AS LITTLE??? On a highway marked 70MPH, AS LITTLE would be 85MPH. That's just stupid.
On an empty, three lane wide, 20 mile long stretch of straightaway on a sunny day, with a modern car packed full of safety features since the national mandated 55mph limit? We’re not talking residential areas here.
You're a fellow Californian - you know full well that slowing down to 85 mph on I-5 and I-15 makes you into Public Nuisance #1 in the eyes of other drivers. ;)
You obviously don't drive much on throughways Here in Shirleyville (formerly known as Atlanta) the speed limit on expressways is the odious 55. When the traffic is not parked, which it is about 7 hours a day, the average speed runs about 75
I guess this means that Corzine had better stay in NJ.
1. Driving 85 may be stupid on a lot of highways, but it is also perfectly safe on quite a number of them if you are a decent driver and in a reasonably well-maintained auto. Let's not forget that the Interstates were PURPOSELY designed so that the average auto riding around in the mid-'50's (i.e those produced, on average, about 3-5 years before, and designed 10 years earlier), with the relatively primitive (by today's standards) tire, braking and handling technology could safely travel at 70 MPH. Don't tell me that cars designed in the '90s and in this decade can't travel 15 MPH faster safely - it just isn't true.
BTW, I live in Texas. There are many stretches of road (in rural areas, to be sure) where the speed limit is 80 MPH. If 85 was so incredibly unsafe, then there's no way that the limit would be up that high. Many other states also have similarly high limits, so it ain't just Texas.
2) Let's not talk about the top limit - what about when you're coming down the road at 40, and suddenly the limit goes from 40 to 25 because now you're in a "residential" area? Are you some kind of a maniac for driving at 40 for a couple of seconds (or even for a minute or 2, if you're carefully watching for kids and other hazards)? I don't think so.
3. Let's now talk about speed-traps. You know, those ambushes that the money-hungry government sets up PURPOSELY to catch people unawares, to fine them like crazy. To have fines of this size combined with road conditions set up to MAKE people break the law and the long-enshrined (and despicable) prohibition on radar detectors is, quite simply, highway robbery. And since it is the government that's doing it, it qualifies as TYRANNY.
Fines of this magnitude are INSANE and are simply a way to fleece the unsuspecting motorist. I'll not be visiting or even driving through VA anytime soon. If I have to go back to the NJ area (where I'm from, and still have family), I'll drive around Virginia. Besides, who wants to be illegal for simply operating a device that let's you know when you are being watched by the government? Screw VA!!!
However, the fact that folks will get surcharged for points on their license is questionable. The way the fee structure is set up creates a double jeopardy. Plus, with the speed traps writing tickets for small things to generate local revenue, citizens can get slapped with state surcharges plus insurance premium increases for the slightest of offenses.
That said, Virginia also just passed a law that states regional committees (ours is made up of the mayors of Norfolk, Va Beach, Chesapeake, Hampton, Suffolk, Portsmouth, Newport News, Williamsburg, etc.) can set different taxes to raise money for transpoprtation issues. It doesn’t even have to go through the state legislature!!!!
“AS LITTLE??? On a highway marked 70MPH, AS LITTLE would be 85MPH. That’s just stupid.”
Don’t get out much, do you? Next time you are out on any interstate in Virginia, try to keep up with traffic, then look at your speedometer!
I wonder if speeders will have to face the firing squad if they go 30 MPH over the limit? (sarcasm off)
On the Alabama Autobahn (I-459 loop south of Birmingham) 85 mph will leave you in the wake turbulence of many drivers.
You have never done 70 in a 55?
I’d call you a liar that never inhaled.
>AS LITTLE??? On a highway marked 70MPH, AS LITTLE would be 85MPH. That’s just stupid.<
And in a 15 mph zone, that’s THIRTY MILES AN HOUR.
That’s just stupid, and it’s flat out thievery.
Do you honestly believe all interstates have a speed limit of 70 mph? Get rid of your CA rose colored glasses. VA does not repeat NOT have a speed limit of more than 65 mph, and that is only on some interstates. Most major highways are 55 and that includes some interstates, including the VA portion of I-495 around DC. It has long been a felony to be caught going 20 mph over the speed limit regardless, and the points stay for 11 years.
Part of the problem is Ex-governor Warner let the WaPO goad them into raising the tobacco tax and they are losing that revenue also. IT IS ALL ABOUT MONEY.
OB
50 in a 35 is a LOT worse!
i have been burnt by semis when going 65MPH during near blizzard conditions.
AS LITTLE??? On a highway marked 70MPH, AS LITTLE would be 85MPH. That's just stupid.
It would be my guess that you live in one of those itty-bitty states that you can drive across in an hour, and is pretty congested. 85 mph does not seem so unreasonable in the wide open spaces, like most anywhere in the west.
AS LITTLE??? On a highway marked 70MPH, AS LITTLE would be 85MPH. That's just stupid.
Yes, but robbery is worse than speeding (usually), and abuse of power is worse than both.
Yea well... so is driving 50 mph in a 35 mph zone as your slowing down entering a local “speed trap.
These fees are outrageous. I can’t believe free people will accept this kind of theft for long.