A morning rumination on speed limts

[ClassicVW_imp]

JustCruising's comments are equally valid for U.S. roads too.

There's no doubt that speed is the #1 cause of crashes and always has been, but catching up fast is distracted driving and texting. Some new figures are out for U.S. traffic fatalities.. DUI deaths are down as are DUI arrests in general, (without crashes), BUT, traffic deaths overall are UP quite a bit. Texting or being otherwise distracted by your phone now accounts for over 20% of all traffic crashes. IDK if that figure is actual or estimated.

[emptysea]

I don't want to hijack Cormanus' thread here, but I think this is relevant.

Ask yourself this question: Do I always ride at or below the posted speed limit?

If your answer is no, then you speed. Period. Once we determine that you are a speeder, we are just haggling over the price (to paraphrase an old joke).

We may agree that there is some "no-man's land" between the posted limit and a speed which is clearly unsafe, but who decides the width of that zone? 5mph? 10? And is it OK if your no-man's land is narrower than the guy who just passed you or is that guy necessarily unsafe?

Ultimately, we all pick and choose which traffic laws to obey or disobey and when it is appropriate to do one or the other. I do not think that obeying every law makes us a safe rider nor does disobeying some laws make us unsafe. I think that our decisions on when to obey or disobey a particular traffic law is what differentiates us.

[aschem_imp]

Speaking of speed limits, anyone remember when the national speed limit was 55 and all vehicles , including motorcycles, had a 85 mph speedometer?
Here in Idaho, the current speed limit on the interstate is 80 mph.

[LongRanger_imp]

Great discussion. Here in the western US (and I imagine in other parts of the country), highway departments are employing a very effective speed deterrent for motorcyclists: tar snakes (pavement filler). On more and more of our wonderfully sinuous roads, you'll find tar snakes at perpendicular or longitudinal intervals across the roadway, mainly on the curves. In the summer, as they heat up from the sun, tar snakes become very slippery and conspire against aggressive leaning, thus reducing one's speed accordingly. Most discouraging is finding the application of tar snakes on sections of fresh pavement, where there are no cracks.

[the Ferret]

Speaking of speed limits, anyone remember when the national speed limit was 55 and all vehicles , including motorcycles, had a 85 mph speedometer?
Here in Idaho, the current speed limit on the interstate is 80 mph.

yep but 2 separate times in our history.

Joan Claybrook I think her name was, was head of the Highway National Traffic Safety dealie in Washington from maybe 81-85 ish and mandated 85 mph speedos, thinking no one would exceed that if they couldn't see how fast they were going. HA! Once, in my woolier days, I was riding a CBX and came to a corner, I had apparently been doing 85 cause the speedo said so. I down shifted 3 times and the dang speedo STILL said I was going 85. Nearly missed the corner, had to flat track it around then pull over and stop the knees from shaking. Not sure how fast I had been going but it was obviously more than 85. Thanks Joan.

[Scoobynut_imp]

Ferret, I remember the dreaded double nickle speed limit very well. I always felt it was more dangerous than the old speed limit -- out here on the endless prairies, 55 was literally enough to put you to sleep. With the higher speed limits I always feel more alert.

As for your 85mph speedo adventure, a classic case of government nannyism leading to unintended consequences!

[flynrider]

Speaking of speed limits, anyone remember when the national speed limit was 55 and all vehicles , including motorcycles, had a 85 mph speedometer?
Here in Idaho, the current speed limit on the interstate is 80 mph.

yep but 2 separate times in our history.

Joan Claybrook I think her name was, was head of the Highway National Traffic Safety dealie in Washington from maybe 81-85 ish and mandated 85 mph speedos, thinking no one would exceed that if they couldn't see how fast they were going. HA! Once, in my woolier days, I was riding a CBX and came to a corner, I had apparently been doing 85 cause the speedo said so. I down shifted 3 times and the dang speedo STILL said I was going 85. Nearly missed the corner, had to flat track it around then pull over and stop the knees from shaking. Not sure how fast I had been going but it was obviously more than 85. Thanks Joan.

Joan was a Carter appointee and thankfully was replaced before she could implement more of her wacky ideas about motorcycles. The motorcycle seatbelt was one of them. There was also the experimental "safe" motorcycle with front wheel drive and rear wheel steering. It was unrideable without training wheels and a roll cage.

As I recall, she was the sworn enemy of most motorcyclists of the day.

I was thinking about the 55 mph speed limit just the other day. While riding home on city streets, where traffic moves between 50-55mph, I was recalling the days when that was the same speed was as fast as you could go (legally) on a four lane, divided Interstate highway. Ughh!

[the Ferret]

My dad was a 55 devotee. Even after the speed limit went to 70 he would drive 55.

I remember going on vaca to Florida every year in the 1950s in the family Packard, and Dad would plod along at 55 while the same cars would pass us time and time again. He'd say look there goes the same car that passed us earlier and he's no further along than we are even though he's driving 70, and we'd say yea, but he's had time to stop and pee and eat. My dad just drove..no stops. If we had to pee, he'd pull over to the side of the road, mom would open the front and rear car doors and we'd have to stand between them and do our business while cars whizzed by at 70 mph. Ahhh childhood memories. No wonder I am such a mess lol.

[rboe]

Public roads; you have to share them with everyone. So, like having roommates, once you have to share then you have to have rules or else there be trouble.

I've been cruising along I-95 and I-90 and have come across ag equipment (tractors, combines, etc.). While the freeways have a lower limit of 45mph these guys still have to get the fields to grow our food so we can eat (push come to shove, I place eating above driving - call me silly).

Anyway, you get the picture, what and who we have to share the road with means that we need to have rules - and drivers that observe those rules or else we'll have more problems than we have already.

Sidebar regarding the police, emt's etc. Yarnell hill is a stretch of 89A between Wickenburg and Prescott with a posted limit of 45mph with many bikers ignoring it. This hill kills a fair amount riders (not sure about drivers), including a cop a couple years ago. Going too fast into nasty decreasing radius corners and then tend to center punch a guard rail on the exit of the turn (I was talking to a deputy about this). They patrol this section of road heavily because they are people like us but they don't like cleaning up bloody messes that can be prevented if folks just followed the rules.

Be careful out there. Cell phones have really changed things and I think that is still being worked out.

[johnf514_imp]

I speed. I speed on roads I know, and I speed when following someone I trust on roads I don't (which amounts to less than a handful of riders). I speed on the highway to make my way through traffic, and I speed through corners under good conditions to enjoy motorcycling.

I do not speed on roads I do not know. I do not speed in sub-ideal conditions, and I do not speed when following riders I do not trust. I have sped in all of those conditions, and each time I have ended up learning a lesson, whether by kissing the dirt or have a pucker moment. Not worth the risk.