What's the Speed Limit? Tales of High-Speed Driving

[rocketboy]

Since I'm Canadian (eh) I'm going to reply in kph, I don't know mph that well. I voted 15 or more over, I think that's about 30kph?

I just got my liscence last August, and up until last week have been lucky and always noticed cops and had time to brake. But the other night I was driving home from school, and it was dark so I couldn't tell which cars are which. All I see are their headlights coming toward me...until in my rear view mirror I see red and blue flashing lights and a car pull a 180 in the middle of the road to come after me.

My immediate reaction was "oh **** I'm screwed" you see, my parents told me when I got my liscense that if my insurance rises at all they're taking it away, meaning I won't be able to drive. Now, I don't know the system in the US, but here you get demerit points for doing bad things...demerit points mean your insurance rises. If you are 15kph or less over the limit and get pulled over, there are no demerits, just a small ticket.

So I pull over, the cop gets out and I hand him my liscense and registration (he didn't even have to ask...I think he was impressed). He says "sir you were doing 110 in an 80 zone" (kph). He goes back to the car and leaves me for 20 minutes wondering how I'm ever going to get out of it.

So he comes back to the car, and says "30kph over the limit is a $150(ish) fine and 4 demerit points" (that's a lot, I think at my liscense level once I get to 6 I lose my liscense...for fully liscensed drivers it's like 9 or something). then he continues "but I see this is your first ticket, so I have reduced it to 95kph, meaning you won't lose any demerit points and the ticket is 50(ish) dollars. Drive safe."

So turns out my dad was just getting home from a business trip that night, what a nice way to welcome him back eh? He didn't end up caring, he says "110 isn't that bad, I hope you learned your lesson".

I now slow down every time a car is approaching...speed limits suck.

 

[Dawguard]

I now slow down every time a car is approaching...speed limits suck.

The truest thing any human ever said .

 

[jimmy p]

I tend to go about 5-10 miles over the limit, even on motorways when everyone is caning it past me at like 650 miles an hour, and I'll do 80mph tops.

The only time I speed properly is when chasing a cop car with lights and sirens, hell they have a real crime to deal with so they won't pull you over. Tempting fate, but it beats the queues. I hate people who drive too slow. We have a road which is 60 mph yet loads of people insist on driving at 50mph cos there is no speed limit sign. I just want to commit various acts of road rage on them and I'm a sedate driver, I never use my horn, even if jerks pull right in front of me and brake suddenly.

 

[big man]

I'd probably be in the 5mph - 10 mph section. Well I only actually speed in the suburbs (I travel at the old 60 kph limit) so I haven't ever sped on highways or freeways.

110 in an 80 zone though man
haha that cop is extremely nice. If that was here I'd be summoned to court and lose my license for 6 months.

I well and truly wish that we had faster speed limits here (only in some places), but we don't really and we have to put up with some real slow ones...some I agree with and some I don't.

40 kph in a school zone = fair enough
50 kph in the suburbs = bull****! should have kept it at 60 kph.
70 kph on highways = annoying 'cause it used to be 80 kph.
100 kph on freeways = fair enough

They are wanting to change it now so that in the suburbs people have to travel at 30 kph. That's 30 kph! I may as well ride a bike then. They are also wanting to reduce the speeds on highways and freeways by another 10/20 kph.

Apparently they got the idea from people in Europe so I really feel sorry for any country in Europe that has to put up with those sorts of speed limits. I know they want to save lives and all, but I don't think that cutting the speed limit by that much will do anything (apart from make them more money).

 

[Astronuc]

I now slow down every time a car is approaching...speed limits suck.

Well, they are necessary, particularly in populated areas. It's alright with a 10 mh (16 km/h) differential in vehicle speed, but much above that accidents are more likely.

When I was in high school, several kids were killed in car crashes because they were racing or otherwise driving way too fast, lost control and hit trees or utility pole. One kid lauched his Vette airborne off a slight rise in the road. His car hit small tree, which tore through the car severing his right arm - he bled to death.

I have seen the results of high speed crashes, and the results are not pretty. Wearing seatbelts doesn't even matter, since the passenger compartment is usually crushed (and the g-forces from stopping suddenly are horrific), and sometimes the engine finds its way into the passenger compartment.

I have had a car up to 220 km/h (137 mph) but on a 4-lane German autobahn with very little traffic around. The car handled smoothly, and it was designed for that, particularly the tires. Most commercial tires are not rated for such speeds to I would not consider high speed driving on a US highway/freeway.

Drive safely!

 

[Moonbear]

Well, they are necessary, particularly in populated areas. It's alright with a 10 mh (16 km/h) differential in vehicle speed, but much above that accidents are more likely.

It really depends. Some speed limits don't make a lot of sense...those are the ones that are somewhat arbitrary and you'll see vary state to state. For example, in NJ, the speed limit around school zones was 25 mph, which was plenty slow enough (and heavily enforced usually...you weren't going to go 30 or 35 mph without getting a ticket, especially if it was during the time when kids were arriving or being dismissed from school). But, the speed limit was the same all day long, because in reality, kids are around the school at least during daylight hours, either on the playground, some are "escaping" when they shouldn't be, some are there for afterschool activities, some are getting picked up early or dropped off late by their parents because they had a doctor's appointment, etc. When I moved out to the midwest, in both MI and OH, the speed limit was 20 mph. That got a bit painfully slow. Plus, in OH, they had yellow blinking lights, so the limit only changed from whatever the normal limit on the road was (which could have been 45 mph) down to 20 mph ONLY when the light was blinking, which was when schools were opening in the morning (kids arriving) or being dismissed in the afternoon. Despite children being in the area all day long, you could drive 45 mph past the school until it was time for dismissal! None of it made sense to me.

Then there are speed limits that make sense even if you don't see it at first. Again, when I lived in Cincinnati, one of the neighboring, more rural areas had a road that was usually pretty empty, just bordering a bunch of fields, but had a fairly slow speed limit after a long stretch of no marked speed limit. The teen drivers would get to that road and do 45 or 50 mph, or more, on it...and then hit the sharp turn at the end of a few gentle curves, so you don't really see it coming, but that's why the speed limit was posted and slow for that section of road. There were frequent serious accidents on that stretch of road, usually teen drivers, and all too often, fatal for someone in the car.

 

[rocketboy]

110 in an 80 zone though man
haha that cop is extremely nice. If that was here I'd be summoned to court and lose my license for 6 months.

lol, where is 'here'? In Ontario I think you lose your liscense if your 50kph or more over the limit. And since I have my G2 I'm not sure how long I lose it for...full G it's 6 months I think.

I well and truly wish that we had faster speed limits here (only in some places), but we don't really and we have to put up with some real slow ones...some I agree with and some I don't.

40 kph in a school zone = fair enough
50 kph in the suburbs = bull****! should have kept it at 60 kph.
70 kph on highways = annoying 'cause it used to be 80 kph.
100 kph on freeways = fair enough

I agree...except 100 kph on freeways is way too slow...that's my average speed in 80 zones. Nobody goes 100 on a freeway, well, there are a few but the average freeway speed around Ottawa is probably 110-120. They should make freeway speeds 120...but that'll never happen.

 

[AngelShare]

I usually drive the speed limit-- I'm still a new driver, going any faster wouldn't be all that smart, especially what with how the roads are around here. Just a few weeks ago, a girl (19 yrs. old) was driving somewhere and hit a bank. The kid in the back seat (16 yrs. old) was thrown out of the car. He died not long after, in the hospital I believe. The girl who was driving is in critical condition and the guy in the front seat was banged up but in better shape than the other two.

My Dad always told me to ignore the *******s who want to push you up the road, good advice really, because everyone wants to fly up the road. Shocker when they hit something. I'm not a slow driver, I'm just one of the ones who knows her limits and won't push it to look "cool".

 

[Dawguard]

I usually drive the speed limit-- I'm still a new driver, going any faster wouldn't be all that smart, especially what with how the roads are around here. Just a few weeks ago, a girl (19 yrs. old) was driving somewhere and hit a bank. The kid in the back seat (16 yrs. old) was thrown out of the car. He died not long after, in the hospital I believe. The girl who was driving is in critical condition and the guy in the front seat was banged up but in better shape than the other two.

My Dad always told me to ignore the *******s who want to push you up the road, good advice really, because everyone wants to fly up the road. Shocker when they hit something. I'm not a slow driver, I'm just one of the ones who knows her limits and won't push it to look "cool".

Good advice for sure, but there is nothing more fun then taking a fast car to a deserted spot (think the salt plains of Utah) and just flooring it. When I first got my liscence I did the same, rigorously following the speed limit, but over time when you learn how to judge traffic, know the limitations of the vehicle, etc., it starts to feel more like a hinderance. Unfortuantly it needs to exist, so I usually try to keep at least close to it. I usually drive about five to ten MPH over.

 

[moose]

On average, if there are cars near me, I drive 4-6 over (common courtesy I suppose). If the road is clear, I drive exactly the speed limit... I think that the gap from 5-10(10 excluded) is far too large to work in this poll. You can get pulled over at 9 over, but almost never at 5 over.

 

[AngelShare]

Good advice for sure, but there is nothing more fun then taking a fast car to a deserted spot (think the salt plains of Utah) and just flooring it. When I first got my liscence I did the same, rigorously following the speed limit, but over time when you learn how to judge traffic, know the limitations of the vehicle, etc., it starts to feel more like a hinderance. Unfortuantly it needs to exist, so I usually try to keep at least close to it. I usually drive about five to ten MPH over.

As far as I know, there are no places like that around here. How fast I go depends upon the area, really. There's a road near here that I always go about 5 mph under the limit on, it's the same road that accident occurred on. It's really bumpy and has a lot of turns on it, I still don't feel comfortable there. Hell, my sister in law is about 35 or so years old and she wrecked on that road. There's also a restaurant about 25 minutes or so from here that I tend to slow down in front of because my Mom got into a wreck there (She was rear ended after a guy turned off without signaling.). People tend to turn off at the last minute without using their turn signals there. That causes an accident to occur because everyone behind the guy who turned off was speeding and tailgating...SMASH!

Then, of course, I slow down when I go through town...

 

[Jelfish]

I don't drive too often in the city (and not at all in Boston..), but when I do, I usually am at the speed limit or above. Most of my driving is done on the interstate, where I'm definitely going above 15mph above the 65mph limit. It's hard to get a real average though, considering toll stops and such, but I try to stay at or slightly above 80mph. Sometimes a bit slower if the traffic is heavy. I haven't been stopped yet. I think as long as you don't look like you're driving dangerously (i.e. constantly cutting in and out of lanes to pass people), you're not too likely to be stopped.

 

[rocketboy]

Good advice for sure, but there is nothing more fun then taking a fast car to a deserted spot (think the salt plains of Utah) and just flooring it. When I first got my liscence I did the same, rigorously following the speed limit, but over time when you learn how to judge traffic, know the limitations of the vehicle, etc.,

I agree...for about the first week after I got my liscense last summer I found the speed limit fine, I don't think I went more than 2kph over. But as Dawguard said, you begin to learn your vehicle, and once I was comfortable with the car I drive (my dad's) speed limits became extremely annoying.

I can't say I've had the opportunity to take a fast car to a deserted highway in Utah...but I fully agree that there is nothing more exhilerating than pushing the car to its limits, providing you don't go too far past your own limits. Is that an "S" turn in the road ahead? Awesome, let's see how fast I can take my dad's Jetta around it...

Another fun thing to do is to push the car's acceleration to its limit, taking off when the light turns green, seeing if you can accelerate faster than the guy beside you. My car is gutless but I like to pretend it isn't

 

[rocketboy]

On another note regarding driving habits...I have my G2 currently (in Ontario there are 3 levels of liscenses, G1, G2, and then G. G1 means you can drive so long as there is a passenger who has had their G for > 5 yrs. and between certain hours, and no roads with speed limit 100. G2 means you can kick your parents out of the passenger seat and drive on any road u want, but after midnight you can't carry passengers under 19 or something and you can't have alcohol in the car...and still a 0 tolerance restriction. G is the full liscense.)

So, back to my thought...i have my G2, which means this August I can take the test to get my G. However, that means I have to lose all the bad habits I've developed...the testers will take off points for the following which I tend to do without realizing it...

-driving without both hands on the wheel
-not checking mirrors frequently (i only do so when changin lanes etc)
-speeding (auto fail)
-not doing full stops (stupid...they insist that the car must actually STOP, ie, wheels motionless, at a stop sign)
-signalling to go around bikers etc in your way
-signalling when doing 3 point turns, etc.. (who signals at each step of a 3 point turn?)

 

[AngelShare]

So, back to my thought...i have my G2, which means this August I can take the test to get my G. However, that means I have to lose all the bad habits I've developed...the testers will take off points for the following which I tend to do without realizing it...

That's why my Dad doesn't want me speeding, using only one hand when driving, not fully stopping at stop signs, etc. He wants to make sure I don't develop any bad habits that'll screw me up.

 

[Moonbear]

I agree...except 100 kph on freeways is way too slow...that's my average speed in 80 zones. Nobody goes 100 on a freeway, well, there are a few but the average freeway speed around Ottawa is probably 110-120. They should make freeway speeds 120...but that'll never happen.

Only those of us from the U.S. drive the speed limit on Canadian freeways, and that's because we're already confused enough by KPH that we don't know how much faster we can go and get away with it. (The other half of the drivers from the U.S. are driving 100 mph )

 

[rocketboy]

Only those of us from the U.S. drive the speed limit on Canadian freeways, and that's because we're already confused enough by KPH that we don't know how much faster we can go and get away with it. (The other half of the drivers from the U.S. are driving 100 mph )

LOL

 

[moose]

My dad was driving with his friend in Europe once... My dad looks over and says "Shouldn't you slow down a little bit?" and his friend says "I'm only going 140"... My dad's friend thought it was in kph... it was in mph. I guess they really gave their rented bmw a ride. O.O

 

[rocketboy]

one day I'm going to rent a porsche or ferarri and push it to its limit. actually...no, one day I'm going to buy a porsche or ferrari...

*wakes up*

whoa, where am i?

 

[Hurkyl]

Why do people think the speed limit is a hinderance? What's fun about driving fast? These things are mystifying to me.

I used to go about 10 MPH over the speed limit. One day I realized that I didn't have any reason at all to be going 10 over -- it was just something I'd been doing. So now I drive the speed limit.

As I've become more experienced and perceptive, I notice a lot of really bad reasons to be speeding. Probably the worst examples are intersections with limited visibility: places where the person turning onto the main road has just barely has enough visibility to safely turn when traffic is going the speed limit. When someone's barreling along at 20 MPH over the speed limit, that causes a serious problem.

In fact, I recently almost got into an accident at such a situation -- I look left and there's no traffic visible at all, so I start pulling out as I look right to reconfirm that there was no traffic in that direction.

Fortunately, my passenger was looking left at the time and told me to stop!

It seems the guy had floored it to make a yellow light, completely unaware of the potential problem. (Presumably he couldn't see me either)


Such intersections are more common than one might think -- and I strongly suspect the vast majority of people who want to speed have not given it any more thought than "I want to go fast".


Express ways are, of course, different. But I understand that one of the primary criterion for setting a speed limit is the estimated number of serious and fatal accidents that would occur at the given speed limit. It's ludicrous to think that driving 15 over the speed limit is just as safe as driving at the speed limit! What is so great about speeding that makes it worth risking your and everybody else's lives?

 

[Cyrus]

I drive kind of fast Hurkyl. I have not been in an accident that was my fault, in fact I have not even put a dent in my car. But I do have limits to my driving. For example, I don't speed at night. I can't see hidden cops, people running across the road, or *parked cars with their lights off.* That one is very dangerous. If its raining, I don't drive fast. Likewise for snow. *but* if its a nice day out, every once in a while I might take it onto the George Washington Parkway and open it. Driving fast on that road is *alot* of fun. The roads are smooth as silk, its a nice parkway, you can see the airplanes out your window on the landing pattern to national airport. You can also see the georgetown skyline, kennedy center, *and every once in a while a state trooper, and that's when you SLAM on the brakes .* Also, I don't weave in and out of traffic and I don't tail gate. Actually, I usually go about 5-10mph over unless traffic is going slow. Then I that's when I start to go 15 over. I just enjoy being on a nice road going fast with no traffic. Or a small country road that is empty and winds around. Those are fun too. (but for those roads you need to have a nice red ferrari ).

 

[Kazza_765]

Jesus. And I thought drivers in Australia are bad.

I don't get why people speed. Its f****** stupid if you ask me. In high school, 3 kids the year above me were killed while speeding. A friend of mine from work died less than 6 months ago, and another friend of mine lost 2 family members when he was a kid.

What a bloody joke, "its fun to drive fast". I love driving fast as well, that's why I'm a member of two car clubs. Any weekend I have time I can take the car out, drive as stupidly fast as I like, on sealed or dirt race tracks, and you know what? If I make a mistake the only person I'm going to kill is myself, not some poor mother driving her kids home, or some unlucky pedestrian that happened to step out in front of you.

Incidentally, we have an advertising campaign that's been running on TV for a while now here, "take off 5" is its motto. Trying to dispel the idea that its ok to go 5 kmh over the speed limit. Anyways, says how over the same braking distance a car going 65kmph will hit something at 32kmph, while a car at 60kmph would hit at 5 etc... Being the physicist, I'm always asked how that works, is that correct etc. Then I come here and everyone seems to think its ok to speed.

Bah.

 

[Cyrus]

Yeah, like I said I go fast when the roads are pretty much empty. I don't do that when there are lots of cars/people around. (Actually, one of the things I watch out for when I drive is cars with small kids in them or old people). If I go fast when there's traffic its to get out of it, then I slow down again. I don't go driving around like a raging lunatic

What kind of car do you drive at your club Kazzaa?

 

[Kazza_765]

I use an '89 Holden (General Motors) Commodore VC for rallys, and I'll either use my Focus Zetec or, (when he's in a good mood), borrow my old man's WRX STI for track stuff.

 

[Cyrus]

My cars def not in the 'power' category. What's sad is when you literally have the gas pedal to the floor and your getting beat by a Honda odyssey that isn’t even trying to go fast. ...Damn that minivan!

 

[Physics is Phun]

I was driving (at the limit) down Highway 1 late at night a few months back. The only other car in my immediate vicinity was an old El Camino about a quarter mile ahead. I noticed nothing at all unusual about the situation until a cruiser approached from behind me. He moved behind me, a little closer than I'd like, and did the trick of moving half a lane to the left, watching my response. Before I had a chance to finish saying "what the heck?" he had moved back around me, moved to the El Camino, and did the same trick again. Instantly, the El Camino swerved and started oscillating back and forth across both lanes, leaving the roadway on one side, and almost leaving the shoulder. The cop had just demonstrated, in a split second, that the El Camino driver was completely drunk. The El Camino then tried to dodge onto an off-ramp, and the cop hit his lights and was on him like white on rice.

sorry, I don't get it, what was he trying to do by moving over half a lane? you mean half a lane towards the middle? or the shoulder?... I don't get it

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

sorry, I don't get it, what was he trying to do by moving over half a lane? you mean half a lane towards the middle? or the shoulder?... I don't get it

When people are driving drunk they often aren't paying much attention to the road and their spatial awareness and critical thinking are likely off. I think that the idea was that if the person wasn't paying much attention to the road and not thinking clearing that seeing a car not in line with his/her own behind would make them panic and think they were drifting out of their lane.


I picked 10-15 but that's really only on the freeway. Here driving 10-15 mph over the limit on the freeway is absolutely normal. Cops, unless they are trolling, usually go about 90 mph on the freeways and while it's best to slow down around a cop they most likely woundn't pull you over for going around 75-80 unless you were bobing and weaving through traffic at the time.

Once early in the morning with the freeway completely empty I was going about 90. Suddenly I saw a cop cruise past me (He Was Going Faster Than 90!) and give me a sign to slow it down. A couple minutes later I saw him on the side of the road with a guy in a flashy sports car.

 

[rocketboy]

I don't get why people speed.

Time...

...oh yea, it's also an awesome adrenaline rush.

But I'm in teh same boat as cyrusabdollahi (wow ur name is hard to spell), I don't go driving around like a raging lunatic, and I have never been in an accident. At night, or with bad conditions (weather, bad roads etc...) I drive very carefully. Actually, even when I'm driving fast I still drive carefully, there is a difference between kamakazee driving and fast driving. I drive fast so that I can get where I want to go and not have to spend the better part of my day doing it, but I do it safely. I don't go blaring through a residential area, I don't go speeding through yellow lights. I also don't know where I"m taking this post so I"ll stop there.