What should the speed limits be? 80, 75, more less?

Question

I can't drive 65 on the highway and it seems like only a small % actually does anyway, so how fast do you usually drive and what should the limit be?

Answer 1

I typically go well over 100+ MPH when traveling outside the city - as do most drivers in this state.

Usually 80-90 when in the City Limits.

65 is for Old people/Retards that are too slow mentally to drive at a reasonable rate of speed.

Answer 2

Yea buddy, I can't drive 65 either.  The whole structure of speeding and tickets are simply designed to steal money from hard working people like you and I.

That said, I think the speed limit on major highways under good conditions should be 80.  At least.

Answer 3

80 MPH on most freeways is good. Depending on the traffic and the design of the freeway.

Based on how many miles and gallons are burned on a freeway vs the side streets I would say that tune ups and driving habits would save much more fuel than a 55mph speed limit.

Traffic violations bring in Billions. In Dallas alone seat belt tickets brought in 16 million last year. Hmmm...they are only motivated to save lives....ya right. Those are hidden taxes.

I want to point out that higher speed DO NOT = more accidents. Actually the stats shoe the opposite. Colorado accidents dropped when they went to 75MPH. x-cop in Colorado myself.

Answer 4

For policy maker's it's 2 competing issues at hand.

The benefits of higher speed limit is higher productivity through less time spent on road.

The cons are that high speed = higher accidents and more serious accidents.  Interestingly enough, the actual rate of accidents has DECREASED since Congress repealed the national speed limit of 55 and allowed states to set their own limits which usually went up to 65 or 75.  The hypothesis is that it isn't that higher speeds are safer, it is because at posted speed limit of 55, there were some cars driving at 55 while there were also cars driving at 75.  The difference of speeds (20 mph) on the road at the same time caused more dangerous driving conditions which caused more accidents.  Today, with posted speed limits of 65 and 75 mph, most cars will rarely drive over 80 mph on the road with the occassional 85 mph drivers.  Anyone going over 85 with surrounding traffic is just expecting a ticket.  Thus you have smaller difference of speeds on the road.  Most accidents are caused when people are changing lanes so the higher speed limit oddly enough created safer conditions by having people change lanes less to swerve around slower traffic.

Also higher speeds means more wasted gas.  Cars get best mpg at around 45-50 mph.  Speeds beyond 50 get worse and worse gas mileage.  I can get around 36 mpg at 65 mph.  I get around 30 at 75 mph.

So most states have speed limits of 75 or so for rural areas and 65 for most city areas.  In practice cops rarely pull you over for speeds of 5 mph above the speed limit and it's normal to have speed of traffic be about 10 mph above posted speed limit, at least in southern California.  Some states may differ.  For example, I don't know what those strict Mormon's got going over there in Utah.  In Virginia, they were pretty strict too. 5 mph over speed limit was ok, at 10 mph over speed limit they often ticketed.

I've only once gotten a speeding ticket and it was actually due to me being on the cell phone and not paying attention enough on my speed when I passed a cop driving on my right.  I was about 20 mph above the limit (going 85).  

I would say if you are going at or just slightly above the speed of traffic and you are not weaving (moving from lane to lane to try to go faster than speed of traffic) then you'll be alright.  Even most highway patrol cars go faster than speed limit.  Cops are trained to allow the natural speed of traffic to dictate highway speeds.  They know that slow traffic is bad for everyone and slows down commerce.  Traffic jams are bad for everyone.

Just be careful.  Just for personal safety and helping to better the environment, I'd suggest going about 65-70 and no faster unless speed of traffic is higher (for example on a rural road at night).  Going slower than speed of traffic and making cars swerve around you is dangerous too.  The stupid people who drive on the leftmost lane at 55 mph thinking they are doing the right thing is bad.  They cause cars to change lanes and weave which is making the roads more dangerous for everyone.  Don't get me started on why all states should have mandatory relicensing for senior citizens every 5 years.

Answer 5

i usually do about 75 or 80,i cannot go slow i hate it

Answer 6

Are you talking mph or kph?

Answer 7

You can't? Or you won't? The speed limit should be 55 so that we can reduce our dependence on foreign oil imports in America. You should really think about more than yourself. You should consider the other 200 million people on our roads as your neighbors. Would you recklessly endanger you neighbor just for the sake of saving 1 minute of driving time. I hope that you understand the dangers of speeding and try to be a better citizen and neighbor.

Answer 8

less

Answer 9

this goes to grizly adams......BOOO this man.-----------BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Answer 10

I think that our roads should be like the autobaun .It would help with population control too.