No, I came here to bring to light an issue that I (and many others) feel needs to be addressed and present them with an opportunity to help resolve it.

Now, we are clear...

Jeff

PS. I digress.. while I do believe that not agreeing on this topic is 'moronic', I should not have stated that outright in the poll by defining those individuals as such.



Oh so you came here to spread your bullshit propaganda, while calling those who do not agree with your extreme way of thinking, "tiny little brainwashed minds" and "morons".

Cool... Just wanted to make that clear.

 

Let's see here:

1) jeffrplant is an asshole. Yes, I've been an asshole before, too. But jeffrplant is seriously, inarguably, an asshole.

2) Cops often set up speed traps, because more people break the law there -- their safety is unfortunately irrelevant. I agree that it should be relevant.

3) Speed does not cause accidents. In all the statistics on accidents, the only factor that predisposes a driver to a higher risk of accident is: miles driven. The speed, the time of day, the road, the type of car, and other variables are all statistically insignificant. If you drive twice as many miles as someone else, you have twice the chance of experiencing an accident. Most accidents are caused by driver error, and moderate speeding is not really an 'error.'

4) Speed does makes accidents worse. Even though your likelihood of experiencing an accident does not depend on speed, your chance of survival in those accidents depends heavily upon speed.

5) IMO, the most important thing to consider is not speed itself, but speed differential. Some freeways are notoriously clogged with slow drivers in all their lanes, with a peppering of drivers wanting to go 20 mph faster. In a situation where you have some cars going 50, and some cars going 70, you're going to have a high risk of operator error. The faster drivers become task-loaded by all the lane changing and mirror work they have to do to maintain their desired speed, and are much more likely to screw up than the same driver going 70 on the same road without the 50 mph drivers. This concept leads to fast lanes and slow lanes. Most people regard the concept as a "convenience" to faster motorists, though its true purpose is to make roads safer by lessening the task-loading of faster drivers. If those drivers who go 50 in the passing lane would realize they're not just an inconvenience, they're literally a hazard, we'd all be much safer.

So, in the end, here's my advice:

Drive reasonably, something close to the speed of other drivers. The real problem with speeding is not your car or the road (which can both easily handle much greater speeds, as you're so astute to realize) -- it's all the other cars on the road! They present the danger, not the road. Don't overtake them with 30 mph deltas, because their danger to you grows exponentially with the delta. If traffic is flowing smoothly at 55 mph, there is no conceivable way you can be safe going 80 mph, no matter what kind of road you're on or what kind of car you drive. You are setting yourself up for severe task-loading, and you are forcing other drivers to be task-loaded by you. If you or another motorist crosses a threshold and slips, everyone involved will get hurt. You don't know what the other motorists' limits of acceptable task-loading are. As I gather from your posts, you likely don't know your own limits, either. Don't test them; it's just not worth it.

Keep in mind, as well, that the biggest losses of time on trips are: stoplights, busy intersections, gas stops, and residential and surface streets. If you don't believe me, have a passenger use a stopwatch sometime. Going 30 mph faster than everyone else on the interstate will hardly negate any of the time lost to those other things. Try to plan trips to minimize those delays -- then you won't even have to be an egregious cop-fearing asshole, and you'll still get to your destination on-time.

Be safe.

- Warren

 

Speed - by itself - does NOT kill. What is the safest form of transport? Aircraft (they aint exactly slow!)
What everybody HAS to understand is that it is the inappropriate use of speed that is the biggest menace on any road, anywhere in the world.

Which is more dangerous - someone doing 110mph along an empty motorway in the sun, or someone else doing 40mph in a school zone?

Yes if you drive faster than the posted limit you are breaking the law - but is driving at the legal limit in thick fog or torrential rain OK?

just my .02

 

I believe that if you are:

1) weaving in and out of cars

2) speeding in poor weather/visibility

3) street racing

4) driving faster than all others on the road (essentially, leading the pack, but also leaving them all behind)

5) speeding in areas such as school zones or other places where there is a high probability of having a pedestrian step out in front of you

6) speeding on very twisty roads (fun though!!) where you have no reaction time if something comes at you from around a bend

then...

You DESERVE a ticket.

BUT, when hundreds of cars are all cruising along some nice stretch of highway on beautiful sunny day at 75mph... NONE of them deserve tickets. And if one of them is to be ticketed... then it should be any car BUT the car that is built best to handle those conditions. Again, there is no way to know who's behind the wheel, so if a decision has to be made as to which car gets pulled over, then it needs to be a JUST decision.

I also believe that I do know my limits... which is why I have managed to stay free and clear of an accident (knock on wood) for the 10 years I have had my driver's license and through the course of driving many many many miles in very urban areas. Funny though, my driving record would have you believe that I am danger to others. If you ask me.. the dangerous person is the one sitting in the left lane doing 55 when everyone else is doing 75. Hey, if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen. Come drive in the NY/NJ/CT metro area for a while... you'll learn very quickly....

What some of you people have to realize is that I am NOT saying that it's 'always OK to speed if you have a sports car'. What I am saying that this is NOT a black & white issue. People's safety, people's money and people's time are all at risk here. Our resources (i.e., law enforcement) need to stop treating it as black & white. We have a limited amount of resources to put out there to 'serve & protect' us, their efforts should be applied as effectively and efficiently as possible. They owe it to the citizens of this country to do their very best to enforce the laws for their actual purpose.. which is NOT revenue generation.

Jeff

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by jeffrplant
[B]What some of you people have to realize is that I am NOT saying that it's 'always OK to speed if you have a sports car'.

 

[QUOTE]I believe that if you are:

 

We simply have a major difference in philosophy. I believe that if the officer cannot pull over EVERYONE, then he should pull over the one most deserving of it. If we all drove the exact same type of car, then we would all be just as deserving. But profiling a car, or a color of a car is just plain wrong.

Let me tell you a little story...

Just over a year ago, I was run off the road by some crazy bastard in an Explorer. I was driving north on 95 just south of DC (about 50 miles) in my 97 Prelude. I managed to maintain control of the car and get back into the left lane. I then called the police and informed them of the situation.. that there was a reckless driver on the road, that he had almost killed me and possibly others and that an officer needs to come and assess the situation. I told them the mile marker we were at, the speed we were traveling, the make, color & plate numbers of both our cars... they told me they would "surely send someone out right away".

30 miles later, after having passed THREE speed traps, I was still following the Explorer... not officer had shown up. I called the police again. I explained the situation, I explained that there are already cops out here writing tickets, could one of them please come pull this guy over. I again gave them all the necessary information they would need to locate us. The response I got was a very sarcastic "Yeah, we'll keep our eyes open".

I drove the last 20 miles into DC, passed ANOTHER speed trap... still following the Explorer, and then we went our separate ways.

No cop ever showed. What does that say??? I call up after having been RUN OFF THE ROAD, there are cops already on that road... but to them bringin' in that dollar, meetin' that quota took far greater importance than pulling over an SUV that was driving erradically and had run someone off the road.

Now you tell me that our resources are being applied 'properly'.

Jeff

 

[QUOTE]
We simply have a major difference in philosophy. I believe that if the officer cannot pull over EVERYONE, then he should pull over the one most deserving of it. If we all drove the exact same type of car, then we would all be just as deserving. But profiling a car, or a color of a car is just plain wrong.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by jeffrplant
[B]We simply have a major difference in philosophy.

 

If you are a young person (20s & 30s) driving an S2000, then perhaps you are "profiled'. I'm in my 50s, and I've gotten two tickets in my S, both for violating the posted limit. Do I blame the policeman for trying to meet his quota? No, in both instances I was in the wrong, and the policeman was very courteous to me and I to him. These people do not have an easy job; I think they do the best they can. Your poll is flawed in that it offers no answer that disagrees with your premise without being considered a moron.