Driving unreasonably fast (ticket rant)

[Angcuru]

*does the "never got ticket of any kind" dance*

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

*does the "never got ticket of any kind" dance*

*joins in*

 

[Darrin Drader]

hmmm unreasonable, well Ive been a cop for 10 years now and Yes speed limits are needed. I just worked on a woman who died last week because somebody thought that he shouldnt follow the sped limit, he blew a tire crossed traffic and killed her.

Hmm, sounds to me like the real problem is that he blew a tire, not that he was speeding.

The speed limit is not set for the driver, its set for the roadway due to materials, pitch, number of access points (driveways). The speed limit is set by the towns and cities for a reason. I love when people complain about tickets, theyre supposed to make you mad and THINK, to slow down so next time were not dragging you out of a car and slapping you on a gurney.

And that sounds like something that you would have to believe if it is your job to hand out these randomly assessed unjust taxations. Studies have proven - speed does not kill. Motorists who are not driving according to their vehicle's capabilities or road conditions are what kills. Speed limits are arbitrarily set, unevenly enforced, and almost always set at least 10 miles an hour beneath what is actually safe in any given area. I stand by my previous statement that we're far better off getting rid of them altogether.

 

[Angcuru]

And that sounds like something that you would have to believe if it is your job to hand out these randomly assessed unjust taxations. Studies have proven - speed does not kill. Motorists who are not driving according to their vehicle's capabilities or road conditions are what kills. Speed limits are arbitrarily set, unevenly enforced, and almost always set at least 10 miles an hour beneath what is actually safe in any given area.

I agree with this. Too often I see someone driving 30 MPH above the speed limit in a residential area with no repurcations, and then someone I know gets a ticked for going 5 MPH above the limit. Speed limits for highways are way to low the way they are, IMO. 55MPH? Right. The usual reasonable speeds I've seen is 80 for major highways, 75 for minor highways. It'd be more reasonable to give tickets to people who drive too slow. Autobahn-style, but not quite.

I stand by my previous statement that we're far better off getting rid of them altogether.

This I don't agree with.

 

[Darrin Drader]

This I don't agree with.

OK, you're right, residential areas should be protected by reasonable speed limits (25 MPH is reasonable), and in other areas tickets should be given only for driving too slowly and delaying other drivers.

 

[Hellefire]

The highway from my home town in Alaska to Anchorage has posted signs that it's illegal to delay more than 5 vehicles...there are plenty of turnouts and by law they must use these to allow traffic to pass if more than 5 cars are piled up behind them (and they aregoing below the speed limit). It helps a lot in the summer when we get a gazillion tourists who want to drive 5mph and watch the goats and sheep and whales and trees. I know in some states they have minimum speed limits on some freeways, but I don't know if htey are enforced or how.

Aaron

 

[Krieg]

hmmm unreasonable, well Ive been a cop for 10 years now and Yes speed limits are needed. I just worked on a woman who died last week because somebody thought that he shouldnt follow the sped limit, he blew a tire crossed traffic and killed her.

Yes that is a tragedy, but statistically it is an aberration not the norm. Your anecdotal evidence while heart wrenching, is irrelevant.

Want to place a wager on what the air pressure was in the tire at the time that it failed?

Improper vehicle maintence, ignoring road conditions (rain/snow etc) and reckless driving (weaving in and out of traffic, tailgating etc) should be far more of a concern from a safety standpoint.

The speed limit is not set for the driver, its set for the roadway due to materials, pitch, number of access points (driveways). The speed limit is set by the towns and cities for a reason. I love when people complain about tickets, theyre supposed to make you mad and THINK, to slow down so next time were not dragging you out of a car and slapping you on a gurney.

While to some extent that is true, it is also true that the national interstate system was designed to safely vehicles moving at 75-80 mph. The engineers based those numberes on the automobile technology that was available in the 1950's.

Once again it is important to reiterate that the national speed limit was limited to 55 mph to conserve gasoline not because of safety concerns. When the national limit was raised to 65 mph in 1987 traffic fatalities continued to drop at the same rate that they had previous to the change. When it was eliminated in 1995 again traffic fatalities continued to drop at the same rate. States with higher upper end speed limits do not have higher traffic fatality rates than those at the lower end.

The primary reason for most of the speed limits in this day and age has absolutely nothing to do with passenger safety, it is largely driven by politics and money. The influence of lobbyists paid for by the insurance companies cannot be understated, nor can the desire of politicians to look like they "are doing something" in the eyes of their constituants.

Just out of curiosity how much of your municipality's budget is made up from revenue generated from traffic violations? If your department did not write a single ticket in FY05 how much of a shortfall would there be in the budget?

Disclaimer: In retrospect I should point out this primarily concerns limited access divided highways. I failed to clarify that originally and may have caused some confusion. I don't think any would advocate unlimited speed limits on roads through built up areas (although I would wager that if the limits were removed 99% of the drivers on the road would continue to drive at prudent speeds).

The highway from my home town in Alaska to Anchorage has posted signs that it's illegal to delay more than 5 vehicles...there are plenty of turnouts and by law they must use these to allow traffic to pass if more than 5 cars are piled up behind them (and they aregoing below the speed limit).

Now that is a law I would heartily endorse.

 

[monkeyshines]

Once again it is important to reiterate that the national speed limit was limited to 55 mph to conserve gasoline not because of safety concerns. When the national limit was raised to 65 mph in 1987 traffic fatalities continued to drop at the same rate that they had previous to the change. When it was eliminated in 1995 again traffic fatalities continued to drop at the same rate. States with higher upper end speed limits do not have higher traffic fatality rates than those at the lower end.

That's real sweet and all, but the ticket in question is for going 54 in a 25, in an at least semi-residential area. Sorry, though it's a heck of a ticket I don't have much sympathy.

 

[LightPhoenix]

I know a few friends and family here in rural upstate NY that have had their speeding tickets reduced to "Failure to obey a traffic control device" i.e. the speed limit sign. It has reduced the fine greatly and isn't as bad of an infraction for insurance purposes. I don't know if that will help you in CT, but it might be worth looking into.

Funny story, I got a ticket going down I-81 in Cortland. So I go, and there's like fifty people there, and the ADA just lines us all up and pleads everyone down to "failure to obey a traffic control device". Except me, I was going 84. So I still got a ticket, but a vastly reduced one. The moral being, at least around where I am, you can be really screwed if you go twenty over the speed limit. I'm pretty sure I was going faster, and I think the cop took pity on me, and put me at nineteen over.

Also, for whomever suggested gathering evidence other people were going fast, so it's okay... um, no. IANAL, but I'm pretty sure that's not how it works. It just means you got caught and everyone else didn't, boo sucks for you.

I will agree that at least some speed limits are too low. Personally, I feel a flat speed based on nothing more than road design is terribly inefficient. As I think most cops and driving instructors would say, it's all dependant on road conditions. For example, allowing people to go 75 down I-81 through Syracuse is begging for accidents to happen left and right. Not only is there a bunch of merging traffic in only two lanes, but in the rain the road gets really slick, and in the snow crap off of the overpasses creates a lot of ice. However, once you get south and are going through the Onondaga Reservation, there's no reason to limit speeds to 65, especially in good conditions.

Personally, I agree with the posters who have said that officers need to focus more on the speeding in residential and city areas over those on the highways. Not only is it much more dangerous, but in general these areas are more difficult to drive in.

 

[Ampolitor]

Just out of curiosity how much of your municipality's budget is made up from revenue generated from traffic violations? If your department did not write a single ticket in FY05 how much of a shortfall would there be in the budget?

well you dont have a understanding of the law, 99% of all police departments write under the State codes which generates nothing for your department. Court costs that are paid go to county courts and the municipality, not the department.