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Should the US government bring back the 55 mph max speed limit again?

1418 messages,  Last post on Dec 16, 2008 at 11:21 AM

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#51 of 1418
Re: A Bad Law- Then and Now... [fezo] by andres3
Dec 06, 2007 (7:05 pm)
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Replying to: fezo (Dec 06, 2007 12:32 pm)

I don't believe there should be any speed limits, just let people drive and punish them when they are careless and negligent.
#52 of 1418
Re: A Bad Law- Then and Now... [andres3] by steve_ HOST
Dec 06, 2007 (7:40 pm)
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Replying to: andres3 (Dec 06, 2007 7:05 pm)

That was part of the problem in Montana when they had "reasonable and prudent" as the speed limit, instead of an actual limit. A guy was going 85, and a cop gave him a speeding ticket. The guy appealed up to the Montana Supreme Ct. The court said the law was was unconstitutionally vague and did not give drivers fair notice of what speed was fast enough to be illegal. (Wikipedia). You'd clog up the courts pretty fast debating every ticket based on traffic conditions, weather, how many grasshoppers were crossing the road, how recently you had replaced your brake pads, etc.
 
For more entertainment, after a fashion, look up the guy who was speeding in that wiki link.
#53 of 1418
Re: A Bad Law- Then and Now... [steve_] by andres3
Dec 06, 2007 (11:38 pm)
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Replying to: steve_ (Dec 06, 2007 7:40 pm)

What's wrong with going 85 in Montana. Most likely the cop was just having a bad day and decided to take it out on an innocent man.
 
The problem isn't people clogging up the courts, its on officer's writing frivolous tickets making people want to clog up the courts.
 
I for one, don't see a problem with clogged up courtrooms; preferable to the current joke of a justice system our traffic rules in CA have led to.
#54 of 1418
I can sum this debate up with one song... by british_rover
Dec 07, 2007 (7:00 am)
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Sammy Hagar
 
 
#55 of 1418
It didn't work.... by andys120
Dec 07, 2007 (7:03 am)
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for a simple reason and that is that highway traffic is similar to water and responds to the laws of hydrodynamics which means that traffic will move faster on a straight road than on one that is curved and has a lot of obstructions (i.e. other traffic). Trying to make traffic move slower than the 85th percentile of the average speed of the natural traffic is unnatural and bound to fail as it did back in the unlamented 1970s.
#56 of 1418
Actually... by grbeck
Dec 07, 2007 (9:46 am)
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...Hitler was an auto enthusiast (although he was usually driven by a chauffeur in his Mercedes) who supported the racing efforts of German automakers and pushed for the construction of the Autobahn, so I don't know if he would necessarily be in favor of the 55 mph speed limit.
 
No word yet on the position of Lenin, Stalin or Pol Pot on it...
 
German attitudes on speed are interesting. Driving is taken seriously. Germans drive faster than we do, even on those parts of the Autobahn with a speed limit. But I sense a greater respect for speed and what cars can do over there. (They are also much more interested in the technical aspect of cars, and would never make vehicles like the F-150 or Camry best sellers, and GM would never dare to offer clunkers like the Cobalt, G6 or Impala to the German public.)
 
People take driving more seriously, and have a more “mature” view of speed. They aren’t running around squawking the “speed kills” nonsense, but they don’t glorify “hooning,” either. Drivers who camp in the passing lane are not tolerated.
 
Fast driving is seen as a pleasurable, safe and rapid way to get where you are going, and both cars and drivers are expected to have the capabilities necessary to handle it when on the Autobahn.
#57 of 1418
Re: Actually... [grbeck] by gagrice
Dec 07, 2007 (9:53 am)
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Replying to: grbeck (Dec 07, 2007 9:46 am)

I wonder if the Germans cruise down the autobahn at 150 KMH chatting on a cell phone or munching a Krispy Kreme donut?
#58 of 1418
Re: Actually... [grbeck] by fintail
Dec 07, 2007 (10:01 am)
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Replying to: grbeck (Dec 07, 2007 9:46 am)

Right on the money
 
Drivers and cars both are held to a higher standard - and the result is a driving experience that is unimaginable compared to the dreck we see in most of North America. It's a completely different mindset, one that requires more discipline than is probably capable of being reached on this side of the pond.
 
Cellphone and donuts...sins.
#59 of 1418
Re: Actually... [fintail] by grbeck
Dec 07, 2007 (10:21 am)
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Replying to: fintail (Dec 07, 2007 10:01 am)

Glad to be back on the same side of an issue with you.
 
You're right - cell phones and donuts behind the wheel are not tolerated. And cars and drivers are both better for it.
#60 of 1418
Re: Actually... [grbeck] by fintail
Dec 07, 2007 (11:02 am)
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Replying to: grbeck (Dec 07, 2007 10:21 am)

Perhaps this exists because driving in Europe/Germany has always been more of an expense than in NA, and is seen as a more 'special' activity, and enjoyment is to be maximized in light of high registration and fuel costs, along with license training that is like F1 racing compared to the 'fog a mirror, get a license' seen here.
 
Imagine how I feel when driving an E55, stuck behind some airhead in a Saturn Ion text messaging and sipping a Starbucks as they merge onto a freeway at 36mph...
 
Damn, now I'm wanting a job on the continent

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