of driver training has created some disastrous driving standards, but keeping to the speed limit, on the M7 for example, sees many motorists in perfectly good cars driving in a tailgating bunch of frustration, and often lingering in the blind spots of swaying trucks.


On a German autobahn, by contrast, which technically is little different to something like the M7 motorway, cars pass quickly and efficiently, drivers keep their vision up and indicate with plenty of time, and traffic flows.


When derestricted zones end and speed limits come in, people slow down enough to give them respect, if not within 3km/h of the stated limit.

‘Experts’ such as those at the government-funded Monash university chirp that speed kills from their ivory tower, printing endless streams of data and statistics that indicate you will die if you go 1km/h over the limit.

Yet people such as the boss of Mazda and the head of safety globally at Mercedes-Benz can see the real-world evidence of frustration and poor driving that lingers on our roads just like you and I can.


So we’ve established that our speed limits are flawed and cannot be respected, we’ve seen tricky tactics used by highway patrol to catch people, and we’ve seen the effect that has on the driving public. That’s without even mentioning the growing number of fixed speed cameras or poor road engineering standards.

Which brings us back to the ‘speed kills’ mantra: why does exceeding the speed limit kill us in Australia, yet in Europe with 130km/h-plus speed limits lots of people are alive?

It’s the final questioning nail in the coffin of anyone who simply says ‘don’t speed’. Australians may be known as a laid-back bunch, but in this case, sadly, all we continue to do is bend over…
 

romad

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Definitely a troll - asks for OFFICIAL documentation then rejects it because it doesn't fit his preconceived position. Added to the troll list.
 

rotarykid

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Dateline Iowa,State Rep. Dan Muhlbauer: Increase Iowa’s speed limits

Finally News related to speed limits, from Iowa.....





Iowa,State Rep. Dan Muhlbauer: Increase Iowa’s speed limits



State Rep. Dan Muhlbauer Monday said the state should increase speed limits by at least 5 mph on both two-lane paved highways and interstates, jumping them to 60 or 65 mph and 75 mph, respectively.

“I don’t have a problem with it because, honestly, most people, especially with cars today, are running 60-65,” Muhlbauer said of two-lane highways. “They are just made to go.”

In remarks to the Carroll Rotary Club at the Carrollton Centre, Muhlbauer, a Iowa,State Rep. Dan Manilla Democrat seeking re-election, said he drives faster than 55 mph on state, two-lane highways. He’d be OK if the limit were increased to 65 on those roads as long it was a hard threshold, and law enforcement ticketed motorists for crossing it even by a mile or two an hour, Muhlbauer said.

Carroll County Supervisor Mark Beardmore, a Rotarian and the sales manager of Wittrock Motors in Carroll, said fewer and fewer logistical transport companies are coming to Iowa because of the lower speed limits, which Beardmore, a Republican, thinks should be raised, too.

“It would have two benefits beyond the obvious,” Beardmore said. “It would increase fuel consumption if you get your user fee in there, and my favorite, they’d spend less time on Iowa roads and not tear them up.”

Beardmore said it would make sense to increase the speed limits and enforce them.

“It’s really killing logistics, it really is,” Beardmore said. “I mean, no one wants to come here.”

Continuing on transportation, Muhlbauer said the state’s roads and bridges are in need of repair. He supports a 10-cent-per-gallon gas-tax increase to raise funds to accomplish the infrastructure work.

“If you want to move rural Iowa forward, you need to support that kind of thing,” Muhlbauer said.

I had to drive the length of Iowa a few years ago, on two lane highways. Long straight with rolling hills with long site distances. 65 was a comfortable, safe, and allowed today from my observations while traveling in Iowa on two lane highways.

You get the border of Nebraska on roads that look identical and are built to the same safety design two lane highways are actually posted @ 65 today! The interstate which is no different on I-80 across Nebraska goes to 75 mph once you reach the border. There is no reason why Iowa could not once again see 75 on their interstates, that was the speed limit in 1974 when the NMSL took effect......
 

Dimitri16V

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rates of accidents in a highway much lower than residential roads with craploads of traffic lights . Proven fact

65 mph was really archaic . Prius drivers need to move over
 

romad

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rates of accidents in a highway much lower than residential roads with craploads of traffic lights . Proven fact

65 mph was really archaic . Prius drivers need to move over
Tell that to the Prius drivers that blow by me at 75mph! :D
 

rotarykid

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joining neighboring states, should Montana’s speed limit be 80 mph ..?....

Peer pressure works! I hope Colorado & Nebraska soon follow suite.......


Joining neighboring states, Should Montana’s speed limit be 80 mph?

I am an overly cautious driver, according to some of the backseat drivers in my vehicle. Some of them are related to me.

So it was a surprise to them and even to me when, after a Labor Day road trip to Salt Lake City to visit a daughter, I declared, “Montana should increase the speed limit to 80 miles per hour.”

In July, Idaho changed the speed limits on some stretches of interstate highways to 80 miles an hour in areas defined as rural. Idaho lawmakers voted to increase the state speed limit during their 2014 session but authorized the Idaho Transportation Department to determine where it was appropriate to raise the speed limit to 80 miles per hour. That was done after safety studies and engineering reviews.

The speed limit on some stretches of interstate in Utah were increased to 80 miles per hour in July 2013.

Wyoming also has 80 mph limits on some rural interstate routes, along with Texas. The Lone Star State also allows speed limits of up to 85 miles per hour with caveats. There is just one segment of highway, 40 miles of State Highway 130 between Austin and San Antonio, with an 85 mph speed limit, and it’s a toll road built by a private developer. A one-way toll for a passenger vehicle for the 40-mile length is $6.49.

Toll roads in Montana, where traffic “jams” are generally isolated to the Missoula and Bozeman areas on college home football game Saturdays, probably aren’t on the agenda.

But with the majority of Interstates 15, 90 and 94 in this state in rural areas, an 80 mph speed limit along some routes would make those long trips a little less long. What could be the down side? I asked Montana Highway Patrol Col. Tom Butler to weigh in.

“As a general rule, the faster you go, the more opportunity there is for injury and property damage because it takes you longer to stop,” he said. “The difference in near misses is of feet and fractions of seconds. Whether it is an accident caused by a distracted driver, a mechanical issues such as a blown tire or a deer or antelope on the highway, the faster you go, the less time you have to react.”

A change in Montana’s Interstate speed limits would need to be passed by the Montana Legislature and so far, no bills to do that have been proposed.

I lived beside a state highway in rural Glacier County in 1995 when Montana’s daytime speed limit was switched to “reasonable and prudent” and watched daily examples of idiots who are neither. I was relieved when the “Montanabahn” closed in 1999 and the state’s maximum speed limit was set at 75 mph.

If Montana’s upper speed limit is raised, we all need to defer to data and safety experts about just where those higher speeds are appropriate.

Whether that is even addressed by the 2015 Legislature, I can’t pass up an opportunity to pass along Col. Butler’s most important advice.

“We always advocate slowing down for conditions and buckling up,” he said.
 

romad

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Like the "peer pressure" that forced Montana to abandon its "reasonable and prudent" speed limit after the NMSL was abolished? ;)
 

rotarykid

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Like the "peer pressure" that forced Montana to abandon its "reasonable and prudent" speed limit after the NMSL was abolished? ;)
Actually the reason the state passed a numerical speed limit in 1999 was because someone filed suite challenging the vagueness of the "Reasonable & Prudent" and got the law overturned in late 1998. So for almost a year there was no speed limit during the day across Montana. I drove safely and comfortably across the state thousands of miles while it was reasonable & prudent.

I also had a trip across the state about 6 weeks before the 75 limit went into effect. Guess what?, no one drove any different during the time with no limit compared to the years with reasonable & prudent. So contrary to insurance lobby non-sense the time without a limit was not a time when drivers were allowed to drive recklessly!

In fact travel during this time across Montana was no different than is today in the NT of Australia today where there is a open speed limit today. AS a rule the data shows that drivers will not travel faster than they feel is safe or are comfortable with, with little or any regard to a speed limit higher or lower than that speed......So contrary to claims otherwise, having no numerical limit is no different than posting a proper engineering and speed data based limit when you look at the speed drivers travel within that posted zone....

Posting 80 mph zones are a start to setting proper limits on our freeways, but over many rural freeway stretches it is still 5-7 mph low below where the engineering, speed and safety data says it should be.....
 

romad

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Yep. Here in the CPR there are several areas that could handle 80-85 easily:

I-5 from I-205 in the north to CA-99 (or maybe The Grapevine) in the south.
I-8 from El Centro to the AZ border.
I-10 from Indio to the AZ border.
I-15 from Barstow to the NV border.
I-40 from Barstow to the AZ border.
 
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rotarykid

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Yep. Here in the CPR there are several areas that could handle 80-85 easily:

I-5 from I-205 in the north to CA-99 (or maybe The Grapevine) in the south.
I-8 from El Centro to the AZ border.
I-10 from Indio to the AZ border.
I-15 from Barstow to the NV border.
I-40 from Barstow to the AZ border.
Have driven on most of that list, so ++++++!
 

waltzconmigo

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you guys out west really are greedy:D I just wish we could get a reasonable limit within the collar counties of Chicago, 55mph is ridiculous when traffic regularly runs at 70. My brother went to Univ. of Wyoming so I am aware of the wide open spaces out there and often times lack of any type of traffic. At least things are moving in the right direction all over the country.
 

White Passat

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You can come to Austin and drive 80 mph on the toll road east of the city. Limited access and in good condition. Not a lot of traffic either. Beats driving through Austin on I-35 any time.
 

waltzconmigo

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You can come to Austin and drive 80 mph on the toll road east of the city. Limited access and in good condition. Not a lot of traffic either. Beats driving through Austin on I-35 any time.
I thought the 80mph toll road went from Austin SW towards San Antonio. I will be down in Austin in a month moving my brother up Memphis. I would be tempted to take a nice run out west in his GTI but it is a DSG and I really have no interest in driving it more than 5 ft.
 

Fix_Until_Broke

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Finally News related to speed limits, from Iowa.....








I had to drive the length of Iowa a few years ago, on two lane highways. Long straight with rolling hills with long site distances. 65 was a comfortable, safe, and allowed today from my observations while traveling in Iowa on two lane highways.

You get the border of Nebraska on roads that look identical and are built to the same safety design two lane highways are actually posted @ 65 today! The interstate which is no different on I-80 across Nebraska goes to 75 mph once you reach the border. There is no reason why Iowa could not once again see 75 on their interstates, that was the speed limit in 1974 when the NMSL took effect......
Controlled access roads in most of Iowa could easily go to 75 MPH (many are 70 MPH today) in my opinion. However, there are a LOT of 2 lane roads in Iowa that should NOT have their speed limits increased from 55 MPH. Mostly due to the rolling hills and propensity for there to be slow moving farm equipment on the roads in the spring and fall especially. You come over a hill at 65-70 MPH while Farmer Bob is pulling out of the field drive with his tractor and you're going to have a bad day.

Out in northwestern Iowa, there are plenty of 2 lane roads that could be 70+ MPH because it's very flat and you can see for miles. But there are many more roads in most of the rest of the state that wouldn't be safe at that speed in my opinion.
 

rotarykid

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I thought the 80mph toll road went from Austin SW towards San Antonio. I will be down in Austin in a month moving my brother up Memphis. I would be tempted to take a nice run out west in his GTI but it is a DSG and I really have no interest in driving it more than 5 ft.
Last time I looked there were ~620 miles that were posted @ 80 mph in Texas. Another ~100 miles of 80 mph was added to state freeways when the state went to a default 75 posted across the state on all types of roads. 75-80 % of the states roads saw a increase in limit after a year long evaluation,sections raised from 55 to 60 & 65, 65 to 70 and from 70 to 75 & 80.

The toll road that is being spoke of is ~40 miles long with a 85 mph posted limit. A little further north a section of the same toll road was not too long ago raised to a posted @ 80 mph up to where it splits off of the interstate, off of I-35 if memory serves....
 

White Passat

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I thought the 80mph toll road went from Austin SW towards San Antonio. I will be down in Austin in a month moving my brother up Memphis. I would be tempted to take a nice run out west in his GTI but it is a DSG and I really have no interest in driving it more than 5 ft.
It's fun to drive, even with a DSG. Not too much traffic and worth the $10 in tolls from my house to Cabela's. God created MT's for those guys that like to shift in the traffic on I-35.
 
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rotarykid

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Interstate 285 around Atlanta Speed limit is changing on the top end of the city peri

Atlanta's ring freeway starting today is getting a variable posted speed that will range from 35 to 65 mph depending on traffic condition. It is expected that the limit will be 65 mph 18-20 hours a day...............

Interstate 285 around Atlanta Speed limit is changing on the top end of the city perimeter freeway

Drivers will start to see signs on Interstate 285 Sunday that will change the speed limit according to traffic and weather patterns.

The new electronic signs are along the interstate in Fulton, DeKalb and Cobb counties.

On Sunday morning, Georgia Department of Transportation crews began to take the black bags off the signs and turn them on. They are also removing all the old 55 mph speed limit signs.

The new signs will not only increase the speed limit, but they’ll make it adjustable.

GDOT says the top end of the perimeter, I-285 from one Interstate 20 interchange to the other, is one of the worst spots for traffic in the metro.

"Too many cars, too many people. Everyone's on the road at the same time,” said one driver.

Officials hope the new variable speed limit signs will help warn drivers and slow them down.

"The number one reason for this is safety," said GDOT’s chief engineer Russell McMurry.

McMurry says for most of the day the signs will stay at 65 miles per hour, matching the new limit on the south side of the perimeter. But at times of congestion like rush hour, accidents, or bad weather, the speed limit will move in 10 mile-per-hour increments all the way down to 35.

GDOT hopes to cut down on the stop-and-go that slows everyone down and prevent secondary crashes.

"If everyone can comply and try to drive a similar speed limit, and is not having the slamming on brakes, they can actually get there faster,” said McMurry.

GDOT will monitor conditions during the morning and afternoon rush hour, when there's an accident, or in bad weather and adjust the speed limit to slow down drivers before the trouble.

"We're going to give you that notice, not just flip the sign. It’s not about a speed trap at all. It's really about trying to give the motorist the information they need that something is ahead of them that they need to slow down for,” said McMurry.

Some commuters say they aren't sure the change, and changing speed limits, will help.

"I can see where there could be a lot of issues with that, where it could cause a lot of confusion,” said one driver.

“I just ask that everyone give this a chance,” said McMurry. “It’s going to take some patience, take some understanding."

GDOT says during the transition Sunday, the variable signs will start at 55 to match the old ones, then once they are all uncovered, GDOT will push the speed limit up to 65.

Officials say it should stay at 65 mph between 18 and 20 hours each day.
 

rotarykid

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Alberta revenue from speeding tickets too lucrative to raise speed limits

An article from today on the resistance to raising speed limits because of the loss of revenue a proper posted limit would cost.............



Alberta revenue from speeding tickets too lucrative to raise speed limits


There’s no motive to increase the speed limit, and about 60 million reasons not to.

Sixty million dollars that is, in annual traffic ticket revenue — that’s roughly how much cash the province keeps from motorists caught breaking the law on Alberta highways, most of it via speeding.

It’s a guaranteed windfall, and though you’ll never get the government to admit it, that cash is likely one of the key reasons signs reading “Maximum 120” won’t be appearing alongside Alberta’s major highways anytime soon.

Never mind studies showing higher speed limits do not make highways more dangerous or convince drivers to push their pace ever higher, or the fact Canada has long maintained artificially low limits, in comparison to the rest of the industrialized world.

When it comes to speed limits, provinces like Alberta have too much to lose financially if they match limits to what most people actually drive, and thus Canada continues to lag in allowing motorists to take advantage of modern roads and technology.

And there it would have remained, if not for meddling British Columbia.

If you ventured west this summer, you saw the signs reading Maximum 120 along major highways like the Coquihalla, as well as higher limits on almost all roads in B.C.

Now boasting the highest speed limits in Canada (though still nine clicks shy of the 80 mph allowed in neighbouring Idaho), B.C. has bucked Canada’s refusal to consider higher limits, by actually studying the science of speed, and determining safety is not always intuitive.

Intuition is what tells you faster cars must crash more, or that a higher limit will only encourage drivers to break that law too. But repeated studies, including a report by the U.S. Department of Transportation, shows that doesn’t happen.

Drivers, it turns out, instinctively drive at the speed they feel safe at, regardless of limits — and in modern cars, on a modern divided highway in good weather, that tends to be in the 120 to 130 km/h range.

That’s why you rarely see anyone doing 110 km/h on the TransCanada or QEII — because the legal limit feels too slow to the majority of motorists.

Those same studies have shown drivers who are steadfast in moving slower than the pack are actually the most dangerous, and a car doing 110 km/h in traffic flowing much faster is more likely to cause a crash than those breaking the posted limit.

Increase the speed limit to match the majority, and crashes actually decrease — and it’s that modern science which convinced B.C. Transportation Minister Todd Stone to increase limits across his province.

“When you have motorists all generally moving at the same rate of speed — as opposed to people moving much faster or much slower than the natural flow of speed — you’re going to have a safer corridor,” Stone was quoted, back in July.

Four months later, B.C. has yet to see the motoring mayhem some predicted, and though it’ll be at least a couple of years before there’s enough data to compare with the old system, early indications suggest the only thing in tatters will be B.C.’s speeding ticket revenue.

“I believe there won’t be any excuse for Alberta not to do it, once we show the carnage everybody’s been predicting has not happened,” said Ian Tootill, the founder of SENSE BC.

If Alberta had someone like Tootill, we’d already be driving a legal 120 km/h.

But it wasn’t an easy fight, and it took groups like SENSE BC nearly two decades to convince the government in that province to change their slow ways.

“I can’t take full credit, but we’ve been in the background chirping and being an annoyance for quite some time,” said Tootill.

In Alberta, where the ministry of transportation is refusing to even consider higher limits — the official position being that increased speed limits make speeding worse — there’s only a slight glimmer of hope for motorists hoping to drive out of the dark ages.

Ministry spokeswoman Christine Way says there are no plans to review Alberta’s limit, but the province will be watching to see what happens in B.C.

“We’re always interested in the data that comes out, though we’re not particularly interested in it,” said Way.

In other words, slow road ahead.
 

waltzconmigo

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2010
Location
chicagoland
TDI
none
White Passat---I was just being a bit of a smart-a$$, once you are up to speed not much of a difference for a run like that.

So I am sure there is "good" reasoning for the variable speed postings but I just really do not get it. If traffic is moving slowly everyone is forced to slow. It is called rush hour traffic. How does this help anything in real world driving situations? Like I said there may be sound explanations for this and I am just a bit denser today than usual but I fail to understand.
 

tditom

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 5, 2001
Location
Jackson, MI
TDI
formerly: 2001 Golf GL, '97 Passat (RIP) '98 NB, '05 B5 sedan
I think that VSL is good in theory, but if LE does not provide the E, then it is actually dangerous. We recently started VSL here in San Antonio on the outer loop (1604). No cops in sight so people continue at 70 mph even when the limit is stepped all the way down to 35. The slowest I dared to go was 55, even when it was marked at 35. I think a crash would be inevitable if the cops don't enforce the lower limit and half the people are going 2x the speed limit :eek:
 

waltzconmigo

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2010
Location
chicagoland
TDI
none
MEH---your own video states that of the three pronged approach, two do not even apply to VSL. ie. adding capacity and more public transportation. On top of that they say they will give people a long lead time before coming upon the slowed traffic. My guess is that most drivers will ignore the speed reduction because it is not "necessary" at the time. Seems like this would work great in the "Sym City" world but has little to no relevant application in the real world. Adding capacity and more public transportation will account for 95% (my guess) of any improvements.
 

rotarykid

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 27, 2003
Location
Piedmont of N.C. & the plains of Colorado
TDI
1997 Passat TDI White,99.5 Blue Jetta TDI
Are Ontario highways in the slow lane?

The speed limit debate could be up for discussion again in Ontario......


Are Ontario highways in the slow lane?


Some argue higher speed limits would lead to safer roads

Chris Klimek believes there is growing consensus in North America that driving faster on major highways is actually safer and can reduce the number of motor-vehicle accidents that take place.

“There is much misconception about driving fast and driving safe,” said Klimek, founder of Stop100, an advocacy group that has been working to raise Ontario highway speed limits from 100 km per hour to 120 km per hour and 130 km per hour in express lanes.

“Misinformation, propaganda and sheer lack of interest has allowed the government to convince citizens that driving fast, on 400 series highways, is unsafe when in fact statistics have proven this to not be the case.

“People know that driving 120 km per hour is perfectly safe, there is no reason for it to be illegal in Ontario when in fact it is legal in so many other parts of the world.”

During the 1970s, speed limits across North America were higher, averaging 110 to 120 km per hour. But during the mid ‘70s an energy crisis lowered the national average speed limit to 100 km per hour in order to reduce fuel consumption.

“Traffic speed from 100 km per hour to 120 km per hour has an estimated fuel consumption increase of 35 per cent,” said Ontario Minister of Transportation Steven Del Duca. “Carbon dioxide emission rates are at their lowest at 60 mph (approximately 100 km per hour) and increase with higher speeds.”

Since 1976, speed limits have idled at 100 km per hour. In 1976 alone, the year speed limits were reduced, approximately 80 per cent of drivers became speeders.

Del Duca said Ontario speed limits are reviewed every three to five years and that speed limits on 400-series highways were last reviewed in detail in 2012.

“Before considering increasing the maximum speed limit on highways in Ontario, we would need to be confident that it would not compromise road safety,” Del Duca said.

Klimek said the only reason speed limits on Ontario highways were reduced to 60 mph, or approximately 100 km per hour, was because of political pressure from the U.S. to ration gasoline.

“Safety concerns had nothing to do with these changes but continue to be used today as a tactic to keep speed limits low,” he said.

In July, British Columbia raised some of its highway speed limits to 120 km per hour, making B.C. highways the fastest in Canada. Other provinces, including Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan, have also implemented higher speed limits, averaging at about 110 km per hour.

“The facts are the facts,” said B.C. Transportation Minister Todd Stone. “When you have motorists all generally moving at the same rate of speed – as apposed to people moving much faster or much slower than the natural flow – you’re going to have a safer corridor.”

Some traffic analysts think when everyone else is driving 120 km per hour, the law-abiding citizen driving 100 km per hour is actually the unsafe driver on the road.

“I think there is a realization that traffic tends to find its own flow,” said John Bowman, a spokesman with the National Motorists Association in the U.S. “And if you’re going below that, you might be the one posing the safety risk.”

According to recent research, driving too fast causes 6.7 per cent of all highway collisions, but 16.1 per cent of all fatalities in 2011 were a result of speed-related collisions. Only one in 15 crashes is blamed on speed.

“Over 80 per cent of all citations issued by police are for speeding, yet only 6.7 per cent of collisions are a result of speeding,” Klimek said. “Statistically speaking, we should only have eight per cent of all citations for speeding, not 80 per cent.

“Distracted driving, drunk driving, lane discipline and failure to properly operate headlights are far more dangerous than speeding and police need to consider this. Unfortunately, catching speeders is far too easy and results in millions of dollars each year.”

Const. Chrystal Jones of the West Region OPP in an email said questions related to speed limits in Ontario should be directed to the MTO.

“Speeding is an aggressive driving behaviour and is a major cause of motor vehicle collisions,” Jones said. “Speed kills hundreds of people on Ontario roads every year. The Ministry of Transportation sets the speed limits, the OPP enforces the related laws.

“OPP is committed to public safety and the OPP supports decisions made by the ministry related to speed limits and consequences.”

Speeding fines continue to rise and people who receive tickets are paying more than ever. Ontario’s street racing and stunt driving laws present some of the harshest penalties to drivers – maximum fines of $10,000, imprisonment up to six months, roadside license suspension up to two years, six demerit points, roadside vehicle impoundment for seven days and a criminal record, plus up to a 100 per cent increase in insurance premiums.

Klimek said the law has negatively affected drivers who are speeding and not racing.

“If the speed limits were reasonably set then these types of laws would be reasonable, but when the speed limit is conservatively low these laws are incriminating people for driving too fast and not necessarily dangerously,” he said.

Del Duca has a differing opinion.

“The majority of Ontario drivers behave responsibly,” he said. “For those who choose to needlessly and recklessly endanger the lives of other road users, we believe such penalties at roadside and upon conviction are completely fair.

“Driving is a privilege and excessively aggressive driving is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.”
 
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