Speed Limits

[Jayhawk Bill]

As everybody knows, police officers won't write you a ticket for going a mile per hour or two over the speed limit.

Studying district court records for Virginia in 2005, I discovered that there were no tickets written for people going fewer than 15 mph over the speed limit. Accordingly, I've been going 5-12 mph over the speed limit, according to conditions, most days since then.

Looking over District Court stats today for the first time in three years, I discovered that the police were now ticketing drivers for 10 mph over the speed limit. Knowing that, I'll adjust my speed to 5-8 mph over the limit in most cases.

What irks me, though, is that there's been, in essence, a change in the law. Responsible drivers know that going 2-3 mph under the speed limit is unsafe: it puts your car below the velocity of traffic flow. When the police quietly change the threshold for ticketing drivers, with no public notice, they've started punishing responsible drivers.

I hate uneven enforcement of laws.

[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. And for the most part they think the same. But times change along with their decisions.

It can be stupid I know. I usually go no more than 5 over the speed limit, because not too long ago I was pulled over for doing 32 in a 25. Cop was having a dick day apparently, but let me off with a warning, thankfully.

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.

[Soxfan#1]

I just got my permit and I am not looking forward to all this class.

[Jayhawk Bill]

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.

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.

[schillingouttheks]

I've also noticed that even if you do go the speed limit, it still seems too slow for the road. Highways with a 55mph speed limit are jokes.

Soxfan, don't even come close to speeding. I don't say this because I don't think you'll be safe (and I actually agree with JHB that the posted speed limits are misleading and that it's safer to drive faster), but because it's in your best interest. I'm interning in the probation office in the Concord District Courthouse right now, and I can't even begin to count how many kids I've seen lose their licenses for speeding due to the new law that Massachusetts has passed. Are you aware of it? If you get a ticket while you have your JOL (junior operator license - any operator under the age of eighteen), you lose your license for 90 days, have to take an attitude class, a road rage class, pay the ticket fine obviously, your insurance will go through the roof, suffer a huge surfine, re-take the permit test, re-take the road test, and pay $300 to have your license reinstated. I love Massachusetts, but it's so easy to hate it sometimes as well.

[Soxfan#1]

Damn. I knew about the 90 days, but damn I didn't know about the rest. That's crazy shit.
I'm going to just avoid driving far with my JOL. I just want it for obvious reasons and to get around town.

I get confused with the speed limit often. I go the speed limit exactly on the main road and there's always one jackass that has to pass you. I think shit like that is very confusing for younger drivers and that contributes to bad driving by teenagers these days.

[CrespoBlows]

Originally Posted by Soxfan#1

Damn. I knew about the 90 days, but damn I didn't know about the rest. That's crazy shit.
I'm going to just avoid driving far with my JOL. I just want it for obvious reasons and to get around town.

I get confused with the speed limit often. I go the speed limit exactly on the main road and there's always one jackass that has to pass you. I think shit like that is very confusing for younger drivers and that contributes to bad driving by teenagers these days.

That might be .0000001% of the reason young drivers are bad drivers. The other 99.99999% has to with the fact that people like yankeessuck013 think it's cool to drive drunk, and that a 40 mph speed limit is optional.

[Thumper]

Originally Posted by schillingouttheks

I've also noticed that even if you do go the speed limit, it still seems too slow for the road. Highways with a 55mph speed limit are jokes.

I remember reading about how back in the day people marketed the "55, Arrive Alive" term for safe driving. 55mph is a very unstable speed, I believe it has to do with the aerodynamics, it makes handling harder because the drag is more apparent.

[One Red Seat]

I agree with JHB. The "enforced" speed limit is what most drivers adhere to, and an arbitrary and unannounced change in the enforced limit doesn't do anybody any good. That said, you aren't going to get law enforcement on record stating that the "enforced" limit is any different than the actual limit. Maybe an individual officer willl communicate that, but you'll get no policy confirmation. Also, to think this variation is the result of personal bias, as Thumper suggested, is a bit naive. The have regular shift meetings to discuss policy before they patrol the roads. A change in the enforced limit is a change in policy.

Here in Orlando, they employ another common enforcement technique that I can't stand, and my wife was ticketed recently by it. They like to set up at known areas of speed limit change and mass-ticket drivers. In her case, the change occurs at the bottom of an off-ramp from the freeway. The freeway limit is 55 mph, and it feeds onto a 35 mph secondary road. The secondary road receives little traffic other than those exiting the freeway, and about 500 yds from the entry point the secondary road merges into the right lane of a primary road with a 45 mph limit. The officers took advantage of this 35 mph zone, and pulled over an entire group of 7 drivers that were all moving at the same speed, including my wife. They wrote the 7 tickets, set back up, and repeated the procedure. A similar thing happened to me as a teenager in VA. There was a road on the way to school that terminated at another road. To the left, there was one house and then the other road dead-ended at a railroad track. Because of the house on the left, there was a stop-sign. Most drivers making a RH turn onto this road came to a rolling stop to see if there was a car coming from the deadend side with the one house (very infrequent). Around the corner, hidden by the trees on the right side of the road, there were 3 Fairfax County Police officers pulling the offenders over to write them a ticket.

What I hate about this is that it is such a transparent money grab, and it isn't doing anything to make our roads safer. I'll witness at least one reckless act of driving on my daily commute (each way), and I never see an officer on patrol to catch the offender. Apparently, it's more important to maximize revenues through fines than it is to catch the people who disturb the natural flow of traffic (which is what causes bad accidents). Every officer has regularly scheduled "court" days where they need to be in court as the officer who wrote the summons. I've been told that it is frowned upon if their day in court doesn't have a full docket. Sad, really.

[Mr Crunchy]

if you go 55 into boston during rush hour you're risking life and limb
if theres no traffic the commuters are going 75-80
if theres a ton of traffic theyre going 25-30
in any case 55 becomes a hazzard to everyone.
i notice if a state cop gets shot the staties are out in force,i also was a victim of collusion between the hingham state cops and a rogue clerk of courts who would be in cahoots to drive the overtime up by forcing anyone who fought a ticket to appear 2-3 times to get their hearing and in each case the trooper who wrote the ticket would get ot...they got caught,im just finished paying my surcharge....take note,red cars,hot rods and young drivers get scewed,us older guys in our suv's and minivans get a lot more breaks than the kids...i had my day in the sun being a code 35 from the age of 19 to the age of 30.
ive repented and now stress driving safely
memo to the kids out there
everyone has a cellphone now,if youre smoking crack in the car dont smoke thru a 2 liter bottle,use a weed pipe or a straight shooter,its less obvious and easier to toss off the longfellow bridge when being persued

[rician blast]

Originally Posted by Mr Crunchy

memo to the kids out there
everyone has a cellphone now,if youre smoking crack in the car dont smoke thru a 2 liter bottle,use a weed pipe or a straight shooter,its less obvious and easier to toss off the longfellow bridge when being persued

Sean, your benevolent nature shows itself again. The way you give, give, give warms my soul. Does your generosity know no bounds?

[YAZMAN]

Originally Posted by rician blast

Sean, your benevolent nature shows itself again. The way you give, give, give warms my soul. Does your generosity know no bounds?

He is a great humanitarian whose knowledge base is practically limitless.

And highly skilled as well. Did you know he can drive a 5speed on the turnpike in traffic while simultaneously drinking a beer and rolling a fattie?......while entertaining his passengers with spot on insightful political discourse with Delcate Sound of Thunder crashing from the stereo?

[rician blast]

Originally Posted by YAZMAN

And highly skilled as well. Did you know he can drive a 5speed on the turnpike in traffic while simultaneously drinking a beer and rolling a fattie?......while entertaining his passengers with spot on insightful political discourse with Delcate Sound of Thunder crashing from the stereo?

Duh...tell me something I didn't know.