Was told I am dangerous, I disagree

[Ben]

But down in Colorado, 99% want to drive 25mph over the speed limit, either on the interstate or on some winding mountain pass with hairpin curves marked 10mph, or in heavy rain on a rutted two lane with several inches of standing water 

So you think I ought to be squealing the tires on every corner or risk hydroplaning off into the Yampa River just because somebody else wants to speed    (not to mention being the out of state driver that gets a ticket)

That always bothers the hell out of me too, and is where my courtesy to fast drivers ends. If you're trying to tailgate me into going as fast as you on a narrow, windy road, sorry, but suck it up. I'm driving a safe speed for me. I'll pull into a turnout when I safely can, but if you're tailgaiting me, I'm not going to slam on my brakes to make that little one car length gravel turnout that just popped up 100 feet ahead on the other side of the curve, and either run myself off the road or get rear ended by you.

[roo_ster]

So if 85% or other drivers exceed the speed limit, thus breaking the law, we should break the law too?

Sorry, I can't agree to that. Speed limits are maximum speed limits (except for maybe two roads I've seen in my entire life that stated a minimum speed -- 40 MPH -- in addition to the maximum limit). It's not unlawful to drive slower than the posted speed limit. It IS unlawful to drive faster.

Hawk, just because a limit is posted does not automatically make it either practical or safe. Legality notwithstanding, maintaining the same speed as 85th percentile drivers around you is, statistically speaking, the safest way to travel.

This. 

By the same logic, if 85 percent of the drivers obeyed the speed limit, then by your analysis driving at the speed limit would magically become safe.

I stand by my statement. The fact that 85 percent of drivers routinely exceed the speed limit, coupled with the fact that it is the differentials in speed that can be dangerous, doesn't mean that the one person who obeys the speed limits (which are set according to traffic engineering analyses for safety) is creating an unsafe condition. Rather, it's the 85 percent who choose to ignore the legal limit who are creating the unsafe condition.

It is not magic, merely reality.

Your statement stands on its knees, after having taken a blow to the solar plexus by numerous traffic studies over the decades.  Posted speed limits have little to do with actual highway safety. If the 85th percentile is above the posted limit, it is the dumbass lawmakers and regulators who are creating the unsafe conditions.

Speeding tickets are a racket, where the gov't extorts cash from those using the taxpayer-funded highways.  They have nearly zero moral content and are merely an irregularly assessed use tax.




 

[Tallpine]

CA is 55MPH, which can be up to 15MPH less. I actually don't see that many big rigs doing 55MPH in the areas where you can drive 70MPH. They generally (probably the independent guys without a meter?) are doing up to a tad over 60MPH in those zones (with the occasional speed demon doing 70MPH. In my experience though, as a whole the big rig guys are much better on the road than passenger vehicle drivers. Sure, there are jerks, but they seem to be a smaller portion of that population than the general driving population. Additionally, I'm probably giving them a bit more leeway than I do passenger vehicle drivers, knowing that they have a whole lot more vehicle and weight to handle.

Yeah, in general I'd much rather share the road with big rigs, though they are not as polite and professional as I remember from years ago (we had a psycho big rig a few years ago in N. CO).  It does bother me when a truck following another truck pulls into the left lane just as I am starting to pass them both, but I cut them some slack knowing that in a car I can slow down and speed up much more easily than they can.

That always bothers the hell out of me too, and is where my courtesy to fast drivers ends. If you're trying to tailgate me into going as fast as you on a narrow, windy road, sorry, but suck it up. I'm driving a safe speed for me. I'll pull into a turnout when I safely can, but if you're tailgaiting me, I'm not going to slam on my brakes to make that little one car length gravel turnout that just popped up 100 feet ahead on the other side of the curve, and either run myself off the road or get rear ended by you.

Sometimes I think about giving up on gas mileage and drive a pickup/suv to Colorado and back.  It's a lot more scary in a little econo-box when some ice-hole is 10 feet behind your rear bumper coming down the pass     I'd would like to let him(her?) eat a ball mount if I had a full size rig with a receiver hitch 

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

Was just going to mention this. Mine is governed to 65 and I generally run 62 to help ensure the fuel bonus and give me a little headroom for passing if I come up on somebody. Interestingly the vehicles I run up on most often are Ranger pickups followed by mid Eighties Toyota pickups (what few haven't been taken South)

If it was my 86 ranger sorry but that was as fast as she would go. Though I did loan it to a kid who got a ticket going 105. He also brought it back with a blown head gasket and a 4 speed from a 5 speed


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Doggy Daddy]

I would love to know what the actual speed of the 85th percentile is on a Friday afternoon driving I-15 from L.A. to L.V.  I've done it, a few times.  But I surely can't tell you the speed, cuz my eyes were too busy scanning the road and tracking the other traffic to waste any time looking at the speedometer.  I will say it can be a helluva rush!

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

10 years ago at 5 am the left lane of 95 north headed to dc was 85 plus. And I have been passed


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Tallpine]

I would love to know what the actual speed of the 85th percentile is on a Friday afternoon driving I-15 from L.A. to L.V.  I've done it, a few times.  But I surely can't tell you the speed, cuz my eyes were too busy scanning the road and tracking the other traffic to waste any time looking at the speedometer.  I will say it can be a helluva rush!

That's how it is driving I-25 through Denver 

Sometimes the traffic gets backed up and slows way down, but the instant that it gets moving again you better floor it to keep up and not be run over 

[MechAg94]

The other nice thing about speed limits is how everyone hits the brakes when a cop is on the side of the road or pulling someone over.  Everything is fine intil the wave of braking cars reaches the overpass up the road where visibility gets low and you end up with rear end collisions. 

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

That cop can be on the other side of the divided highway too. With a jersey wall between


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk