Natter 54: Right here, dammit.
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
I just don't get why people break speed limits. They're not arbitrary.
I support you in theory, but the thing is that a lot of them are arbitrary. The national 55 mph limit was about the oil embargo, not safety, and it took 20 years to get rid of that. Police aren't enforcing posted limits. Hell, they're not obeying posted limits themselves.
Here's a DOT/FHA study about speed limits & safety:
Data collected at the study sites indicated that the majority of speed limits are posed below the average speed of traffic. Lowering speed limits below the 50th percentile does not reduce accidents, but does significantly increase driver violations of the speed limit. Conversely, raising the posted speed limits did not increase speeds or accidents.
[link]
Having some cars going 50 while others go 80 is a lot more dangerous than having everyone go 70. When some speed limits have no basis in reality, people get used to ignoring them. Which means they ignore the limits that really are sensible.
Passing on the right is just rude!
One of my biggest pet peeves.
Having some cars going 50 while others go 80 is a lot more dangerous than having everyone go 70.
Very true. Witness the Mass Pike, where, most of time, everybody is just cruising along at 80 with no problems, whereas the NJ Turnpike seems to have an accident anytime I drive on it. And don't even get me started on CA drivers. This place is a nightmare for drivers and pedestrians alike.
Hey! Strega beat me to the speed limit thing!
I'm a totally grandma driver who rarely exceeds the posted limit, but I'm happier if the posted limit I'm not exceeding makes sense.
Plei is me wrt speed limits.
I'm a driver's ed teacher's daughter. I rarely, if ever, speed. I put on my blinker at the appropriate distance. Hell, I signal in parking lots.
But yeah, some speed limits are ridic.
Hell, I signal in parking lots.
You say this as if it's a crazy thing.
No one seems to signal here. Ever. It's crazy making, especially as a pedestrian.
I totally agree that cars are deathtraps, which is why I live here. But I also agree that driving faster than the speed limit is only marginally dangerous. There's little about driving 55 in a 55 mph zone that is more dangerous than driving 55 in a 45 mph zone.
Way back when, a friend of mine was taking drivers' ed, and as some kids are prone to do, took it as an opportunity to rag on her dad's driving habits. Specifically, his lack of signal use. Unfortunately, she chose to do this on a deserted section of road after they'd been arguing about something else. He went off on this incredibly detailed rant that culminated with " Who am I signalling for? WHO?! Am I signalling for God?! GOD DOESN'T CARE!!! HE ALREADY KNOWS WHICH WAY I'M TURNING AND GOD.DOESN'T.CARE!!!!!"
"Am I signalling for God?" became a phrase used in response to stupidity for a while.
You say this as if it's a crazy thing.
I
know it's not. The people at the Whole Foods on Lemmon at the Tollway seem to feel differently.
I often wonder if the people behind me aren't saying to themselves, "What is that strange blinking light on the rear of her car? It seems to anticipate which way she's going and changes sides accordingly. Interesting."
I don't care what speed they're at, I want the damned weavers in and out of traffic to get their butts handed to the. Along with the idiots in the SUVs who tailgate me and have their highbeams aimed right in my mirrors.
Witness the Mass Pike, where, most of time, everybody is just cruising along at 80 with no problems, whereas the NJ Turnpike seems to have an accident anytime I drive on it.
The most electrifying/terrifying drive I ever did was somewhere in New Jersey, a near-city segment in morning traffic that was all moving at 75 and all with no following distance and very aggressive. Okay, part of the terrifyingness was the knowledge that my passenger, flea, was terrified. I was the sort of driver at the time (only a little less so now) who was completely ready to do battle with traffic, but preferred a little more space than that.
But yeah: the Mass Pike is consistently above speed limit, and not very dangerous. 128? Dangerous (though not because of speed so much as douchebaggery and breakdowns and abuse of breakdown lanes).
