radar detectors

[acropilot19]

...act two...

...My "Expertise" is based on the training I have recieved, and my on-going experience. I SEE this stuff IN ACTION, in the real world, every day. Its what you might refer to as "Street-Cred". You only get it by being there and doin' it. I also have the experience and guidence of the senior officers I work with, who have seen it & been doin' it for much much longer. our training is based on this experience, which has been passed down through the "generations", and paid for in blood.

i do NOT claim "Expert" status. The fact remains that I have lived this long because I realize how little I know, and strive to learn as much as I can, every day.

The experts are the ones who think they know how to do it, and who get to meet me at their accident scenes.

"The speed limit imo is set for someone who is 90 years old, on the brink of loosing thier vision, and driving a volskwagon. My speed limit that I can "safely" handle my car/motorcycle is twice theirs."

This is exactly what I mean AAAAGH!

[acropilot19]

So when it is not raining can I drive faster? the speed limit is for "those conditions"

My fingers are starting to hurt...

The speed limit is the Absolute limit in the most favorable conditions, ie a clean, dry, well maintained surface, with allowances for the traffic on, and the weather affecting the roadway/ visibility. You are more than welcome to go slower, and I highly suggest that everyone does.

I can, and have, cited drivers for driving 50mph on a freeway with a 65mph limit. not for driving too slow, but for going too fast!

-Heavy downpour, reduced visibility, and me in the middle of the freeway at an accident scene. Jerky blows by in the slow lane at 50-55mph. He got a ticket and an earfull. Get your hands on a California Vehicle Code and look up section 22350(a). This section applies to ALL speeds, from 1mph to Mach 2, because, and i ask this with a smile on my face because I wrote this one, what is the safe speed for driving a vehicle while peeing into a soda can?

A: ZERO mph.

[MANN]

My fingers are starting to hurt....

LOL. You stated earlier that you love a good debate.

You are more than welcome to go slower, and I highly suggest that everyone does.

See this is where I absolutely dissagree (before I just disagreed). I am willing to go the speed limit if EVERYONE would. See I figure that my average mph on the way to work is ~ 55mph.

I start by gettting on the onramp on the interstate, and grandma is completely stopped on the ramp, and then all the sudden jumps into traffic (where she should have merged), and starts a huge traffic jam. We continue down the interstate at ~ 30mph while waiting on cars to pick up speed. We get a good 3-4mi down the road where a cop is shooting radar. Everyone insist on slamming on their brakes, again causing us to slow to 30mph. (This is another reason I believe cops are sometimes more dangerous than good). We now are accelerating from ~30 again. Another 3-4 miles down the road you get some jerk off that spills coffee into his/her lap, and swerves 2 lanes over. Again everyone slams on their brakes like a kid has ran into the interstate. This process continues through our interstate system all day long. Between the 3-4 mi spurts I go ~80. My average speed for going to work is now 55mph.

If your going to give someone a ticket sit at an onramp, and get people who dont know how to merge with traffic. Snag someone for merging lanes/ disrupting traffic. Get the people going 55 in the fast lane. Leave the people who are tring to get to work without the rest of the world screwing up the roads alone. We are just wanting to get to work on time.

As for driving in bad conditions it just depends. When it snows I still go 55 (assuming that is what the speed limit is of course ). If people want to drive slower/act like they have a corn cob stuck in them they are more than likely to stay in the slow lane/dont drive. Ice/rain is no reason to poke in the fast lane. If you car cannot handle the conditions then buy a bus pass.

[-B-]

To answer the original poster you get what you pay for and cops are getting better and better. Passport 8500 works good for me, but it will cost you about 300$

As for the rest of it.

I agree with Mann on this one. The problem isn't the people driving a little fast, some of these guys going on about how their bikes can hit 100 and what not yes, but not the people that cruise comfortably, and most of the time smartly at 75-80 (10-15 over here in NYS). The problem lies with people who drive like idiots, don't use blinkers, don't check blind spots, don't keep right, and all those other little oddities that make them accident prone and inspire road rage in others.

While I do have more wheel time than most people my age (21) I am by no means an expert. I don't have any schools or racing time, just a long commute to work and a job that had me driving the whole time I was there, and a lot of on ice/snow practice with an old 4x4 and a frozen lake.

I have the spare on my truck right now, its supposed to be full sized but I have over sized tires on it so its actually a size to small, I'm not taking the hi-way down to get it replaced, I'll stick to roads where I can go 40-45 without people trying to run me into an embankment.

Yet I can go out on the Thruway, where I have to pay to drive, and have people who think its a great idea to get so close to my bumper I can barely see the roof of their car, ride 20 miles in the left hand lane with a mile of traffic backed up behind them because they don't see the purpose in keeping right if they are going 66, drive cars that have parts dragging on the road and the list goes on.

To bring up the old justification for speeders every where, look at the autobahn, people don't drive like idiots there, and they have no problem with no speed limits, or very high limits depending on the section of roadway. If they are going to be stupid about when and how they speed nail them, but give the rest of us some credit.

[Lohman446]

My fingers are starting to hurt...

The speed limit is the Absolute limit in the most favorable conditions, ie a clean, dry, well maintained surface, with allowances for the traffic on, and the weather affecting the roadway/ visibility. You are more than welcome to go slower, and I highly suggest that everyone does.

I can, and have, cited drivers for driving 50mph on a freeway with a 65mph limit. not for driving too slow, but for going too fast!

-Heavy downpour, reduced visibility, and me in the middle of the freeway at an accident scene. Jerky blows by in the slow lane at 50-55mph. He got a ticket and an earfull. Get your hands on a California Vehicle Code and look up section 22350(a). This section applies to ALL speeds, from 1mph to Mach 2, because, and i ask this with a smile on my face because I wrote this one, what is the safe speed for driving a vehicle while peeing into a soda can?

A: ZERO mph.

With the exception of a moral obligation to slow down for an accident scene writing me a ticket for "driving too fast for conditions" (but under the speed limit) in an instance where I have not lost control is going to put us all in front of the judge, and it is going to be thrown out.

As to the "conditions" for what the speed limit is set. What was the big change then in the 70's that suddenly dropped it to 55? Or the recent change in many states that changed it from 65MPH to higher? As good as the line sounds it is simply not true, the "absolute limit" as you call it is well in excess of the posted limit which is at least partially arbitrary.

While I disagree with the some of the ideas that some people have on the other end of the spectrum, your absolute argument is equally as invalid.

[paintballwannab]

I can, and have, cited drivers for driving 50mph on a freeway with a 65mph limit. not for driving too slow, but for going too fast!

-Heavy downpour, reduced visibility, and me in the middle of the freeway at an accident scene. Jerky blows by in the slow lane at 50-55mph. He got a ticket and an earfull. Get your hands on a California Vehicle Code and look up section 22350(a). This section applies to ALL speeds, from 1mph to Mach 2, because, and i ask this with a smile on my face because I wrote this one, what is the safe speed for driving a vehicle while peeing into a soda can?

A: ZERO mph.

Ok, years back when I took my driver license test there was a dusting of snow on the ground and I was going about 30 in a 35, I got points taken off for not following the speed limit, even in adverse road conditions. Figure that one out.

[Lohman446]

To answer the original poster you get what you pay for and cops are getting better and better. Passport 8500 works good for me, but it will cost you about 300$

As for the rest of it.

I agree with Mann on this one. The problem isn't the people driving a little fast, some of these guys going on about how their bikes can hit 100 and what not yes, but not the people that cruise comfortably, and most of the time smartly at 75-80 (10-15 over here in NYS). The problem lies with people who drive like idiots, don't use blinkers, don't check blind spots, don't keep right, and all those other little oddities that make them accident prone and inspire road rage in others.

While I do have more wheel time than most people my age (21) I am by no means an expert. I don't have any schools or racing time, just a long commute to work and a job that had me driving the whole time I was there, and a lot of on ice/snow practice with an old 4x4 and a frozen lake.

I have the spare on my truck right now, its supposed to be full sized but I have over sized tires on it so its actually a size to small, I'm not taking the hi-way down to get it replaced, I'll stick to roads where I can go 40-45 without people trying to run me into an embankment.

Yet I can go out on the Thruway, where I have to pay to drive, and have people who think its a great idea to get so close to my bumper I can barely see the roof of their car, ride 20 miles in the left hand lane with a mile of traffic backed up behind them because they don't see the purpose in keeping right if they are going 66, drive cars that have parts dragging on the road and the list goes on.

To bring up the old justification for speeders every where, look at the autobahn, people don't drive like idiots there, and they have no problem with no speed limits, or very high limits depending on the section of roadway. If they are going to be stupid about when and how they speed nail them, but give the rest of us some credit.

Be careful what you assign as idiocy in others. Many people would tell you, on a 4WD truck, running one odd sized tire is idiocy.

Personally though, I encourage it, it makes me a lot of money .

[-B-]

Only place I'm taking it is to where it needs to go to get replaced. And I know enough to not turn the 4x4 drive on and blow the transfer case.

[Lohman446]

Only place I'm taking it is to where it needs to go to get replaced. And I know enough to not turn the 4x4 drive on and blow the transfer case.

:P

[robnix]

While not advocting speeding, here's an interesting summary of a FHWA study on the effects of speed limits.

http://www.dot.state.oh.us/dist3/planning/TRAFFIC/speed_kills.asp

More fun on speed:

http://www.nationalreview.com/moore/moore062503.asp

JULIE CIRILLO, the program manager at the FHWA Office of Motor Carriers and Highway Safety, said:

" . . . the more you have differential speed the more you have accidents.

. . . we have fallen into a situation where for a variety of reasons we are setting speed limits that are not realistic. They are setting speed limits that are too low. We're legislating them, and once you legislate speed limits, invariably the speed limit is at about the 50th percentile. So, here you have a traffic regulation that's enforceable by law and half of the people are exceeding it when you put it in place. That makes no sense to us. So, what we're trying to do is get the states to agree that they will st speed limits in accordance with the 85th percentile, which is where most people travel. Most people are sane. Most people wil not put themselves in udue hazard. . . .

. . . We have deteriorated the value of speed limits and now find the disregard for speed limits is spilling over into other traffic-control devices -- disregard of red lights, disregard of stop signs. If we have any hope of moving the population back to where it ought to be, we have to set reasonable speed limits."

June/July, 1999 issue of LANDLINE, the magazine of O.O.I.D.A.

She was advocating against states that have split speed limits for semi sized rigs and cars.

The nonmotorist fatality rate per 100,000 population has declined by 53.1 percent from 1975 to 2004.

http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/

Hmmm....

Speed differential is the real issue.

If it were up to me, which it isn't... It would be more difficult to get a driver license. I've had to take the driving portion of the test three times:

First time: 1984, Washington State - All I remember was that it was snowing, and I had to take the test. It wasn't much more than driving around the block and parallel parking in a 25mph zone.

Second time: 1985, Alabama - Test got postponed twice because, are you ready...it was RAINING When I finally took the test, we drove around the block that the testing center was in. I knew a girl in that state that failed 6 time before she finally made it through the driving test.

Third time: 2000, Washington State - Drove around TWO blocks! Had to parallel park, never left a 25 mph zone...

It's too easy to get a drivers license in the US, WAY too easy. Make people test out doing things that they'll do on a daily basis. Put them on the Interstate and grade their merging skills, make them drive in downtown big city to see if they can handle that, just make it harder and driving will be easier for all of us.

[MANN]

you had to parellel park? wow. I just had to drive ~ 5mi. All right hand turns. I swear I could have taken the test blindfolded and passed.

I agree with the harder license requirements

[oneworld]

They give kids there drivers license when they are 14 here, scary thought.

[robnix]

you had to parellel park? wow. I just had to drive ~ 5mi. All right hand turns. I swear I could have taken the test blindfolded and passed.

I agree with the harder license requirements

I'd even like to see inclement weather courses, where drivers are judged on their ability to drive on both wet asphalt and concrete. But that will never happen.

[bentothejam1n]

whats a good way to learn how to handle your car in rain, at high speeds, and before a crash (avoiding one that you see coming)? I know driving time will help but you say that 99% of people are competent at driving at high speeds.

[-B-]

If you can find a big frozen lake like I did that helps a lot. You learn how to handle the back end coming loose, tire spin, no brakes etc. Plus you never get the grip on the tires to roll the vehicle which is a plus.

Plus its fun.