[TheKlic]

CP, if the limit is 70 people do 80 and they're over the limit. If the limit is 100 people do 90 and they're under the limit.
the people are going faster despite the fact they're not going over the speed limit.

Am I way off on this one?

[gpggnnn]

I know when I drive my van anything over 75 just doesn't feel comfortable to me. So I can see if speed limits are increased I'll never get a speeding ticket.With the bike, who knows!!!

[The CyberPoet]

CP, if the limit is 70 people do 80 and they're over the limit. If the limit is 100 people do 90 and they're under the limit.
the people are going faster despite the fact they're not going over the speed limit.

So what's your point? Loss of ticket revenue, lack of need for as much enforcement, or that 90 wouldn't be safe compared to 80?

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[TheKlic]

Are we thinking of ways to get people to slow down or to reduce police tickets?

[KatanaSoldier]

It smells like bacon in here!
Just kidding!!

[The CyberPoet]

Are we thinking of ways to get people to slow down or to reduce police tickets?

I thought we were trying to do the only thing any traffic law should do: reduce and/or eliminate the sources of accidents, including removing driver boredom and other causes of distraction...
But I digress, I guess I lost sight of the original purpose of the thread (anti-bike cop gets bike, starts speeding).

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[TheKlic]

I thought we were trying to do the only thing any traffic law should do: reduce and/or eliminate the sources of accidents.....
Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

I know one way to do that, get Range off the road.
just pickin

and sorry to have helped the thread further off track

[SKNL2]

The rules are set before you play the game, whether you agree with them or not.

So let me pose a question to you, Marc. Would your utopia allow big trucks these speed limits? There are plenty of rigs capable of 100+MPH. Splitting speed limits has proven to be dangerous, especially when you are allowing cars to travel in the triple digits. A 60MPH truck comes up fast then you're going 140MPH. So does a 65MPH grandpa.

Though there are no limits on the Autobahn, there is WAY more enforcement. It costs a LOT of money to make sure everyone obeys the laws that are in place in order to make the speed less of a factor. Germans' attitude toward driving is not comparable to Americans'. Apples and oranges. The operating cost of a mile of US interstate highway pales in comparison to a mile of Autobahn.

So, you, in trying to argue for a reduction in enforcement, are adding a whole new set of problems -- funding, increased maintenence and operating costs, increased man-power to enforce other statutes such as lane-restrictions, and probably the most complicated of all, a change in attitudes in Americans' driving habits.

Just isn't going to happen, man. Sorry.

Oh and uh....

[freight dog]

So let's say I point a loaded weapon at you. I don't pull the trigger, but you know the weapon is loaded when I am pointing it at you. I leave without discharging the weapon and you are unharmed. Victimless crime? No one was hurt or killed, no property damage. I might argue that the only thing I did wrong was choosing when and where I pointed my weapon.

Your dog doesn't hunt, sir.

The grey area I was discussing is the fact that cops are human beings with libidinal drives. They are not robots. They will act based on their mood, hunger, the weather, personal life, and anything else that affects anyone esle in the world. That's your grey area.

So, you are saying that cops lack the intellect and discipline to make decisions in opposition to their base instincts, they are simply at the mercy of their emotions? I bet they would love to hear that! I thought to be a good cop, you needed the ability to act without prejudice or emotion. That is your "gray area"? I don't see it.

If you didn't shoot, I don't believe that is a crime unless you did threaten to shoot. I might have been a victim if I suffered emotional pain from your actions. If I choose to speed and I never cause you any injury or personal loss, how could you possibly be a victim? I certainly do not consider myself a victim of any speeding you may have done or will do, provided you don't run me over.

I have no hunting dogs, but thanks for your concern.

[LordKeryth]

VFRstar, I have to say I like the way you think overall. That is mostly when I do my speeding is on back roads where there are no cross streets or houses. Although, I do have to say that there is the occasional burst of speed on the highway to 90 or so. But it is so easy and quick to get to that speed. Granted, that 90 might not be even close considering the speedometer is off so much. Well, just wanted to toss in my $.02

[The CyberPoet]

So let me pose a question to you, Marc. Would your utopia allow big trucks these speed limits? There are plenty of rigs capable of 100+MPH. Splitting speed limits has proven to be dangerous, especially when you are allowing cars to travel in the triple digits. A 60MPH truck comes up fast then you're going 140MPH. So does a 65MPH grandpa.

I'm very well aware of what it means to be barrelling down on a car/truck/bus that is doing 60 - 65 mph while I'm traveling around three times that speed... It's a fact of life for German drivers who travel at high-speeds (which not all German drivers do, fuel is expensive) -- slow drivers and slow vehicles are not unique to the US, especially given that Germany borders many former soviet-block countries where trabants and their equivilents still eminate from.

Let's pick a reasonable figure -- I don't expect the US to ever embrace a limitless speed-limit policy. Say we pick 90 mph as an interstate-only max anywhere where there isn't an on/off-ramp within 3 miles in either direction and the road condition/layout warrents that speed should be safe (straight road, slight grades, no major turns). Should trucks be able to run 90 on this road? If their vehicles are built/maintained to be able to do so safely. I really don't see much of a risk difference between a Peterbuilt crashing down on me at 75 and at 90 -- the mass differences mean the same general fate for me in a worst-case scenario.

Though there are no limits on the Autobahn, there is WAY more enforcement.

Actually, in my personal experience (many years of driving in Germany), there is less enforcement per mile on the German autobahns than there is in most of the USA. Once you factor out the automated enforcement systems (ticket-cameras that measure following-distance clearances, speed in speed-limited zones), the enforcement levels drop even further. I've never seen a wolf-pack on or next to a German autobahn...

The operating cost of a mile of US interstate highway pales in comparison to a mile of Autobahn.

I'll grant you that the maintenance costs of the German autobahn is significantly higher per mile than the US interstates, in large part due to the quality of the construction (under-bedding that is twice as thick, surfacing that's as much as three times as thick, maintenance levels that put anywhere in the NE US to shame). But remember, I'm not advocating absolutely unrestricted speeds in the USA, nor even speeds that exceed the criteria the interstates were built to at the outset, just speeds that make sense once all factors are considered (and a significant increase in training -- personally, I'd like to see the significant increase in training even if it didn't come with the benefit of additional speeds, although I prefer the concept of rewarding the training).

So, you, in trying to argue for a reduction in enforcement, are adding a whole new set of problems -- funding, increased maintenence and operating costs, increased man-power to enforce other statutes such as lane-restrictions, and probably the most complicated of all, a change in attitudes in Americans' driving habits.

Just isn't going to happen, man. Sorry.

Like world-peace, it may just be a pipe-dream, but I'm entitled to dream occassionally...

And last night I found out why I was never stopped when I've zipped my way out of the state in the wee hours at ungodly speeds: FHP pursuit policy prohibits high-speed pursuits over 15 mph over the limit unless a reasonable suspicision of a violent crime was involved... and traffic infractions on an otherwise empty road do not qualify.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[katana_j]

Sounds like a HIPOCRIT to me.