Speed Limits?

[svsv]

i agree that 70 MPH is/should be the legal speed limit for HWY transportation. just fast enough to get to a destination in moderately safe time for anyone's needs. adjusting to +/- 5MPH for road conditions would be the sensible thing for motorists to adhere to..

[PA Dweller]

You safety freaks never seem to get the fact that you're just as dead when you hit a highway divider at 55 as you are at 75. You just lull yourselves into a false sense of security knowing that the ambulance driver likes a pretty corpse.

Trust me, when you are driving 70 over 55, you are paying more attention. Those like you who are doing 55 in the passing lane are a lot of the reason for some bad driving out there.

This man knows what he is talking about. Even if you did 55 all day and had a collision you're done for. I am willing to wager faster drivers are safer than the drivers with cell phones glued to their ears.

[Smaart Aas Saabr]

This man knows what he is talking about. Even if you did 55 all day and had a collision you're done for. I am willing to wager faster drivers are safer than the drivers with cell phones glued to their ears.

Maybe if you had a collision with a tree! On a freeway, what is there to hit head-on? Opposing lanes are divided, walls like overpass abutments have guardrails or are really far in the median and no cross-traffic

If you slide into a guardrail at 80 mph just pull the wheel and go back on the road, but everyone will call you idiot because the side of your car is now scrap

Of course in inclement weather there are issues that can arise, but here you shouldn't even be driving 55 usually.

PA Dweller you are placing a wager that you will win... consistently it has been shown the 85th to 95th percentile speed drivers to be the safest, which means the faster traffic...

http://www.bhspi.org/

an interesting document from the Best Highway Safety Practices Institute:
http://www.bhspi.org/BPpapers/files/...ver090715f.pdf

 Federal Highway Administration
Report No. FHWA/RD-85/096 Technical Summary, "Synthesis of
Speed Zoning Practice" which states:
 "Based on the best available evidence, the speed limit should be set at the speed driven by 85 to 90 percent of the free-moving vehicles rounded up to
the next 5 mph increment. This method results in speed limits that are not
only acceptable to a majority of the motorist, but also fall within the speed
range where accident risk is lowest.”
“No other factors need to be considered since they are reflected in the
drivers speed choice.”

Page 20 has a very nice chart!

[marinerbc]

I think the interstates were designed for 80+ MPH touring.
Pavement condition sometimes leaves a bit to be desired, but that's why we're all getting 18-20" wheels, now isn't it?
Or is there another reason?

Since they were designed under Eisenhower in the 50s, one would think that the state of the art in autos would make it somewhere between 50 and 60. Not sure of course.

Don't forget that the Interstate system was built for Civil Defense, and the need to move military equipment quickly and efficiently, not so much for passenger car use.

Having said that, if you want to drive slowly, use the pokey road, or keep right!

[Sweepspear]

My driver's ed teacher some 33 years ago used to say,
"At 40 mph you drive a car, at 80 mph you aim it."

[Dr. Show-Me]

The interstates have been engineered to drive at high speeds safely. They are so safe that they bring down the deaths per 100 million miles so low. Away from metropolitan congestion areas, the interstates should have a 80-90 mph speed limit.
State highways and farm to market roads are more dangerous, and should have much lower limits, limits set by engineering and reasonable speed limits.
Heavy "enforcement" on the interstates is simply revenue collecting, because it has almost NOTHING to do with safety.

[solman98]

This man knows what he is talking about. Even if you did 55 all day and had a collision you're done for. I am willing to wager faster drivers are safer than the drivers with cell phones glued to their ears.

Problem is, most of the ones driving 80+ have the cell phone glued to their ears, or worse, texting.

[hrcslam]

When a city grows so much over the past 50+ years, you can only expand to a point. For the most part, they did a good job in Atlanta. The accidents are usually cause someone did something stupid or had no clue where they were going.


I see your in Colorado Springs, Went through Denver into Colorado Springs once probably 18 years ago, to me that was hell the way it went through there. Might have just been that day though.

Yeah, Colorado Springs was pretty bad until a few years ago. They updated I-25 and it flows very nicely. It's lowest limit is 65mph through the city and the eliminated all the stupid left hand exits. Less accidents now. Although, during construction of the new I-25 corridor, the annual August hail storm hit during rush hour traffic and cause some 40 something car accidents on I-25 alone. Not a 40 car accident, but 40 different car accident all at once. I'm glad that construction is done.

[PA Dweller]

Maybe if you had a collision with a tree! On a freeway, what is there to hit head-on? Opposing lanes are divided, walls like overpass abutments have guardrails or are really far in the median and no cross-traffic

If you slide into a guardrail at 80 mph just pull the wheel and go back on the road, but everyone will call you idiot because the side of your car is now scrap

Of course in inclement weather there are issues that can arise, but here you shouldn't even be driving 55 usually.

PA Dweller you are placing a wager that you will win... consistently it has been shown the 85th to 95th percentile speed drivers to be the safest, which means the faster traffic...

http://www.bhspi.org/

an interesting document from the Best Highway Safety Practices Institute:
http://www.bhspi.org/BPpapers/files/...ver090715f.pdf



Page 20 has a very nice chart!

I was thinking if you somehow collided with another vehicle, but you make a good point. During inclement weather I can understand driving at lower speeds but some people just don't belong on the road when the weather is bad. So many times I have seen people go 20-25 MPH slower just for light snow/rain. BTW, thanks for that document I might print that out since it would shut up a few slow drivers that I know of.

Now that this study shows faster drivers are not a danger why does the speed limit remain at 65 instead of 75?

Problem is, most of the ones driving 80+ have the cell phone glued to their ears, or worse, texting.

One time I tried driving while talking on the phone and it felt so unsafe, I don't know how these people do it. They really need to enforce the no cell phone policy since it really takes your concentration off the road.

[Speedjerk]

The interstates have been engineered to drive at high speeds safely. They are so safe that they bring down the deaths per 100 million miles so low. Away from metropolitan congestion areas, the interstates should have a 80-90 mph speed limit.
State highways and farm to market roads are more dangerous, and should have much lower limits, limits set by engineering and reasonable speed limits.
Heavy "enforcement" on the interstates is simply revenue collecting, because it has almost NOTHING to do with safety.

Very true statement! I've spoken with officers about this (friends and relatives) and they have told me the same. They have also told me they are now forced to write so many tickets each month. Years ago, this wasn't the case. Speed limits on America's highways are set to generate revenue, period. It's profitable for the court system, too.

If safety was top priority, limits would be set at the 85th percentile, which is about 85 MPH. I've also been told 90 MPH is the speed for which the highway system was designed, at a time when cars were nowhere near as safe or nimble as they are today. Granted, there was less traffic...but faster speeds (if everyone travels faster) lowers congestion because there are less vehicles on the road at the same time. Can anybody refute that with evidence?

I recommend the book: Cry Havoc, the Sirens by Prof. Joe Kearney

Also, multiple studies have shown when limits were removed, distractions are down and drivers will drive at a speed which is most comfortable, where they are confident with the vehicle and the road conditions. Contrary to popular belief, not many (at will) will push the envelope for which the highway was designed. As an example, very few drivers in Germany drive faster than 130-140 KPH, which is close to 80-90 MPH. Very few push the envelope into the 150 KPH range and beyond. Also, it is statistically safer to drive the Autobahn. Its fatality rate is 25% less than ours, mostly because of better drivers and a lack of distracting speed limits (watching your speed more than the road).

Think about it: In America, we're always watching our speed, especially when speeding. Plus, we're always watching for patrol officers, which is even more distracting.


Thanks everyone for contributing in this discussion.

[bballr4567]

Very true statement! I've spoken with officers about this (friends and relatives) and they have told me the same. They have also told me they are now forced to write so many tickets each month. Years ago, this wasn't the case. Speed limits on America's highways are set to generate revenue, period. It's profitable for the court system, too.

If safety was top priority, limits would be set at the 85th percentile, which is about 85 MPH. I've also been told 90 MPH is the speed for which the highway system was designed, at a time when cars were nowhere near as safe or nimble as they are today. Granted, there was less traffic...but faster speeds (if everyone travels faster) lowers congestion because there are less vehicles on the road at the same time. Can anybody refute that with evidence?

I recommend the book: Cry Havoc, the Sirens by Prof. Joe Kearney

Also, multiple studies have shown when limits were removed, distractions are down and drivers will drive at a speed which is most comfortable, where they are confident with the vehicle and the road conditions. Contrary to popular belief, not many (at will) will push the envelope for which the highway was designed. As an example, very few drivers in Germany drive faster than 130-140 KPH, which is close to 80-90 MPH. Very few push the envelope into the 150 KPH range and beyond. Also, it is statistically safer to drive the Autobahn. Its fatality rate is 25% less than ours, mostly because of better drivers and a lack of distracting speed limits (watching your speed more than the road).

Think about it: In America, we're always watching our speed, especially when speeding. Plus, we're always watching for patrol officers, which is even more distracting.


Thanks everyone for contributing in this discussion.

http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm96.htm

A vehicle’s road space requirements increase with speed, because drivers must leave more shy distance between their vehicle and other objects on or beside the roadway. Traffic flow (the number of vehicles that can travel on a road over a particular time period) tends to be maximized at 30-55 mph on highways with no intersections, and at even lower speeds on arterials with signalized intersections. When a roadway approaches its maximum capacity, even small Speed Reductions can significantly increase flow rates.

Good read for the most part. Basically, the faster a vehicle moves the more road it has to take up to travel at that speed safely.

Given that "red light syndrome" is outrageously common at speeds of 55-60 MPH just imagine how many people will hit their brakes when they are going 80-90 MPH.

[Neanderthal]

Maybe if you had a collision with a tree! On a freeway, what is there to hit head-on? Opposing lanes are divided, walls like overpass abutments have guardrails or are really far in the median and no cross-traffic

If you slide into a guardrail at 80 mph just pull the wheel and go back on the road, but everyone will call you idiot because the side of your car is now scrap

Of course in inclement weather there are issues that can arise, but here you shouldn't even be driving 55 usually.

PA Dweller you are placing a wager that you will win... consistently it has been shown the 85th to 95th percentile speed drivers to be the safest, which means the faster traffic...

http://www.bhspi.org/

an interesting document from the Best Highway Safety Practices Institute:
http://www.bhspi.org/BPpapers/files/...ver090715f.pdf



Page 20 has a very nice chart!

Unfortunately there are many miles of interstate with no middle barriers. Some barriers are 3' high fence, a semi went through one of those about a week ago and wiped out that family in PA didn't it?

Concrete post-911 barricades would be best, unfortunately our public servants have other items on the agenda.

Since they were designed under Eisenhower in the 50s, one would think that the state of the art in autos would make it somewhere between 50 and 60. Not sure of course.

Don't forget that the Interstate system was built for Civil Defense, and the need to move military equipment quickly and efficiently, not so much for passenger car use.

Having said that, if you want to drive slowly, use the pokey road, or keep right!

Interstates were one of the great successes regarding government projects. Of course there was much graft and corruption and overruns, but they were designed for very high speeds.

I am aware they were a uniquely Eisenhower start-to-finish project. Well, they weren't finished under Ike, but they got a good start.

Lt. Col. Eisenhower was part of the 1919 cross-country military convoy designed to assess roads and vehicles. They averaged 58 MPD (miles per day) for their 3,000 mile journey.

Ike's Africa experiences in WWII furthered his lessons-learned portfolio of information and opinion regarding transportation infrastructure.

http://www.historynet.com/president-...way-system.htm

My driver's ed teacher some 33 years ago used to say,
"At 40 mph you drive a car, at 80 mph you aim it."

My driver's ed teacher was an arsehole too.

Very true statement! I've spoken with officers about this (friends and relatives) and they have told me the same. They have also told me they are now forced to write so many tickets each month. Years ago, this wasn't the case. Speed limits on America's highways are set to generate revenue, period. It's profitable for the court system, too.

If safety was top priority, limits would be set at the 85th percentile, which is about 85 MPH. I've also been told 90 MPH is the speed for which the highway system was designed, at a time when cars were nowhere near as safe or nimble as they are today. Granted, there was less traffic...but faster speeds (if everyone travels faster) lowers congestion because there are less vehicles on the road at the same time. Can anybody refute that with evidence?

I recommend the book: Cry Havoc, the Sirens by Prof. Joe Kearney

Also, multiple studies have shown when limits were removed, distractions are down and drivers will drive at a speed which is most comfortable, where they are confident with the vehicle and the road conditions. Contrary to popular belief, not many (at will) will push the envelope for which the highway was designed. As an example, very few drivers in Germany drive faster than 130-140 KPH, which is close to 80-90 MPH. Very few push the envelope into the 150 KPH range and beyond. Also, it is statistically safer to drive the Autobahn. Its fatality rate is 25% less than ours, mostly because of better drivers and a lack of distracting speed limits (watching your speed more than the road).

Think about it: In America, we're always watching our speed, especially when speeding. Plus, we're always watching for patrol officers, which is even more distracting.


Thanks everyone for contributing in this discussion.

Good points. In other studies, results consistently show that the more signage is removed, the safer the area becomes.
The do-gooders create dangerous conditions by their uninformed and downright ignorant desire to lead the proles from the darkness by putting up dozens of signs and warnings.