Quote:
Originally Posted by Thumper
Well it reall all depends on the police officer.
My dad was a cop for 15 years, and usually he'd pull someone over if they went more than 10mph over the speed limit. But other officers would write citations for 5 over, even 3 if they were in the mood to be a dick, and there were such days.
There's no set standard to pull someone over so many miles over the speed limit, just a cop's personal preference.
|
But that shows up in court records...and, over time, it shows up in driving patterns.
In 2005, police in Virginia were writing for 15+ mph over the speed limit. Now they're writing for 10+ over the speed limit. That's a change. Drivers, though, are going 7-12 over the speed limit in Virginia: the traffic flow includes drivers who'll get tickets.
Normally, at least in my experience, usual traffic flows (off Interstate Highways) reflect enforcement patterns. Right now they don't in Virginia.
Quote:
|
So in any case, it'll never stop changing, the best you can do to not worry about it is just either go the speed limit or do 2-3 over it.
|
I respectfully disagree. It's more important to drive safely, and I'm going to go at least 5 mph over the limit on major US highways just to stay in traffic flow.
I'd be really happy with a world where the posted speed limit was the real speed limit, and I'd happily comply--but that's not the reality of our system.