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To: CharlesWayneCT

You sound like you don’t believe in speed limits. Are you a libertarian? Anarchist?


145 posted on 08/23/2010 9:35:03 AM PDT by Genoa (Titus 2:13)
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To: Genoa

I believe in speed limits, I just don’t treat them as absolutes. Now, part of me wishes the limits WERE absolute, because I don’t like laws that are made to NOT be followed.

But the simple fact is that in most cases, nobody is expecting you to obey the speed limits. They are often set way below what is safe, or even below what they expect people to drive. For example, most roads are set 10 mph below what they want people to drive. Then, police only give out tickets to people going more than 10mph over the limit.

That way, you can’t really contest the ticket, like you could if the ticket was for 1mph over the limit. It’s not like you accidentally exceeded the limit by 25%. And then they will bargain with you down to a 1-9mph ticket, proving that they really wanted the speed limit 10mph faster.

However, I do follow speed limits on roads where the limits are slow (residential and local traffic roads). Where I tend to ignore limits are on the high-speed roads, where the limits are set either for the lowest common denominator of traffic and weather conditions (in which case if I’m driving at night in clear weather with no traffic on a road that is safe at 100mph, it makes no sense to force me to drive 65mph because some federal lawmaker once decided we should save gasoline).

I also tend to go the speed of the traffic. Since I like driving in the left lane because it is safer, that means I go the speed of people who drive in the left lane. i’m never the fastest car on the road, I’m following the faster cars that are driving in the left lane.


177 posted on 08/23/2010 9:57:48 AM PDT by CharlesWayneCT
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To: Genoa

On Highways, speed limits are not necessary. In the city, they are entirely too low. They are set at 80% of the safe driving speed of a road in bad conditions. There is a road in Dallas that as you exit the Hwy, the road is 30 mph. Its even a commercial district. Total speed trap. Speed limits are set for money and not for safety.


210 posted on 08/23/2010 10:21:09 AM PDT by Raider Sam (They're on our left, right, front, and back. They aint gettin away this time!)
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