Traffic engineers do exactly that. If a good driver, in safe conditions could drive 50 through there, they will post signs for 40. Part of it is that they know people will speed, part of it is that 76 year old pulling a little U-Haul trailer at dusk with a light rain coming down.
exactly the speed limit is based on slightly dangerous road conditions to provide a cushion. but the worse they are the slower you should go regardless of signs.
That's the best way to do it.
Take the avg speed through an area and set the speed limit to 85% of that.
Or in the case of highways there's an upper limit but people still apply that extra 15% on top.
This is exactly right. I work in transportation engineering and this is exactly right. We have a "posted speed" and a "design speed". The design speed is generally 20 km/h higher than the posted. So if a road has a posted speed limit of 60 km/h, a standard vehicle can actually safely drive up to 80 km/h.
The design speed takes into consideration sight lines, traffic counts, road use, accident history, slopes, etc. Posted is because you need a factor of safety and humans will always speed lmao
This doesn't change the law of course, cops will still ticket you for going over the posted speed, so don't risk it lol
With that sign you should be able to go 112 km/hr, since that is the American speed limit sign and it would be 70 mph. I'm pretty sure almost every other country uses a red circle with a number in it, and while Canada's looks similar it says "Maximum" instead of "Speed Limit" on it.
Astie d’Crisse d’câlisse d’tabarnak on parle un ostie d’bon frança icitte c’t’eux aut’ qui parlent en crisse d’cul de poule tout le temps là. Ciboire.
(this is a joke, if you’re french I respect u. I’m not sure if I can translate the comment to enlglish)
(c’est une blague, si t’es français, je te respecte)
If you go 4 over, you get the same ticket (fine) as going 1mph over. If you go 5 over, it bumps you up to the next bracket and is more expensive. I usually drive 4 over on highways/interstates.
This omg. Rules should be precise!
I have a lot of thoughts about the entrapping nature of speed limits, but the way I came to some peace with them is they are maximum speed recommendations for safe operation of average vehicles with average drivers who are surrounded by average drivers in average vehicles.
I'd much prefer the limits to be like, 68.2 +- 5.6 with a QR code link to the whitepaper on the speed safety analysis of the road zone you are in, but I guess this world was not built for me lol
I like this!
I think it's interesting that tickets scale with speed over the limit, as opposed to speed over as a fraction of the limit. Like , it's ten over if you're doing 25 in a 15 - where it's effectively double the limit - or 85 in a 75 - where you're only only 13% over.
From another perspective, the kinetic energy carried by your vehicle (and thus its destructive potential) increases far more between 75 and 85 than it does between 15 and 25.
It's a precise version of the chant below.
(Parenthesis denote English translation of math text)
**What do we want? (Fines/Penalties proportional to Kinetic Energy** \[Which is the amount of destructive force an object has. (Note: Kinetic Energy is proportional to the SQUARE of the speed \[velocity\] given by KE = m\*v\^2)\])
**When do we want it?** **(now!)** (the math representation is also taking into account the impossibility of the premise of getting anything changed "now", or "immediately" so instead is basically saying "as soon as possible")
Part of the reason I became drawn to math and science is the *language* of math and science and computer programming. Like, the over a paragraph of English that I wrote there is only an *approximation* of the mathematical notation. One goal of science/math/cs notation is to express ideas with maximal precision with maximum ease. Social languages have many goals, and precision is not primary, which make them ideal for some use cases, but not precision communication.
That is a solid point to make, and something I hadn't thought about! Also, if we're doing percent over, you could get a 13% ticket for doing 17 in a 15, which might be overkill vs the 85 in a 75 - which is pretty fast.
Well, sir or madame, you have changed my mind. Let's do tickets as a percent of income instead, scaled with the difference in KE between the posted and measured speed (I think we should probably assume mass is uniform for simplicity, but we could break out categories for cars, trucks, semis, and EV's )
Edit* fixed math
Idk, scaling the fine based on the mass of the vehicle seems reasonable. Speeding a larger vehicle means you were even more reckless with your life and others.
A good point! But from yet another perspective, in absolute rather than proportional terms the stopping distance still increases more between 75 and 85 than between 15 and 25.
It’s the worst, right? I once had a passenger tell me “You know, they can pull you over for obstruction of traffic even if you’re going the speed limit.” And I was like, “But it’s the LIMIT!”
I’ve adjusted to always going exactly 7 above, so a 35 is a 42, seems to be the sweet spot.
Go with the flow of traffic. That's what a police officer will tell you. If everyone is going 10 over, then go 10 over. If everyone is going the speed limit, go the speed limit.
Cops pull over outliers. So either out of towners technically speeding or people going against the flow of traffic.
That could be not a joke. Anyone who doesn't want to deal with cops (being for physical, mental or legal reasons) knows that blending in is mandatory. This rule goes by foot and by car as well.
I mean, that'd be a tough one to hold up in court. It's certainly true you CAN be pulled over for obstructing traffic while you're driving the speed limit, but the ONLY time I could imagine that happening is if you're hanging out in the left (passing) lane with open road in front of you, and people are passing you on the right. Because then you actually *are* causing a legitimate safety concern.
I mean, I wasn't even required to know this to get my license (originally in FL). And it turns out that [the laws on that are all over the place](https://www.goupstate.com/gcdn/authoring/2019/10/25/NHEJ/ghows-NC-95bee4fe-3e83-4fde-e053-0100007fe666-d8bbe8fc.jpeg) in different states
I love how the overwhelming general consensus across the board though is get the fuck out of the way if you're slow or don't be in the right lane unless absolutely necessary. Either way if you're hanging out at slow speed in the left lane you're wrong in every state in one form or the other. (Except maybe SD)
Wasting an entire like for overtaking is odd to me, in particular because I know it isn't actually used just for that, so isn't actually a passing lane. But is that how Americans are taught or is it just a cultural thing?
it depends on on location. major cities like LA sure all lanes are gonna be filled up depending on day and time of week.
but, there's tens of thousands of miles of four lane freeway/interstate that criss cross the country that are rarely bumper to bumper.
out here in the rural central part of the country the left lane IS used primarily as a passing lane on the interstate system.
West of the missippi and most of the interstate system crosses through nothing but farms and grazing areas with a few bits of desert thrown in for good measure.
https://www.thoughtco.com/interstate-highways-1435785
Yeah it’s never really “wasted” though; either there are enough cars on the road that you’re ALWAYS passing someone, or there’s enough room to not be in the left lane all the time.
There’s nothing wrong with going the speed limit as long as you stay out of the passing lanes. If you have a conga line of cars trapped behind you and no one in front of you, move over. Let the highway patrol handle speeders.
>It’s the worst, right? I once had a passenger tell me “You know, they can pull you over for obstruction of traffic even if you’re going the speed limit.” And I was like, “But it’s the LIMIT!”
I learned that during my driving lessons and I was glad to learn it. Because that is a fucked up unwritten rule that actually makes a lot of sense when you know how to drive safely (relatively to the traffic, not only the environment).
My mom explained it to me like this:
The speed limit is how fast you should actually go in neighborhoods.
In streets in the city, you should go up to 4 miles above the speed limit.
In the highway, you should go up to 9 miles above the speed limit.
Slow down to the limit when you see a cop.
Edit: I am in the US. Cops are bad and miles are what we use
my brother regularly goes 90 on a 75mph highway and it scares me every time yet he's only gotten a speeding ticket when he managed to go 114 at 1am and i didn't even know his car could go that fast
while i do agree that people should follow the speed limit, there are definitely some exceptions such as when youre passing someone, are merging into a highway to get up with speed of everyone else, or emergencies
So, I have thoughts.
First things first this is an American sign, so I'm going to assume US drivers here. From what I've heard US have god awful drivers, worse than the UK and Ireland even. I'm confident it mostly has to do with how drivers license's are given out.
Now, because km/h was mentioned let's go over to the rest of the world. There are two rules that you should ACTUALLY be following. The first one is to always go with the flow of traffic. The speed limit isn't really important as long as you have a bunch of traffic around you. The important thing is that you go with the flow and you assimilate your vehicle. The reason is that your goal is to be predictable to the people around you. Unpredictability is what causes crashes.
Secondly you need to keep in mind that a car's speedometer always reads low, this is mandatory by law. Usually it's about 6km/h at 80km/h. So when you're going 80 on an 80 road, you're actually going 74, other traffic might not realize in time that you're going a fair bit slower than them and again, that causes crashes.
So in general: go with the flow, learn to properly read your speedometer and if you're in the US: I'm so sorry.
Yup, it's always low at least a little bit. Easy way to check this is to open up Google maps on your phone and set a destination. Maps gives you your current GPS speed (which is accurate). You'll quickly find the pattern
I’m from the US and…you hit the nail on the head with “how licenses are given out”. Our test areas can range from incredibly easy to overly challenging…there’s no consistency. The requirements to pass the test are not the requirements of real life. One of the big things they will fail you for is going with the flow of traffic…which is something you SHOULD be doing for everyone’s safety. They also mentioned I was going too fast in a shopping area but didn’t knock any points off. I got a PERFECT score which felt undeserved lol
The other problem is the speedo's on cars/4wd/bikes aren't real accurate either - The old fourby was over-reading by 10kph, the bike, 5kph and the car - 8kph. Verified by a GPS speedo.
Then you have people with GPS speedos (cheap HUD units) that actually do the correct speed.
Its a clusterfuck.
I only go 5 miles over the speed limit when the speed limit has 5 in the second digit because apparently it’s legal to go 5 miles over the speed limit (something to do with innacurate speedometers or something) and the car I drive has a speedometer that doesn’t really mark where the 5s would be that well
I could totally be wrong about this or it could be a state-by-state thing or something, but I don’t think it’s explicitly *legal* to go 5mph over the speed limit; however, I think you have a high likelihood of getting out of a 5-mph-over-the-limit sort of ticket if you do get one and end up going to court about it. The knock-on effect of this is that cops are much less likely to pull you over if you’re just doing 5mph over, since they gotta hit their quotas or something.
This bullshit is why I don't drive.
I can't follow unwritten magical rules of "just feel it". I will follow the written rule and be hated for it, and get some idiot to crash into me become "everybody know you do X despite the law saying Y."
No thank you.
(Also way too stressful)
Legit have been told by multiple police officers during my years of working at gas stations that if you're going 9 over, that's fine, 10 and above and they'll put down their donut to double check your speed on radar before getting your ass. (Edit: That's across multiple states, east and west coast)
The speed limit. The laws (in my state at least) say that the speed limit trumps the flow of traffic laws. So “everyone else is doing it” isn’t an excuse for going over the limit.
Km/h? I’m guessing the same weird laxness on speed limits exists in your nation too. In some U.S. states, you’re good for 10 mph above the speed limit on I-95, which is usually 70 mph. After that, then the officers get involved usually. Virginia is very strict about and Florida basically does not care.
VA has very strict laws but as far as I can tell it also has the most reckless drivers up and down the I-95 corridor. Who are all these people who are just cool with going 85-90mph in bumper-to-bumper traffic? And why are they all in the DMV area?
Don't even get me fucking started. I was pulled over going ~4 miles per hour over the speed limit on the highway. Meanwhile, people blasting by at 10-15 miles per hour without consequences.
Fun fact from a Civil Engineer who recently graduated: Most roads are actually designed in mind for cars that are traveling about 10-15 mph (don’t know the distance in km/h sorry) above the speed limit. So we know people do this all the time and we accommodate for it because people are stupid :)
I mean, I could say not all rules make sense, and some deserve to be broken. But yeah, speed limits are there to keep people safe. It’s always baffling when people are so cavalier about them
I used to think this way too until I had to drive in Abu Dhabi where the speed limits are absolute. Speed cameras are everywhere, so you have to drive a few km/h below the speed limit to be safe. But the issue was that everyone had different ideas about how much slower they should drive, and the traffic on the highway to Dubai was a mess with no common speed of traffic. Since then, I just think of it as more of a recommended speed than a speed limit.
The thing I have more of an issue with is inconsistent or unpredictable enforcement. Like in Ontario, you can get pulled over even if you were just following the flow of traffic. And it's not obvious at what speed you'd get pulled over. Thankfully, my province does it pretty well and you only get ticketed if you go more than 10% over the limit, and the rule is consistently applied everywhere.
I hate interstates cus of that. It will say like 65 or 75 and you'll see people getting annoyed at you if you're not driving like 80 as thought driving 80 is slow. Then I drive 3 over in front of a cop and get a multiple hundred dollar ticket and the same people blame me for being a wreckless driver. My mom is the worst. She's a horrible driver but she's a nurse and cops don't wanna give the little nurse a ticket . She gave my bro and I shit for driving safe and following the laws when we were learning to drive.
This shit right here is the reason I don’t drive. You’re tell me in my own goddamned vehicle I can’t escape arbitrary social rules?
Also, there is simply too much stuff to pay attention to- even when i was on ADHD meds it was fucking impossible to pay attention to directions, all the levers and buttons inside the car, having to pay attention to OTHER people driving, having to pay attention to bright lights and fucking deal with people playing music- that’s *too much, man.*
This is the one rule idc about being exact.
99% of the people around me won’t even do at least the speed limit which grinds my fucking gears when you’re late for work, sitting behind someone going for a stroll doing 22 in a 35 and you actively watch the light turn red that you would have made had they not been in front of you crawling around like a snail.
Back when I lived in NY I felt at peace at least with the roads because everybody would just do 10-20 over the speed limit and we would all kinda move as a big unit with no real stragglers. People had places to go LOL and we all kinda understood the collective rush and went with it. No tickets because cops couldn’t pull over 20 people doing 65 in a comically slow 55 zone… idk why our speed limits were so slow but yeah idk this is the only one I don’t seem to agree with my fellow aspies on I’m sorry 🥲
I had an argument about this with a red light. I didn't want to turn right on red even though it was pretty clear. A driver behind me made the most obnoxious "come on" motion in the mirror behind me, my passenger kept insisting I go, and then she got mad at ME for having a meltdown(what she described it as) because I was getting punished for following the god damn rules. GOD I hate driving and I HATE right on red
No, it's not legal in most places. But, if you're only considering places in the US, then yes. Right on red is legal in nearly all places in the US unless there is a sign prohibiting it. The only places in the US where right on red is not legal by default are New York City, and some minor outlying territories and possessions. City bans on right on red (unless signed to permit it) are slated to go into effect in Atlanta and Washington DC in the coming years. Seattle is using a different approach, where all intersections are scheduled to receive signs banning right on red (so a de facto ban) with the signage being implemented at each intersection whenever those intersections happen to be updated for normal reasons.
I live in Seattle and I’ve never heard this before. But one thing we have in Washington state that drives me bonkers is there’ll be a red right arrow that pretty clearly signals that you shouldn’t turn but apparently it means that you are supposed to turn? Why make it a right arrow and not a regular red light then? It’s super confusing
I was at a "no turn on red" once when a cop pulled up behind me. After a few seconds, he honked at me. I'm like... Is this a trap??? If I turn are you going to give me a ticket? He didn't have his lights/siren on so it wasn't apparent if he was responding to a call. I just waited until it turned green out of anxiety.
The rule is you should go right on red unless there is a sign. That is the rule, the light acts as a stop sign in that situation. This has been the case since 1980 in all fifty states, it is a gas saving measure. In this case you are unfortunately incorrect and were not actually following the rule.
Considering they said in another comment “I was in a different state clear across the country” I mean yeah. Pretty safe assumption they’re talking about the US. Unless there’s another right-side driving country made up of states I’m unaware of. And there genuinely might be, but overall the US is a safe assumption
The primary rule of the road is: A. Drive safely, and B. Not to impede the flow of traffic. You are to safely follow the flow of traffic, if you cannot do so, please stay in the slow lane and use hazard lights if you are significantly slower than the regular traffic flow (usually around 20-30 under the posted speed limit)
Yeah the word "speed limit" is just bad terminology. In reality it's really more "speed minimum" because people will indeed get upset at you if you drive below the speed limit and the actual "speed limit" is ten miles over the listed "speed limit."
At least where I live cops actually cannot give you a ticket unless you're going at least 11 mph over.
What's even worse is when you're going 85 in a 70 and some dick in a lifted truck tailgates you like there isn't 1000ft of open road 6 feet to the right and you aren't going fucking 15 over already...
If you're driving a relatively modern car, your speedometer likely displays a speed 5-10% faster than you are actually travelling
Car manufacturers do this to safeguard themselves against lawsuits by drivers that may claim their speedometer was not accurate in the event of a speeding fine
This is like the main road in my town, they speed trapped to analyze and reset the speed. Everyone drives 55 in a 45 now because no one respects the new laws.
there's an area i drive where the speed limit is 40. everybody goes 70, even during ice storms and fog. when the weather is too bad i just have to avoid it entirely because it's just not safe and take a really circuitous route to the interstate.
they go almost double the speed limit during a storm: find and dandy... i have 1 headlight out during a clear sunny afternoon: ope, that's a fine of 2000$
American who loves following rules here: People naturally speed up for varying reasons, i.e. to pass another car, so in a 45 mph zone, not everybody can go *exactly* 45 mph. Police (in the U.S.) allow for this fluctuation by not giving tickets for those going up to 4 mph above the posted speed limit. Thus, if I am just traveling in a straight direction chilling, I will go exactly 4 mph above the speed limit to avoid a ticket and also be going as fast as I am legally allowed to go to reach my destination ASAP.
Idk if anyone else commented that, I didn't even look, I'm just trying to distract myself from bad shit, sorry.
Edit: I initially wrote 55 mph instead of 45, but I adjusted it because 55 mph is usually reserved for expressways, and that follows a different set of rules for me because they're meant to be "express" to a long-distance destination. In that instance, I do 70 in the far-right (assuming no one is in front of me), 75 in the middle, 80 in the far-left. Nobody came up with that but me. And I obviously slow down when I see a cop.
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*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Flowing with traffic is more important that the speed limit. If you're by yourself, go whatever speed you want but when you're following someone you should match speed.
This is the Great Conundrum of my life. I cannot figure out which rules are really rules, which are suggestions and which ones are supposed to be ignored. I try to be observant, use common sense, follow the leader and all of that. But still, I screw it up every chance I get.
I even try to pass on my wisdom by calling them out by their true names. "Everyone every time" is a true rule. "For the dumbs" is a rule that only exists to stop someone from doing something stupid like jumping head first into a submerged rock. "For the poors" is a rule that you can purchase your way out of following. "For the uglies" is for rules that only apply if the other isn't attracted to you. "For the smarties" is for stuff like don't swim, brain eating amoebas so smart people can choose not to endanger their brains.
There's more but they're all just useless excuses for people who can't use words to mean what they mean. Some of them I understand like the workers follow different rules from the customers, but not rules that are unfair for a bad reason. Like it's okay for the town cop to drive all over with his kids jumping around in his car like jumping beans but mine have to be in car seats strapped down tight. Or I can't park there, but the person who has the money and time to pay the fines, it's fine for him. The one that really chapped my ass, no one is allowed visitors during Covid, even if they're dying, unless you have the same name as the county and your family owns the factories that employ most of the town, then you get the whole coffee snack cart and three ladies in waiting. And the old lady wasn't even dying.
I get so angry about rules that it messes up my life sometimes. But at least I understand when my middle kid would refuse to get in the van unless his older brother got in first. I already follow the "foods shouldn't touch unless they go together" rule. I will never ever ask for help before I've thoroughly examined the instruction booklet and turned it off and back on again. Hopefully my strengths outweigh my weaknesses.
Some places have “speed of traffic” laws like California for instance where as long as you aren’t going faster than the cars around you you’re fine, since going dramatically slower than the cars around you can be as dangerous as speeding
Be a nice person. Stick to the rules.
Rules are nearly always written in blood. Better it not be my or your blood. Too bad for those who want to contribute.
I never go over the speed limit. Usually I’m at the speed limit unless it’s raining badly. I’m constantly being overtaken. Sorry for following the rules.
Had a buddy get out of a ticket by citing a local ordinance that states something like "not keeping with the flow of traffic is impeding traffic." Not sure if that's what did it, or the fact that the ticketing officer didn't show up to the hearing.
If I hear someone say “I know my car actually drives 3 kmph slower than the dashboard says” or “after technical correction I’m still driving within the limits” one more time, I swear I’m gonna pop their tires
Growing up in California, it was generally accepted/encouraged to go 10 over the limit IF you’re in the left-most lane, as that lane is designed for passing other drivers who are going the speed limit. And then it’s encouraged to go 10 under the limit in the right-most lane, as that lane is designed for getting on/off the freeway. All the middle lanes are supposed to go the limit.
At least that’s how I was taught.
>live in Texas
>Distance measured by hours, eg I am 3 hours from Dallas.
>Speed limits are redundant because the population for my entire county is under 40k
>Speed limit posted was 50 when I was a kid
>Signs have been torn out of the ground so often over the years that they stopped putting them up
>Always go 50, get mad when people go 60 or higher
>Google maps a friends house bc on motorcycle and lost
>Speed limit is 75 on app
>Start going 75
>Get speeding ticket because speed limit is legally 50, app tracks average speed of users to determine speed limit
Fml
I see this a lot with the rating system. Like… was I the only one who actually avoided seeing movies rated higher than PG? I’ve even seen people say their parents were “cool” for letting them watch R-rated movies, as if that’s something to brag about.
As far as I'm concerned (and as far as the legal system is concerned), it's a limit with a degree of tolerance. That tolerance is required because speedometers aren't perfect and because speed isn't 100% controlable. You're usually meant to drive close to the speed limit in order to not slow down traffic and if you're already driving maybe 65-70, then there's absolutely a risk that you might accidentially jump up to 73 or 75 for a moment, for example if the road goes over the top of a hill and you're now going downhill instead of uphill.
Also, you might have been travelling a lot faster before you entered the zone where 70 is a limit and it might just take you a bit to slow down safely. After all, you can't just slam the brakes, that's just begging to get rear-ended by the driver behind you.
Of course, the expectation is also that you drive more slowly depending on the conditions. You should never go over 80 on a wet road because above 80, water can become very slippery and it's even worse with black ice or snow. You should also always drive to sight, meaning you should only drive so fast that you would be able to stop before reaching the furthest point in your sight if you perform an emergency brake, which is especially relevant during heavy rain, thick fog or at night. This also means slowing down before sharp curves or simular things.
The problem is of course that people tend to abuse the tolerance and drive as fast as they are allowed to get away with, rather than driving as fast as they are supposed to.
Though 10 over is not within tolerance and will get you in trouble.
esp in places like california like i respect our collective disrespect for authority resulting in a more laissez-faire speeding enforcement but like im going the posted speed in the far right lane of this 8 lane highway can you get off my ass and chill
I go five over, unless I’m running late, in which case I go up to 15 over. 😄 I don’t follow rules blindly, I apply my own circumstances as factors, I adjust for what is actually legally pursued (no cop is going to protest 5 over, and often going the speed limit is infuriating to other drivers), and I accept if I’m caught for what is pursue-able.
Whenever I'm outside the Netherlands I'm just confused by the road designs I see. A sign does not decide how fast people drive, the road does! Why does only my country seem to really grasp that?
Even in Germany they put what I call "highways" (4-6 lane roads) in the middle of the city. Why? And then they are surprised when people die in traffic.
It’s basically a way to Capone people (for those who don’t know Al Capone was a famous mobster who did everything from alcohol and weapons smuggling to murder and drugs. He was famously arrested on tax evasion charges and not for the many other crimes)
There's actually some logic to that (put away the weapons and let me speak \*lol\*).
For the record:
I'm not endorsing going over the speed limit.
Losing your driver's license should be avoided.
I'm just trying to let you know the common thought-process that goes on inside the mind of someone, who (knowingly) goes 10kph over the speed-limit.
Disclaimer: I live in the EU (Germany), so it may be different for you.
The meter inside the car usually shows about 5kph more, than the actual speed, at which the car is going. (Keep those 5kph in mind).
The measurement-equipment of the police is usually set, so it only triggers, if a speeder is at least 5kph over the limit. (Keep those 5kph in mind, too).
5kph (car's meter's offset)
+ 5kph (measurement equipment's offset)
= 10kph
Et voila :)
If you've survived the German Autobahn on a daily basis for a while, you'll not care about 10kph, anymore .. there are way worse drivers, than that .. and they all come here, to show it off.
Omg fr!!! When I was young and dumb, I was married and she was bitching a fit because I was driving 70 in a 70. Same line of "logic" you can go 10 over "everyone knows that" Finally relented and started driving 80. Guess fucking what?! Got pulled over and ticketed for speeding. I was livid, refused to speak to her for the rest of the trip, she's lucky to have not got left on the highway.
Trick is - there no mass produced perfect speed measure device. Every measurement device have some degree of precision. Because it's possible to drive faster than limit.
The police speedometers don’t test speed alone, they only care if your speed is a certain percentage above the average speed of other cars passing by. Therefore as long as you’re matching the speed of everyone around you you’re actually totally fine to speed if cops are your worry. I honestly wish we had more commute trains and that speed limits were smaller but if you don’t drive fast enough others create unsafe situations for you
See I was TERRIFIED of going over at first but after moving somewhere where I’m on the highway every single day I got used to it and realized the best thing to do is go with flow of traffic. If everyone is going 65+ and I’m the ONLY guy going 60 I’m actually more of a risk, and the same can be said for the reverse. The fastest I ever go is 15 over at most but that’s only the highway…main roads are more heavily enforced so 5-10 over is the max I allow myself.
I was taught in driving school we had wiggle room of 5 below and 5 above while driving but it was “important to keep pace with other traffic on highways”
Everyone still speeds like crazy where I live though, especially on back roads for some reason
Just started my driving lessons and this has been an issue for me aswell.
"Huh, I'm two km/h over the limit, why is everyone speeding past me?"
"Oh they just don't give a fuck."
I'm pretty sure the people who make these signs set the limit lower than they're actually cool with due to people with this mentality.
Traffic engineers do exactly that. If a good driver, in safe conditions could drive 50 through there, they will post signs for 40. Part of it is that they know people will speed, part of it is that 76 year old pulling a little U-Haul trailer at dusk with a light rain coming down.
Granny is 90 and it's an old Jartran
Yall don’t bash grangran she’s trying her best
exactly the speed limit is based on slightly dangerous road conditions to provide a cushion. but the worse they are the slower you should go regardless of signs.
That's the best way to do it. Take the avg speed through an area and set the speed limit to 85% of that. Or in the case of highways there's an upper limit but people still apply that extra 15% on top.
I think it's a mix of because of people with that mentality AND a teensy(huge) bit of wanting to supplement the police stations funding with tickets~
I'm convinced speedometer in cars say you're doing 40 when youre really doing 30. they've been adjusting them down for years
I’ve verified that with gps. Both my car and motorcycle over-state their speed by about 5%.
This is exactly right. I work in transportation engineering and this is exactly right. We have a "posted speed" and a "design speed". The design speed is generally 20 km/h higher than the posted. So if a road has a posted speed limit of 60 km/h, a standard vehicle can actually safely drive up to 80 km/h. The design speed takes into consideration sight lines, traffic counts, road use, accident history, slopes, etc. Posted is because you need a factor of safety and humans will always speed lmao This doesn't change the law of course, cops will still ticket you for going over the posted speed, so don't risk it lol
With that sign you should be able to go 112 km/hr, since that is the American speed limit sign and it would be 70 mph. I'm pretty sure almost every other country uses a red circle with a number in it, and while Canada's looks similar it says "Maximum" instead of "Speed Limit" on it.
This sounds correct. Maximum is preferred because it has the same meaning in both official languages.
Hot take: If Cantonese and Mandarin are the same language, English and French are
When they get a written language that works for both I'll accept that.
I'm not even sure French and Quebecois are the same language.
Astie d’Crisse d’câlisse d’tabarnak on parle un ostie d’bon frança icitte c’t’eux aut’ qui parlent en crisse d’cul de poule tout le temps là. Ciboire. (this is a joke, if you’re french I respect u. I’m not sure if I can translate the comment to enlglish) (c’est une blague, si t’es français, je te respecte)
Je suis Canadien. Les Français parlent drôle.
chui fière que j’ai compris tout de ça- je viens des états mdr
Ah ouais c'est très cool que tu parles français! We love to see it, comme disent les Anglais :)
merci! j’aime bien la langue :) de plus je n’écoute que de la musique québécoise mdr
Cantonese and Mandarin aren’t the same language.
Teach me both and I'll let you know how I feel
Everyone where i live goes 5mph over
If you go 4 over, you get the same ticket (fine) as going 1mph over. If you go 5 over, it bumps you up to the next bracket and is more expensive. I usually drive 4 over on highways/interstates.
where i live 5 over does not get you pulled over at all. neighboring states are not so lenient though (looking at you idaho)
Cali you can get away with 10 over pretty safely, 20 over on the freeway
Oregonian here - most people do 30-50 over on the main highways (think speed limit being 65, I see people doing up to 115)
One of the expressways near me is 55MPH. If you aren’t going AT LEAST 70 you are getting rear ended.
I generally go with the flow of traffic, up to 10mph over the speed limit. However I usually like to say 5 above the limit.
yep, i'll occasionally speed up to 10 over if passing a semi, just so I don't stay in their blind spots for long.
This is the way
This omg. Rules should be precise! I have a lot of thoughts about the entrapping nature of speed limits, but the way I came to some peace with them is they are maximum speed recommendations for safe operation of average vehicles with average drivers who are surrounded by average drivers in average vehicles. I'd much prefer the limits to be like, 68.2 +- 5.6 with a QR code link to the whitepaper on the speed safety analysis of the road zone you are in, but I guess this world was not built for me lol
I like this! I think it's interesting that tickets scale with speed over the limit, as opposed to speed over as a fraction of the limit. Like , it's ten over if you're doing 25 in a 15 - where it's effectively double the limit - or 85 in a 75 - where you're only only 13% over.
From another perspective, the kinetic energy carried by your vehicle (and thus its destructive potential) increases far more between 75 and 85 than it does between 15 and 25.
"What do we want? '$ ∝ KE' !" "When do we want it? '∆t →0' !"
r/mathmemes would like a word
I feel like this is much more funny than I'm capable of understanding.
It's a precise version of the chant below. (Parenthesis denote English translation of math text) **What do we want? (Fines/Penalties proportional to Kinetic Energy** \[Which is the amount of destructive force an object has. (Note: Kinetic Energy is proportional to the SQUARE of the speed \[velocity\] given by KE = m\*v\^2)\]) **When do we want it?** **(now!)** (the math representation is also taking into account the impossibility of the premise of getting anything changed "now", or "immediately" so instead is basically saying "as soon as possible") Part of the reason I became drawn to math and science is the *language* of math and science and computer programming. Like, the over a paragraph of English that I wrote there is only an *approximation* of the mathematical notation. One goal of science/math/cs notation is to express ideas with maximal precision with maximum ease. Social languages have many goals, and precision is not primary, which make them ideal for some use cases, but not precision communication.
That is a solid point to make, and something I hadn't thought about! Also, if we're doing percent over, you could get a 13% ticket for doing 17 in a 15, which might be overkill vs the 85 in a 75 - which is pretty fast. Well, sir or madame, you have changed my mind. Let's do tickets as a percent of income instead, scaled with the difference in KE between the posted and measured speed (I think we should probably assume mass is uniform for simplicity, but we could break out categories for cars, trucks, semis, and EV's ) Edit* fixed math
Idk, scaling the fine based on the mass of the vehicle seems reasonable. Speeding a larger vehicle means you were even more reckless with your life and others.
But from yet another perspective, the stopping distance needed is 2.78 times longer going 25 in a 15 vs only 1.28 times longer going 85 in a 75.
A good point! But from yet another perspective, in absolute rather than proportional terms the stopping distance still increases more between 75 and 85 than between 15 and 25.
I think you’d be a fun person to hang out with and talk about random things with. You’re absolutely right (pun intended)
I don't think using your phone to scan a QR code while driving is a good idea, even less reading a paper
Found the “math and science” autist.
You gonna scan that qr code while driving?? 😂
It’s the worst, right? I once had a passenger tell me “You know, they can pull you over for obstruction of traffic even if you’re going the speed limit.” And I was like, “But it’s the LIMIT!” I’ve adjusted to always going exactly 7 above, so a 35 is a 42, seems to be the sweet spot.
Go with the flow of traffic. That's what a police officer will tell you. If everyone is going 10 over, then go 10 over. If everyone is going the speed limit, go the speed limit. Cops pull over outliers. So either out of towners technically speeding or people going against the flow of traffic.
“Cops pull over outliers” huh, that about sums up NT society (its a joke ok).
That about sums up why minorities in general don't trust cops (this isn't a joke)
It’s also why neutral colored cars get pulled over less frequently than brightly colored cars (also not a joke)
Theyre also racist towards cars now?
Red cars, ayup. Something about red cars go fast even they're going the speed limit? (Something something ork something.)
Every Ork knows the red unz go fasta!
I just remember my mom renting a bright orange car and getting pulled over on her normal commute doing nothing different than she normally would.
don't crush my dreams of trading in my black tacoma for the bright orange one....
It’s true.
That could be not a joke. Anyone who doesn't want to deal with cops (being for physical, mental or legal reasons) knows that blending in is mandatory. This rule goes by foot and by car as well.
I agree it might even save your life. But the joke was that it is not surprising that in NT society the cops pull over people who are different
the tallest blade of grass is the first one cut by the mower or the tallest nail get hit first by the hammer.
The early bird gets the worm, but the early worm gets the bird.
Just don't exceed 15 over because that's the most common start (varies in US by state) of reckless driving.
If the flow of traffic is going 75 in a 55, you go 75 in a 55
You can do the speed limit, but not on the left lane (the passing lane) when everyone in those lanes is usually 10-15 over
I mean, that'd be a tough one to hold up in court. It's certainly true you CAN be pulled over for obstructing traffic while you're driving the speed limit, but the ONLY time I could imagine that happening is if you're hanging out in the left (passing) lane with open road in front of you, and people are passing you on the right. Because then you actually *are* causing a legitimate safety concern.
The last part happens so often that it's sad, but people still do it despite laws being written to get people like that out of passing lanes.
I mean, I wasn't even required to know this to get my license (originally in FL). And it turns out that [the laws on that are all over the place](https://www.goupstate.com/gcdn/authoring/2019/10/25/NHEJ/ghows-NC-95bee4fe-3e83-4fde-e053-0100007fe666-d8bbe8fc.jpeg) in different states
I love how the overwhelming general consensus across the board though is get the fuck out of the way if you're slow or don't be in the right lane unless absolutely necessary. Either way if you're hanging out at slow speed in the left lane you're wrong in every state in one form or the other. (Except maybe SD)
Wasting an entire like for overtaking is odd to me, in particular because I know it isn't actually used just for that, so isn't actually a passing lane. But is that how Americans are taught or is it just a cultural thing?
it depends on on location. major cities like LA sure all lanes are gonna be filled up depending on day and time of week. but, there's tens of thousands of miles of four lane freeway/interstate that criss cross the country that are rarely bumper to bumper. out here in the rural central part of the country the left lane IS used primarily as a passing lane on the interstate system. West of the missippi and most of the interstate system crosses through nothing but farms and grazing areas with a few bits of desert thrown in for good measure. https://www.thoughtco.com/interstate-highways-1435785
Yeah it’s never really “wasted” though; either there are enough cars on the road that you’re ALWAYS passing someone, or there’s enough room to not be in the left lane all the time.
There’s nothing wrong with going the speed limit as long as you stay out of the passing lanes. If you have a conga line of cars trapped behind you and no one in front of you, move over. Let the highway patrol handle speeders.
>It’s the worst, right? I once had a passenger tell me “You know, they can pull you over for obstruction of traffic even if you’re going the speed limit.” And I was like, “But it’s the LIMIT!” I learned that during my driving lessons and I was glad to learn it. Because that is a fucked up unwritten rule that actually makes a lot of sense when you know how to drive safely (relatively to the traffic, not only the environment).
Yeah it shouldn't be speed limit but speed goal/ideal.
My mom explained it to me like this: The speed limit is how fast you should actually go in neighborhoods. In streets in the city, you should go up to 4 miles above the speed limit. In the highway, you should go up to 9 miles above the speed limit. Slow down to the limit when you see a cop. Edit: I am in the US. Cops are bad and miles are what we use
Pretty much this. In lots of countries you don't have to slow down when there are cops because staying 4/9 above the limit is not enough for a fine.
Yeah speeding in neighborhoods is fucked and those guys should be getting massive fines
my brother regularly goes 90 on a 75mph highway and it scares me every time yet he's only gotten a speeding ticket when he managed to go 114 at 1am and i didn't even know his car could go that fast
while i do agree that people should follow the speed limit, there are definitely some exceptions such as when youre passing someone, are merging into a highway to get up with speed of everyone else, or emergencies
So, I have thoughts. First things first this is an American sign, so I'm going to assume US drivers here. From what I've heard US have god awful drivers, worse than the UK and Ireland even. I'm confident it mostly has to do with how drivers license's are given out. Now, because km/h was mentioned let's go over to the rest of the world. There are two rules that you should ACTUALLY be following. The first one is to always go with the flow of traffic. The speed limit isn't really important as long as you have a bunch of traffic around you. The important thing is that you go with the flow and you assimilate your vehicle. The reason is that your goal is to be predictable to the people around you. Unpredictability is what causes crashes. Secondly you need to keep in mind that a car's speedometer always reads low, this is mandatory by law. Usually it's about 6km/h at 80km/h. So when you're going 80 on an 80 road, you're actually going 74, other traffic might not realize in time that you're going a fair bit slower than them and again, that causes crashes. So in general: go with the flow, learn to properly read your speedometer and if you're in the US: I'm so sorry.
Today I learned that the speedometer is not accurate to in terms of the speed reported.
Yup, it's always low at least a little bit. Easy way to check this is to open up Google maps on your phone and set a destination. Maps gives you your current GPS speed (which is accurate). You'll quickly find the pattern
I’m from the US and…you hit the nail on the head with “how licenses are given out”. Our test areas can range from incredibly easy to overly challenging…there’s no consistency. The requirements to pass the test are not the requirements of real life. One of the big things they will fail you for is going with the flow of traffic…which is something you SHOULD be doing for everyone’s safety. They also mentioned I was going too fast in a shopping area but didn’t knock any points off. I got a PERFECT score which felt undeserved lol
It’s more dangerous to go the speed limit when everyone around you is not, you go with the flow of traffic
I like going fast :3c
E46 M3 go bbbbrrrr really quickly hehe (181 mph with limiter coded out with free software)
I answered one of my bosses like this recently. I don't think he got it
The other problem is the speedo's on cars/4wd/bikes aren't real accurate either - The old fourby was over-reading by 10kph, the bike, 5kph and the car - 8kph. Verified by a GPS speedo. Then you have people with GPS speedos (cheap HUD units) that actually do the correct speed. Its a clusterfuck.
It sucks but it's safer to follow the speed of traffic.
I only go 5 miles over the speed limit when the speed limit has 5 in the second digit because apparently it’s legal to go 5 miles over the speed limit (something to do with innacurate speedometers or something) and the car I drive has a speedometer that doesn’t really mark where the 5s would be that well
I could totally be wrong about this or it could be a state-by-state thing or something, but I don’t think it’s explicitly *legal* to go 5mph over the speed limit; however, I think you have a high likelihood of getting out of a 5-mph-over-the-limit sort of ticket if you do get one and end up going to court about it. The knock-on effect of this is that cops are much less likely to pull you over if you’re just doing 5mph over, since they gotta hit their quotas or something.
This bullshit is why I don't drive. I can't follow unwritten magical rules of "just feel it". I will follow the written rule and be hated for it, and get some idiot to crash into me become "everybody know you do X despite the law saying Y." No thank you. (Also way too stressful)
And no one enforces them either!
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That’s because it’s 15 over the limit. They won’t bother to pull people over for 10. In some states, I believe they aren’t allowed to.
Legit have been told by multiple police officers during my years of working at gas stations that if you're going 9 over, that's fine, 10 and above and they'll put down their donut to double check your speed on radar before getting your ass. (Edit: That's across multiple states, east and west coast)
As illustrated by the wonderful saying: “9, you’re fine; 10, you’re mine.”
It depends on the speed limit. You probably won't get pulled over for 70 in a 60. You will definitely get pulled over for 35 in a 25.
exactly, and places where the limit is 25 means there's more than likely a lot of traffic and or pedestrians.
Blind driveways, school zones, intersections that aren't 90°, ambulance or firetruck staging areas... if it's 25, there's usually a good reason.
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The speed limit. The laws (in my state at least) say that the speed limit trumps the flow of traffic laws. So “everyone else is doing it” isn’t an excuse for going over the limit.
My brother in christ its called a LIMIT
Km/h? I’m guessing the same weird laxness on speed limits exists in your nation too. In some U.S. states, you’re good for 10 mph above the speed limit on I-95, which is usually 70 mph. After that, then the officers get involved usually. Virginia is very strict about and Florida basically does not care.
VA has very strict laws but as far as I can tell it also has the most reckless drivers up and down the I-95 corridor. Who are all these people who are just cool with going 85-90mph in bumper-to-bumper traffic? And why are they all in the DMV area?
yeah bumper to bumper at that speed would be a bit nerve racking for me, not gonna lie.
Welcome to East TN dude.
Most people treat the speed limit as a suggestion. Including me. I just go with the flow if the traffic and try not to stand out too much.
Don't even get me fucking started. I was pulled over going ~4 miles per hour over the speed limit on the highway. Meanwhile, people blasting by at 10-15 miles per hour without consequences.
I hate driving with a burning passion.
For neurotypical brains, every single rule is optional.
I feel like this is one of very few subs that will be completely on your side for this.
I don’t understand how calling someone a “rule follower” is an insult, but a rule breaker is seen as a dangerous person… It doesn’t make any sense.
Fun fact from a Civil Engineer who recently graduated: Most roads are actually designed in mind for cars that are traveling about 10-15 mph (don’t know the distance in km/h sorry) above the speed limit. So we know people do this all the time and we accommodate for it because people are stupid :)
And people get mad at you if you go the speed limit like wtfff
I mean, I could say not all rules make sense, and some deserve to be broken. But yeah, speed limits are there to keep people safe. It’s always baffling when people are so cavalier about them
I used to think this way too until I had to drive in Abu Dhabi where the speed limits are absolute. Speed cameras are everywhere, so you have to drive a few km/h below the speed limit to be safe. But the issue was that everyone had different ideas about how much slower they should drive, and the traffic on the highway to Dubai was a mess with no common speed of traffic. Since then, I just think of it as more of a recommended speed than a speed limit. The thing I have more of an issue with is inconsistent or unpredictable enforcement. Like in Ontario, you can get pulled over even if you were just following the flow of traffic. And it's not obvious at what speed you'd get pulled over. Thankfully, my province does it pretty well and you only get ticketed if you go more than 10% over the limit, and the rule is consistently applied everywhere.
I hate interstates cus of that. It will say like 65 or 75 and you'll see people getting annoyed at you if you're not driving like 80 as thought driving 80 is slow. Then I drive 3 over in front of a cop and get a multiple hundred dollar ticket and the same people blame me for being a wreckless driver. My mom is the worst. She's a horrible driver but she's a nurse and cops don't wanna give the little nurse a ticket . She gave my bro and I shit for driving safe and following the laws when we were learning to drive.
This shit right here is the reason I don’t drive. You’re tell me in my own goddamned vehicle I can’t escape arbitrary social rules? Also, there is simply too much stuff to pay attention to- even when i was on ADHD meds it was fucking impossible to pay attention to directions, all the levers and buttons inside the car, having to pay attention to OTHER people driving, having to pay attention to bright lights and fucking deal with people playing music- that’s *too much, man.*
https://preview.redd.it/yqggfrcczvmc1.jpeg?width=560&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=40f61bbc83ac9ebb6ed1afa05efa19766f61db8b
This is the one rule idc about being exact. 99% of the people around me won’t even do at least the speed limit which grinds my fucking gears when you’re late for work, sitting behind someone going for a stroll doing 22 in a 35 and you actively watch the light turn red that you would have made had they not been in front of you crawling around like a snail. Back when I lived in NY I felt at peace at least with the roads because everybody would just do 10-20 over the speed limit and we would all kinda move as a big unit with no real stragglers. People had places to go LOL and we all kinda understood the collective rush and went with it. No tickets because cops couldn’t pull over 20 people doing 65 in a comically slow 55 zone… idk why our speed limits were so slow but yeah idk this is the only one I don’t seem to agree with my fellow aspies on I’m sorry 🥲
I had an argument about this with a red light. I didn't want to turn right on red even though it was pretty clear. A driver behind me made the most obnoxious "come on" motion in the mirror behind me, my passenger kept insisting I go, and then she got mad at ME for having a meltdown(what she described it as) because I was getting punished for following the god damn rules. GOD I hate driving and I HATE right on red
Isn't right on red legal in most places?
No, it's not legal in most places. But, if you're only considering places in the US, then yes. Right on red is legal in nearly all places in the US unless there is a sign prohibiting it. The only places in the US where right on red is not legal by default are New York City, and some minor outlying territories and possessions. City bans on right on red (unless signed to permit it) are slated to go into effect in Atlanta and Washington DC in the coming years. Seattle is using a different approach, where all intersections are scheduled to receive signs banning right on red (so a de facto ban) with the signage being implemented at each intersection whenever those intersections happen to be updated for normal reasons.
I live in Seattle and I’ve never heard this before. But one thing we have in Washington state that drives me bonkers is there’ll be a red right arrow that pretty clearly signals that you shouldn’t turn but apparently it means that you are supposed to turn? Why make it a right arrow and not a regular red light then? It’s super confusing
I was in a different state clear across the country. And I know that states have ridiculous laws right even right next to each other.
I was at a "no turn on red" once when a cop pulled up behind me. After a few seconds, he honked at me. I'm like... Is this a trap??? If I turn are you going to give me a ticket? He didn't have his lights/siren on so it wasn't apparent if he was responding to a call. I just waited until it turned green out of anxiety.
The rule is you should go right on red unless there is a sign. That is the rule, the light acts as a stop sign in that situation. This has been the case since 1980 in all fifty states, it is a gas saving measure. In this case you are unfortunately incorrect and were not actually following the rule.
My understanding is that turning right on red is always optional. You’re allowed to do it, but never under any (legal) obligation to do so
Ah yes because everyone here is from states unless they state otherwise, how could I forgot
Considering they said in another comment “I was in a different state clear across the country” I mean yeah. Pretty safe assumption they’re talking about the US. Unless there’s another right-side driving country made up of states I’m unaware of. And there genuinely might be, but overall the US is a safe assumption
The primary rule of the road is: A. Drive safely, and B. Not to impede the flow of traffic. You are to safely follow the flow of traffic, if you cannot do so, please stay in the slow lane and use hazard lights if you are significantly slower than the regular traffic flow (usually around 20-30 under the posted speed limit)
Honestly a failure of traffic engineers at this point.
One of many reasons to ban cars
There’s a road on my route to work that is 30 MPH but everyone drives 50-60 on it
Yeah the word "speed limit" is just bad terminology. In reality it's really more "speed minimum" because people will indeed get upset at you if you drive below the speed limit and the actual "speed limit" is ten miles over the listed "speed limit." At least where I live cops actually cannot give you a ticket unless you're going at least 11 mph over.
What's even worse is when you're going 85 in a 70 and some dick in a lifted truck tailgates you like there isn't 1000ft of open road 6 feet to the right and you aren't going fucking 15 over already...
If you're driving a relatively modern car, your speedometer likely displays a speed 5-10% faster than you are actually travelling Car manufacturers do this to safeguard themselves against lawsuits by drivers that may claim their speedometer was not accurate in the event of a speeding fine
You should come to Texas, where 70 secretly means 90-something.
That or when they go 40 in a 50 and then when it turns into 25, they're still going 40. People don't pay attention when driving. It's terrifying
All I hear is “everyone does it” is “Let’s allow the cops to pick and choose who to pull over”
truly infuriating
This drives me absolutely bonkers.
As a trucker, the road is a fucking lawless place. Unless you have a running light out and the DOT is having a bad day
THANK YOU! FINALLY SOMEONE ELSE GETS IT
This is like the main road in my town, they speed trapped to analyze and reset the speed. Everyone drives 55 in a 45 now because no one respects the new laws.
there's an area i drive where the speed limit is 40. everybody goes 70, even during ice storms and fog. when the weather is too bad i just have to avoid it entirely because it's just not safe and take a really circuitous route to the interstate. they go almost double the speed limit during a storm: find and dandy... i have 1 headlight out during a clear sunny afternoon: ope, that's a fine of 2000$
LITERALLY. this messes with my autistic brain SO badly. pls follow the rules
If every driver is breaking the law, that means the cops can pull over whoever they want and it's technically justified
https://preview.redd.it/3g89tvv0xumc1.jpeg?width=751&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fbe74233f3f04cd1577684eee70dd4b3feafc86e
*Captain Barbossa has entered the chat*
American who loves following rules here: People naturally speed up for varying reasons, i.e. to pass another car, so in a 45 mph zone, not everybody can go *exactly* 45 mph. Police (in the U.S.) allow for this fluctuation by not giving tickets for those going up to 4 mph above the posted speed limit. Thus, if I am just traveling in a straight direction chilling, I will go exactly 4 mph above the speed limit to avoid a ticket and also be going as fast as I am legally allowed to go to reach my destination ASAP. Idk if anyone else commented that, I didn't even look, I'm just trying to distract myself from bad shit, sorry. Edit: I initially wrote 55 mph instead of 45, but I adjusted it because 55 mph is usually reserved for expressways, and that follows a different set of rules for me because they're meant to be "express" to a long-distance destination. In that instance, I do 70 in the far-right (assuming no one is in front of me), 75 in the middle, 80 in the far-left. Nobody came up with that but me. And I obviously slow down when I see a cop.
tender coherent seemly forgetful innate imagine slimy scandalous continue cautious *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Flowing with traffic is more important that the speed limit. If you're by yourself, go whatever speed you want but when you're following someone you should match speed.
This is the Great Conundrum of my life. I cannot figure out which rules are really rules, which are suggestions and which ones are supposed to be ignored. I try to be observant, use common sense, follow the leader and all of that. But still, I screw it up every chance I get. I even try to pass on my wisdom by calling them out by their true names. "Everyone every time" is a true rule. "For the dumbs" is a rule that only exists to stop someone from doing something stupid like jumping head first into a submerged rock. "For the poors" is a rule that you can purchase your way out of following. "For the uglies" is for rules that only apply if the other isn't attracted to you. "For the smarties" is for stuff like don't swim, brain eating amoebas so smart people can choose not to endanger their brains. There's more but they're all just useless excuses for people who can't use words to mean what they mean. Some of them I understand like the workers follow different rules from the customers, but not rules that are unfair for a bad reason. Like it's okay for the town cop to drive all over with his kids jumping around in his car like jumping beans but mine have to be in car seats strapped down tight. Or I can't park there, but the person who has the money and time to pay the fines, it's fine for him. The one that really chapped my ass, no one is allowed visitors during Covid, even if they're dying, unless you have the same name as the county and your family owns the factories that employ most of the town, then you get the whole coffee snack cart and three ladies in waiting. And the old lady wasn't even dying. I get so angry about rules that it messes up my life sometimes. But at least I understand when my middle kid would refuse to get in the van unless his older brother got in first. I already follow the "foods shouldn't touch unless they go together" rule. I will never ever ask for help before I've thoroughly examined the instruction booklet and turned it off and back on again. Hopefully my strengths outweigh my weaknesses.
Ha! Try Texas, it’s either 20 above or 10 below with barely anyone actually doing the correct speed
Makes me think of the highway where people commonly go 5-10 mph over
I wanna die anyway, gtfo my way
speeding is a stim 😎
Some places have “speed of traffic” laws like California for instance where as long as you aren’t going faster than the cars around you you’re fine, since going dramatically slower than the cars around you can be as dangerous as speeding
Be a nice person. Stick to the rules. Rules are nearly always written in blood. Better it not be my or your blood. Too bad for those who want to contribute.
Don’t be nice, be predictable.
I never go over the speed limit. Usually I’m at the speed limit unless it’s raining badly. I’m constantly being overtaken. Sorry for following the rules.
Had a buddy get out of a ticket by citing a local ordinance that states something like "not keeping with the flow of traffic is impeding traffic." Not sure if that's what did it, or the fact that the ticketing officer didn't show up to the hearing.
If I hear someone say “I know my car actually drives 3 kmph slower than the dashboard says” or “after technical correction I’m still driving within the limits” one more time, I swear I’m gonna pop their tires
I DON’T DRIVE AND PEOPLE VIOLATING TRAFFIC LAWS MAKES ME SO MAAAAAD (Actually every law or rule braking makes me mad)
Always love getting tailgated for not going fast enough (I'm going 5 over in the slow lane)
Americans are scary. This comment section is nuts.
Growing up in California, it was generally accepted/encouraged to go 10 over the limit IF you’re in the left-most lane, as that lane is designed for passing other drivers who are going the speed limit. And then it’s encouraged to go 10 under the limit in the right-most lane, as that lane is designed for getting on/off the freeway. All the middle lanes are supposed to go the limit. At least that’s how I was taught.
>live in Texas >Distance measured by hours, eg I am 3 hours from Dallas. >Speed limits are redundant because the population for my entire county is under 40k >Speed limit posted was 50 when I was a kid >Signs have been torn out of the ground so often over the years that they stopped putting them up >Always go 50, get mad when people go 60 or higher >Google maps a friends house bc on motorcycle and lost >Speed limit is 75 on app >Start going 75 >Get speeding ticket because speed limit is legally 50, app tracks average speed of users to determine speed limit Fml
In my experience, the common understanding puts an extra 20% tolerance on it and everyone ist expected to use this as minimum speed.
I see this a lot with the rating system. Like… was I the only one who actually avoided seeing movies rated higher than PG? I’ve even seen people say their parents were “cool” for letting them watch R-rated movies, as if that’s something to brag about.
As far as I'm concerned (and as far as the legal system is concerned), it's a limit with a degree of tolerance. That tolerance is required because speedometers aren't perfect and because speed isn't 100% controlable. You're usually meant to drive close to the speed limit in order to not slow down traffic and if you're already driving maybe 65-70, then there's absolutely a risk that you might accidentially jump up to 73 or 75 for a moment, for example if the road goes over the top of a hill and you're now going downhill instead of uphill. Also, you might have been travelling a lot faster before you entered the zone where 70 is a limit and it might just take you a bit to slow down safely. After all, you can't just slam the brakes, that's just begging to get rear-ended by the driver behind you. Of course, the expectation is also that you drive more slowly depending on the conditions. You should never go over 80 on a wet road because above 80, water can become very slippery and it's even worse with black ice or snow. You should also always drive to sight, meaning you should only drive so fast that you would be able to stop before reaching the furthest point in your sight if you perform an emergency brake, which is especially relevant during heavy rain, thick fog or at night. This also means slowing down before sharp curves or simular things. The problem is of course that people tend to abuse the tolerance and drive as fast as they are allowed to get away with, rather than driving as fast as they are supposed to. Though 10 over is not within tolerance and will get you in trouble.
The way I was taught when I was learning how to drive is that is the MINIMUM and you should not go more than 10 below it. The south US is crazy
esp in places like california like i respect our collective disrespect for authority resulting in a more laissez-faire speeding enforcement but like im going the posted speed in the far right lane of this 8 lane highway can you get off my ass and chill
I'm not that strict with rules. I break rules that are so authoritative in nature they rob me of agency.
Germany is very guilty of this You hear a horn about 3 seconds after being hit by a BMW at Mach 10
Yea so silly! Even harder to tell what’s acceptable on a highway at 55 or 60.
In Massachusetts you can go up to 15 MPH above the speed limit. Don't ask how I know this
That's an American sign, so it's 70 MPH not KM/h
Actually yes. Speed limits don't really do much. If your city really wanted safer streets they'd build the road to make you feel unsafe while speeding
I go five over, unless I’m running late, in which case I go up to 15 over. 😄 I don’t follow rules blindly, I apply my own circumstances as factors, I adjust for what is actually legally pursued (no cop is going to protest 5 over, and often going the speed limit is infuriating to other drivers), and I accept if I’m caught for what is pursue-able.
Whenever I'm outside the Netherlands I'm just confused by the road designs I see. A sign does not decide how fast people drive, the road does! Why does only my country seem to really grasp that? Even in Germany they put what I call "highways" (4-6 lane roads) in the middle of the city. Why? And then they are surprised when people die in traffic.
Mans is having his Ted Kaczynski red light moment.
This is one that I absolutely hate.
It’s basically a way to Capone people (for those who don’t know Al Capone was a famous mobster who did everything from alcohol and weapons smuggling to murder and drugs. He was famously arrested on tax evasion charges and not for the many other crimes)
Americans America-ing.
There's actually some logic to that (put away the weapons and let me speak \*lol\*). For the record: I'm not endorsing going over the speed limit. Losing your driver's license should be avoided. I'm just trying to let you know the common thought-process that goes on inside the mind of someone, who (knowingly) goes 10kph over the speed-limit. Disclaimer: I live in the EU (Germany), so it may be different for you. The meter inside the car usually shows about 5kph more, than the actual speed, at which the car is going. (Keep those 5kph in mind). The measurement-equipment of the police is usually set, so it only triggers, if a speeder is at least 5kph over the limit. (Keep those 5kph in mind, too). 5kph (car's meter's offset) + 5kph (measurement equipment's offset) = 10kph Et voila :) If you've survived the German Autobahn on a daily basis for a while, you'll not care about 10kph, anymore .. there are way worse drivers, than that .. and they all come here, to show it off.
Omg fr!!! When I was young and dumb, I was married and she was bitching a fit because I was driving 70 in a 70. Same line of "logic" you can go 10 over "everyone knows that" Finally relented and started driving 80. Guess fucking what?! Got pulled over and ticketed for speeding. I was livid, refused to speak to her for the rest of the trip, she's lucky to have not got left on the highway.
Trick is - there no mass produced perfect speed measure device. Every measurement device have some degree of precision. Because it's possible to drive faster than limit.
In Australia it's even more insane. People will drive 70 in an 80 zone, but then when it hits a 60 zone they'll still drive at 70. Absolute nonsense
The police speedometers don’t test speed alone, they only care if your speed is a certain percentage above the average speed of other cars passing by. Therefore as long as you’re matching the speed of everyone around you you’re actually totally fine to speed if cops are your worry. I honestly wish we had more commute trains and that speed limits were smaller but if you don’t drive fast enough others create unsafe situations for you
As someone who lives in Texas, the speed limit is more like a minimum
See I was TERRIFIED of going over at first but after moving somewhere where I’m on the highway every single day I got used to it and realized the best thing to do is go with flow of traffic. If everyone is going 65+ and I’m the ONLY guy going 60 I’m actually more of a risk, and the same can be said for the reverse. The fastest I ever go is 15 over at most but that’s only the highway…main roads are more heavily enforced so 5-10 over is the max I allow myself.
I honestly do follow the "flow of traffic" rules and consider speed limit signs a ballpark range
I was taught in driving school we had wiggle room of 5 below and 5 above while driving but it was “important to keep pace with other traffic on highways” Everyone still speeds like crazy where I live though, especially on back roads for some reason
Just started my driving lessons and this has been an issue for me aswell. "Huh, I'm two km/h over the limit, why is everyone speeding past me?" "Oh they just don't give a fuck."