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SPEED KILLS (Your Pocketbook)

Interesting take on what causes people to speed and what works and does not work when setting speed limits to improve road safety.

http://youtu.be/2BKdbxX1pDw

Great, thanks. I was just wondering last night who I complain to about the ridiculously low speed limits on the hwy's in BC, and especially on the Sunshine Coast. The RCMP come over from West Van/Squamish just to ticket on this hwy because it's speed limit is 80 km/h and the hwy is easily safe at 120 km/h. And they ticket at anything above 5 km/h. They make bets about who can give out the most tickets in a day. I have nothing nice to say about LEO's that focus on that, they should be out doing real police work.

Great link, great video, already sent my letter of protest.
 
I fine it very irritating when I'm on a two lane county road in southern Ontario and by crossing an imaginary line into another township the speed limit changes. It's the same road but suddenly the speed changes from 60 to 80, for example, or 80 to 60 depending on direction of travel.

Another speed issue is that the speed limit posted on curves in some places can be so slow that I'm assuming these are the winter speeds in a blinding snow with ice on the road. A speed limit of 50 where 80 is safe, for example, and these places exist. Two beautiful new "improvements" on roads I ride have this 50 limit and 80 is the speed one rides them at without thinking this is dangerous.

Speed may kill, as they say, but I'm more inclined to think stupidity kills.

Rant over.
 
In my recent 8800 mile trek across the US (and back) I noticed that drivers generally travelled at the same rate of speed regardless of the posted limit. And in places where conditions made the posted speed limit seem excessive to the average driver, folks voluntarily slowed down. Distracted drivers were the chief hazard I encountered, yet I saw several LEOs pass texting drivers without giving them a second glance.

My conclusion was that cops have an objective means of tracking drivers exceeding the speed limit, while other more odious offenses would be harder to prove in court so go unpunished. The laws are simply following the easy money.
 
While I agree certain speed limits are outdated and could be 'bumped up' without excessive risk to traffic safety, this is hardly a professional piece of investigative journalism.

Buzz comments like "cops label all drivers as deviant criminals" and "doesn't look too socialist" start showing up in the very first few sentences.

This You-Tube piece is blatantly slanted to be anti-law enforcement - not really surprised.

If You-Tube is your source of journalistic excellence, any debate over the objectivity of this topic was over before it ever started. :lurk
 
While I agree certain speed limits are outdated and could be 'bumped up' without excessive risk to traffic safety, this is hardly a professional piece of investigative journalism.

Buzz comments like "cops label all drivers as deviant criminals" and "doesn't look too socialist" start showing up in the very first few sentences.

This You-Tube piece is blatantly slanted to be anti-law enforcement - not really surprised.

If You-Tube is your source of journalistic excellence, any debate over the objectivity of this topic was over before it ever started. :lurk

I don't think that is the point. Were you a police officer in your former days?

In Canada, BC in particular, we have extremely low speed limits for very highly maintained, easily drivable roads. The point is people need a mechanism to "talk, speak up to government". In Canada folks complain a lot, but very few take action. The b.s. reporting by TV News as to the cause of accidents are mostly unfounded based on "drama to capture audiences", the cops go out and ticket a lot because they are rewarded for doing so. They pick the easy target, speeding, even if common sense would say the speed be driven is safe for the road and conditions. Never do they ticket the slow drivers for holding up traffic, for hanging in the left lane and impeding traffic, for changing lanes without signalling, for excessively tailgating, ....

My experience is that the majority of drivers will drive at a limit that is reasonable for the road. In BC that is mostly above the posted limit. But the cops here are ruthless with ticketing creating huge revenues for the province, so people are very frustrated, and it causes a lot of road rage. This in turn causes more accidents.

I too find that if the limit is posted to high for peoples comfort, they will slow down and hang in the right lane allowing the faster drivers to pass. This is safer behaviour.

The piece above, on you tube, is just as blatantly "over dramatized" to make a point, just as the TV News journalism or cops being interviewed on the news.

Most accidents, in the city are due to distracted drivers, or people not paying attention, or frustrated drivers because the other drivers should not really be on the road (they don't know the rules or follow them). Yes some crashes are caused by people driving too fast for the conditions or doing something really stupid like road racing. Those are few and far between, IMO, when compared with all the other causes. And let's face it, sometimes people just make mistakes, that is part of the human condition.

In Italy, lines are suggestions, as well as posted limits. People are courteous, and I saw no road rage, just polite drivers. Even though "following the rules" is not too common, except for the obvious ones.

In Germany, everyone follows the rules, the autobahn is great to drive on, people know not to hang in the left lane, to not take forever to overtake someone then quickly get back in the right lane, and to slow down when on an exit, because the speed limit will drop dramatically. Better trained, probably. But when driving at higher speeds, you must pay attention to what you are doing, distractions are just not on anyone's mind, they pay attention to their driving, the road conditions and other traffic around them. If there is an accident it is a "spectacular one", but as you can see from reports, it happens way less frequently per capita, or drivers on the road, than in Canada.

So I applaud this journalist for finally spending sometime to raise the issue, rather than sitting on his butt and complaining expecting things to change.

Traffic Patrol is important, but let's have them focus on the real causes of accidents, and it isn't going above a posted limit when the road and conditions safely allow a higher speed. Get them focussed on the idiots, yes idiots, who do stupid things, or annoy other drivers by deliberately blocking passing and hanging needlessly in the left lane, for texting while driving, for changing lanes without signalling....
 
And another thing, if the real reason the Govt and Police wanted people to slow down was for safety, then park out in the open, or use an electronic radar driven sign that reminds motorists that they are speeding.

I have noticed that is just as effective, if not more effective at having drivers slow down, as giving out tickets, even though giving out tickets is more satisfying for the cop and the province.

In other words, tickets are not required in order to have people slow down.

yes, those excessively speeding, as I define as too dangerous a speed for the traffic and/or road conditions deserve a ticket. Not some arbitary "you are XX above the posted limit" threshold.

No, I'm not sure my rant is over!!! :banghead:banghead
 
I thought the piece was well done. An entertaining effort to address a real issue we have in cooperate civil society. Never saw a speed limit sign in Iraq, but then there were other means available of slowing people down.
 
While I agree certain speed limits are outdated and could be 'bumped up' without excessive risk to traffic safety, this is hardly a professional piece of investigative journalism.

Buzz comments like "cops label all drivers as deviant criminals" and "doesn't look too socialist" start showing up in the very first few sentences.

This You-Tube piece is blatantly slanted to be anti-law enforcement - not really surprised.

If You-Tube is your source of journalistic excellence, any debate over the objectivity of this topic was over before it ever started. :lurk

Kevin - while there was a bit of hyperbole and of painting with broad strokes, I found it better researched than most of what I see on the nightly news. I am pushing 60 and have received one moving violation in my entire life (in 1982 for speeding in a school zone...on a bicycle!), but in conversations with state troopers and our town police officers they all seem to assume that because I'm a motorcyclist, I must speed. So that broad brush works both ways, and I think it's become a cultural norm to overstate things to make your point.

For the most part I find the speed limits here in Vermont reasonable, given the sorry condition of our roads and the rural nature of the place. But in my travels across the country I've been on scenic twisties posted at 70 which suddenly drop to 50 at the state line even though the nature of the road didn't change one bit. And generally within the first few miles I'll see an LEO hidden in the shadows. For public safety? Is Idaho inherently less safe than Montana?

Pete
 
My Uncle complained to me once about a ticket he got for speeding. He was tagged for doing 31 mph in a 30 mph zone.
 
Poor cops

Speed does not kill, stupidity does. I loved the reference to the German approach. That makes sense.

Of course police love speeding laws because they have nice equipment to effectively prove that a "crime" was committed.

The Parker study should be force fed every police jurisdiction. They actually believe that crap; some even keep up the mantra after they retire.

Why do the police ignore dangerous behaviors like testing, putting on makeup, eating food, disciplinign children, etc. and concentrate on speeding? Because it is easy. AND lucrative.
 
Speed does not kill, stupidity does. I loved the reference to the German approach. That makes sense.

Of course police love speeding laws because they have nice equipment to effectively prove that a "crime" was committed.

The Parker study should be force fed every police jurisdiction. They actually believe that crap; some even keep up the mantra after they retire.

Why do the police ignore dangerous behaviors like testing, putting on makeup, eating food, disciplinign children, etc. and concentrate on speeding? Because it is easy. AND lucrative.

The German model does work. Go however fast you want, on some sections of the Autobahn, as long as you pay the $8/gal price for fuel. Per mile traveled, the cost increases with the speed...........producing more tax revenue per mile traveled.

Oh, and by the way, get the heck out of the way of the guy that has more money than you..... I've driven too long in the USA to believe that the typical American driver will ever yield to the guy in the fancier, more powerful vehicle overtaking them.
 
Speed does not kill, stupidity does. I loved the reference to the German approach. That makes sense.

Of course police love speeding laws because they have nice equipment to effectively prove that a "crime" was committed.

The Parker study should be force fed every police jurisdiction. They actually believe that crap; some even keep up the mantra after they retire.

Why do the police ignore dangerous behaviors like testing, putting on makeup, eating food, disciplinign children, etc. and concentrate on speeding? Because it is easy. AND lucrative.

Ouch!

Jerry - I almost spilled my popcorn on that thinly-veiled shot.

:lurk
 
I've found it interesting that because of the differences in math, different countries find speed limits safe for the same type of roads with the same amount of traffic.

For instance, in the USA we wouldn't have the speed limit at 62.5 MPH but in Canada 100 KPH is considered very, very fast. At least I assume that is true based on how few roads have a 100 KPH speed limit.

And I'm sure, from a Canadian POV, it is just as strange when they visit the US.

I have deserved every speeding ticket I have received. And Nancy points out I deserved many, many more.

I enjoy riding in Western states as generally the speed limits are higher, the traffic less and the roads in as good as or in better shape than those in Illinois.

When on a road trip to get somewhere, like the Rally in Redmond, it is nice to be able to ride 80 MPH for hours on end w/o constantly looking in the rear view mirror.

As riders, we have to assume responsibility for our riding and also for being constantly aware of others around us. Yes distracted/texting drivers are a menace to everyone so what can we do? Ride like everyone else is intentionally trying to kill us.

And what's the deal with RT's being most happy at 75 MPH. At least my '99 seems to run best there.

Your Mileage Will Vary

PS. I remember a conversation on this forum where a LEO, now retired, said don't ask me for a break when I stop you, if you weren't already 10 over I wouldn't have stopped you. :laugh:lurk
 
First off I would like to say that some very good info has been brought up in this discussion and I am learning much from it.

Having driven in Europe, car and bike, only strengthened a set of beliefs I had held for along time. Basically that speed is only one part of a complicated equation that comprises safety.

In most of Central Europe they generally try to build quality roads. They have, and enforce, laws to make sure the vehicles that travel those roadways are safe and they try to train people to be competent drivers. As a result they don't depend solely on speed restrictions to create a safe driving environment. I know there are exceptions to this but the point is they don't generally use a single method approach to safety.

In the US, especially in Texas, we build cheap crap roadways, let any piece of junk that rolls travel on them and have a licencing system that a chimpanzee could pass. Then we expect a handful of people to keep us safe buy enforcing laws that are designed more to raise revenue than promote public safety. At the end of the day we, police and public, are all just victims of bad governance.
 
In the US, especially in Texas, we build cheap crap roadways, let any piece of junk that rolls travel on them and have a licencing system that a chimpanzee could pass. Then we expect a handful of people to keep us safe buy enforcing laws that are designed more to raise revenue than promote public safety. At the end of the day we, police and public, are all just victims of bad governance.

We have met the enemy..........and he is us
 
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