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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Driving / January 2007MI: speed limit 65mph is 70mph except where it's really 65mph
From fark.com http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070129/COL12/701290344&&imw=Y <...> "Hundreds -- possibly thousands -- of signs still say 65 on I-94, I-75, I-96 and even I-696, the state's busiest expressway. But despite what they say, the 65 m.p.h. speed limit on freeways is pretty much dead. Last fall, lawmakers expanded the number of freeways where you can drive 70. The exceptions are areas where Michigan State Police and the Michigan Department of Transportation agree a lower speed is necessary for safety reasons -- like around busy cities. But the Legislature didn't provide money for MDOT to upgrade signs. Changing thousands of signs will cost $1.2 million, and in an economy like Michigan's, that's not chump change. So it will be months -- probably late June -- before all freeway signs statewide reflect the law, MDOT said." <...> On Jan 29, 12:03 pm, tetraethylleadREMOVET...@yahoo.com (Brent P) wrote: > From fark.com > [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > <...> You *know* they'll still be ticketing like it's a 65MPH zone, banking on the facts that few people will know that the sign doesn't reflect the actual limit and that even fewer will care to fight the ticket in court... Betcha they can come up with the money for new signs lickety-split, with a scheme like that! It'll still take _at_least_ until summer to get the new signs installed, though. -- ~/Garth |"I believe that it is better to tell the truth than a lie. Almgren | I believe it is better to be free than to be a slave. ******* | And I believe it is better to know than to be ignorant." --H.L. Mencken (1880-1956) > "Hundreds -- possibly thousands -- of signs still say 65 on I-94, I-75, > I-96 and even I-696, the state's busiest expressway. But despite what > they say, the 65 m.p.h. speed limit on freeways is pretty much dead. The speed limits are incorrectly-set if the traffic is normally going much faster than this limit. > Last fall, lawmakers expanded the number of freeways where you can drive > 70. > But the Legislature didn't provide money for MDOT to upgrade signs. Changing road signs for such a little adjustment isn't worth the expense. Those old signs should be replaced with electronically-adjustable speed limit signs that reflect actual conditions. >.The speed limits are incorrectly-set if the traffic is normally going > much faster than this limit. HAHAHA. Listen to this idiot. Now he says if some people are breaking the law then it's no longer a law. Next time you're picked up for child-molesting, try that argument on the judge. You are the biggest moron that ever lived!!!! > > "Hundreds -- possibly thousands -- of signs still say 65 on I-94, I-75, > > I-96 and even I-696, the state's busiest expressway. But despite what > > they say, the 65 m.p.h. speed limit on freeways is pretty much dead. > > The speed limits are incorrectly-set if the traffic is normally going > much faster than this limit. Except for rare exceptions traffic always normally goes faster than the posted. Harry K >> > "Hundreds -- possibly thousands -- of signs still say 65 on I-94, >> > I-75, I-96 and even I-696, the state's busiest expressway. But [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Harry K Sure,most people count on that 5-10 mph "tolerance".  SignatureJim Yanik jyanik at kua.net > Sure,most people count on that 5-10 mph "tolerance". No, most people drive the speed that they are comfortable driving, and that has no relation at all to a number on a roadside sign. In SOME areas, the traffic flow is 5-10 over. In other areas, the traffic flow is 15-20 over. I've driven in some areas where the 85th percentile of NON-free-flowing traffic was 30 over the posted limit. -Dave > > Sure,most people count on that 5-10 mph "tolerance". > > No, most people drive the speed that they are comfortable driving, Correct with the understanding that the "comfortable" includes their risk factor of getting a ticket. That is why when limits are raised 5 mph the 'flow' will soon go up another 5 mph. Harry K "Mike T." <noway@nohow.not> said in rec.autos.driving: >> Sure,most people count on that 5-10 mph "tolerance". > >No, most people drive the speed that they are comfortable driving, and that >has no relation at all to a number on a roadside sign. Sure it does. Part of the "comfort" comes from being able to drive without fear of getting raped by the revenue patrol. To convince yourself that this is true, simply compare the 85th percentile speeds on any American road with a comparable stretch of /// Autobahn. SignatureI'm a wreckless driver and damn proud of it! >>No, most people drive the speed that they are comfortable driving, and >>that >>has no relation at all to a number on a roadside sign. > > Sure it does. Part of the "comfort" comes from being able to drive > without fear of getting raped by the revenue patrol. That doesn't explain all the areas where the flow is 20-30 over the posted limit (and almost NOBODY drives slower than that). Even in THOSE areas, you will get raped if caught at 10 or 15 over, depending on the local enforcement customs. So fear of getting raped is obviously not factored into the speed most people feel comfortable driving. -Dave > Sure it does. Part of the "comfort" comes from being able to drive > without fear of getting raped by the revenue patrol. To convince > yourself that this is true, simply compare the 85th percentile speeds > on any American road with a comparable stretch of /// Autobahn. Compare an interstate stretch of a few miles with one car on it to a /// autobahn for enforcement worries. I wouldn't drive autobahn speeds on the interstate until the moron population was greatly reduced. Take sunday's drive for instance. I am making my way through the herd and there is a white '03/'04 cobra mustang behind me. The guy has behaved well as we've both been trying to get through this mess of undisciplined drivers, so I don't suspect him of being stupid like the rice-boys I typically encounter. We are in the middle lane. The right opens up a bit so I move to the right lane and get up to speed. I then have to move left (back to the middle lane) to pass a car, so I signal and start moving. Spidey sense says take it slow, cobra boy might do something STUPID. I think, nahh, he's been ok.... he changed to the left lane and just barely ahead of me to the left is an LLBing minivan. So I make my lane change gently.... Cobra boy was pretty far back when I started.... Then I catch a flash of white out of the corner of my eye and start going right. Cobra boy flashes by at what had to be close to a 120mph. I wasn't poking around by any means and he came up in the left lane with a 40+mph differential and decided to swerve into my space to avoid the minivan. Call it sloth kills if you like, but the sum of all it means I wouldn't be doing autobahn speeds unless the interstate were empty. With only one other vehicle on the road I've had the moron operating it do some incredibly stupid things that required evasive manuvers on my part. > "Mike T." <noway@nohow.not> said in rec.autos.driving: >> No, most people drive the speed that they are comfortable driving, and that >> has no relation at all to a number on a roadside sign. > Sure it does. Part of the "comfort" comes from being able to drive > without fear of getting raped by the revenue patrol. To convince > yourself that this is true, simply compare the 85th percentile speeds > on any American road with a comparable stretch of /// Autobahn. Seeing drivers go 20 to 25 mph over the limit en masse in a 55 mph zone is far more common than in a 70 or 75 mph zone. >>> No, most people drive the speed that they are comfortable driving, and >>> that has no relation at all to a number on a roadside sign. [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > Seeing drivers go 20 to 25 mph over the limit en masse in a 55 mph zone is > far more common than in a 70 or 75 mph zone. Thank you!!! Besides which, various studies have shown that changing the number on the speed limit sign (up or down) can only influence 85th percentile by less than 5MPH, either way, REGARDLESS of how drastically the speed limit is changed. In other words, if traffic is flowing 70MPH in a 55MPH zone, changing the speed limit to 85MPH will move the average speed up by 2 or 3MPH. Traffic won't automatically do 85MPH just because that's now "OK". -Dave Alexander Rogge <a_rogge@yahoo.com> said in rec.autos.driving: >Changing road signs for such a little adjustment isn't worth the >expense. Those old signs should be replaced with >electronically-adjustable speed limit signs that reflect actual conditions. If Michael Moore's home state can't scrape up the cash to replace the current signs with conventional signs, WTF are they going to get the money for fancy-schmancy changeable signs? SignatureI'm a wreckless driver and damn proud of it! >> Changing road signs for such a little adjustment isn't worth the >> expense. Those old signs should be replaced with [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > current signs with conventional signs, WTF are they going to get the > money for fancy-schmancy changeable signs? Of course, if they can't afford to buy regular signs, they shouldn't buy any signs. It's a waste of money. The money should be spent on driver education and mass transit. It's pointless to adjust an underposted speed limit by 5 mi/hr if the average speed of traffic is probably 80 mi/hr. When the speed limit is set properly for congested areas, it's unusual for drivers to exceed the posted speed limit because the traffic conditions prevent it. >>> Changing road signs for such a little adjustment isn't worth the >>> expense. Those old signs should be replaced with [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > areas, it's unusual for drivers to exceed the posted speed limit > because the traffic conditions prevent it. Why don't they just get stick-on DECALS to go over the old numbers? That would save a lot of money. SignatureJim Yanik jyanik at kua.net > Why don't they just get stick-on DECALS to go over the old numbers? > That would save a lot of money. Heck, I'll print them myself on my laser printer. Of course, I keep typing 9's where I want to type 7's, as I'm not too good at typing numbers. :) -Dave >> Why don't they just get stick-on DECALS to go over the old numbers? >> That would save a lot of money. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > numbers. >:) -Dave I've seen reflective stickers used to update speed limit signs on I-4 in the Orlando area.(Florida also prints our license plate expiration stickers on a reflective adhesive-backed plastic coated "paper";they last a long time.) Recently they installed electronic SL signs on I-4 but they never change the SL on them....touble is,everybody drives 70 in a 55 zone,and the police worry abut "speeders" when the real problem are the clueless,LLBs,elderly,sloths,and tourists. SignatureJim Yanik jyanik at kua.net Jim Yanik <jyanik@abuse.gov> said in rec.autos.driving: >Why don't they just get stick-on DECALS to go over the old numbers? >That would save a lot of money. "Not up to DOT standards" would be my guess. SignatureI'm a wreckless driver and damn proud of it! > >> Changing road signs for such a little adjustment isn't worth the > >> expense. Those old signs should be replaced with [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > current signs with conventional signs, WTF are they going to get the > > money for fancy-schmancy changeable signs? > Of course, if they can't afford to buy regular signs, they shouldn't buy > any signs. It's a waste of money. The money should be spent on driver > education and mass transit. Mass transit, in Motorcity? While they're at it, might as well buy a bunch of nooses. The economy here sucks big time. We're in a 1 state recession, and the morons here reelected our chick governor last year, with *7%* unemployment. Her big plan? Oh, let's get NEW LICENSE PLATES!! Yes, that's right, everybody gets a "free" license plate on their next plate renewal. "free" in quotes, because while you don't pay directly for it, obviously the state is paying for them. I don't know how many millions of registered vehicles there are here, but I'm sure the cost for the new plates would pay for the speed limit signs. |
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