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Automotive News & Views Photo Radar
1787 messages, Last post on Nov 06, 2009 at 9:07 AM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
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of California (Palm Springs/Palm Desert area) reinforces my previously held belief that Arizonians do not drive particularly fast. While maintaining 75mph on the I-10W from Phoenix I passed more traffic than I was passed by (speed limit is 75). Doing the same speed on the same road in California (speed limit 70) I was passed by as many as I passed (which were mostly trucks) and I see a lot more aggressive driving. If you see a pickup w Cali plates it's likely to be driven aggressively (weaving, tailgating, passing on right, the kind of driving that's a lot more dangerous than going a few miles over the limit).)
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Replying to: andys120 (Jan 06, 2009 5:40 pm) Because there is no way to know that. You know why? Because almost all "Arizonians" are not FROM Arizona. Most are from other places. So there is no way to stereotype drivers from this state. It's just a hodgepodge of people who learned to drive in other states, with a sprinkling of maybe 30% of people who were born and raised here. And yes, as a rule, California highway drivers are excessive speed demons. True dat.
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Replying to: larsb (Jan 06, 2009 10:34 am)
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Replying to: larsb (Jan 07, 2009 6:27 am) Drive on the eastern part of Long Island one time and you'll think California drivers are tame. 
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Replying to: dtownfb (Jan 07, 2009 7:12 am) Your argument seems to be one of those. Anyway, of course I do not think all roads should have 45 MPH or less speed limits. I just think that people ought to DRIVE THE POSTED LIMITS and not complain if they get caught disobeying the law. How is it that we raise our kids to "obey the law and respect the police" and yet we (not me but many people ) gladly and happily speed our tails off every chance we get? Is that not the height of hypocrisy? My kids are 9 and 12 right now, and I point out to them all the time how idiots speed around me and then PRESTO, 20 seconds later we both end up at the same stop light. Did a lot of good to speed, huh buddy?
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Replying to: larsb (Jan 07, 2009 7:32 am) Photo radars are put into place for generating revenue under the disguise of safety. If there are problem areas, put police officers there. Sure they can't catch everyone but I guarantee that after a couple of weeks of seeing people pulled over, they'll get the message.
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Replying to: dtownfb (Jan 07, 2009 7:56 am) Speeding is speeding, and whether or not you have to waste an officer's time by forcing him to forego real crime fighting to spend 15 minutes writing you a ticket should be an issue too. My opinion? Cars ought to have GPS systems which know the speed limits and when you drive they track your speed and when you go 11 MPH over the limit, the satellite issues you a speed limit and it's mailed to you. THAT would: A. Free our police to do POLICE WORK instead of babysitting speeders. B. Avoid court time and associated costs by providing a fool-proof system. C. Get everyone to understand that you are NEVER EVER going to get away with speeding, so just STOP DOING IT !!!
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Replying to: larsb (Jan 06, 2009 10:34 am) And I'll bet if you ask a first responder whether he would prefer to respond to a 55 mph wreck or 25 mph wreck, he would prefer the latter. So your example doesn't prove anything.
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Replying to: larsb (Jan 06, 2009 10:46 am)  It doesn't even support that one should drive the speed limit. Note this sentence: Some authors have noted that the increased risk from driving at speeds 10-20% above the average for the road is similar to the increased risk from driving at the drink drive limits in the two countries to which the references relate (i.e. a BAC of 0.05 and 0.08). (emphasis added). The speed "average for the road" is not necessarily the speed limit. It is usually higher, especially on limited access highways. So this study does not prove that driving above the speed limit increases danger. It also contains these sentences that poke a major hole in your claims: If on a particular road, the speed variance is high, this will result in less predictability, more encounters, more overtaking manoeuvres, etc. (emphasis added) Therefore, when speed differences increase, the accident risk increases as well. Hence, a countermeasure that results in lower average speed, but in larger speed differences may not have the expected positive effect on road safety. But no reliable quantified relationship has been established for this linkage. As has been shown repeatedly on this site, lowering speed limits only increases speed variance between the few who obey, and the majority who continue to drive at the speeds at which they feel comfortable. Given that photo radar will only slow people down in the vicinity of the cameras, it stands to reason that even MORE safety problems will be created by the majority of people braking to slow down for the cameras, and then speeding up once they are out of the camera's range. Unless we are going to have law enforcement personnel regularly change the location of cameras, which is certainly a wise use of our highly paid police forces during difficult economic times. 
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Replying to: larsb (Jan 07, 2009 8:16 am) I drove in Arizona this summer - most of the time at 80-85 mph on the rural interstate highways. And I was passed by a fair number of vehicles. It was perfectly safe. If you can't drive at those speeds, or get needlessly worked up about those who do, you should consider staying home, or moving to the city, where you can rely on mass transit. |
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