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Is 90 the new 80?

J

jtvang125

Diamond Member
80 use to be the norm here in SoCal but even going that fast you'll get passed these days. Where the heck do you need to go that you need to go 90?
 
senseamp said:
SoCal is full of posers, they gotta represent somehow.
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No, SoCal is just all urban sprawl. Everyone wants to spend as little time in the car as possible so everyone speeds everywhere. What the OP posted is totally true. I'd say the average speed on the freeway is somewhere between 75-80mph with some going faster, some slower.

I've had people pass me while I'm doing 90mph.
 
Where I am the speed limit is 55 and the cops are pretty good at hiding, especially on the parkways. 80 is still 80 over here. Mid 80s is usually the fastest I see people going.
 
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Any time I am travelling on highway trips, there is always someone blasting past me doing 90+. I set the cruise control the to speed limit and go about my business. I'm in no hurry and have no desire to pay a ticket.
 
I drive on a highway everyday and most people are doing 75-80 in a 55. On a road that is 60 or 65 MPH they are doing 80-90. If you're doing 55, please move over.
 
I'm usually 5 Mph over posted in town here.

I don't like tickets and they don't bother you then, 5 over is a gimme, 10 sometimes depending on the area.

Been living here long enough I know where they sit in most spots locally.

Of course if you get on I-4 or something going to Orlando from here or something, 90 is pretty normal.
 
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in SD county 80 is the cruising speed. If you're doing lower than that you're usually getting passed.

I wish it were 80-90 on the 5 though, would make that slog so much easier but we have to feed the piggies somehow.
 
JulesMaximus said:
No, SoCal is just all urban sprawl. Everyone wants to spend as little time in the car as possible so everyone speeds everywhere. What the OP posted is totally true. I'd say the average speed on the freeway is somewhere between 75-80mph with some going faster, some slower.

I've had people pass me while I'm doing 90mph.
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How much time does going 90 instead of 80 save you?
10 minutes between LA and San Diego with no traffic. But in reality, there will be traffic, so going 90 instead of 80 where traffic allows will save you maybe 5 minutes at best out of an hour and a half.
Trade that off vs safety, risk of ticket, and fuel consumption. Plus the time wasted at gas station due to having to fuel up more often.
 
65 is the norm on highways here. Most people stay within a few mph of it. Over 70 and you are really drawing attention to yourself for a ticket.
 
15 and 5 (outside the cluster it is in L.A.) seem to cruise at 90 in the left lane often times when I drove it. It's nice when you find a pack of cars doing it, as it's unlikely you'll be pulled over, unless in the lead. Been that way for at least 10 years.

L.A. freeways you're lucky if people are going 65mph in the left. Such slow f'ers.
 
In Chicago, it was an interesting case. I-294 you'd get a good chunk of folks doing 80-90. Same time of day, same relative traffic load...you pop onto I-55 and you'd get 65-70 tops. Never understood it.

That said, over time, I can see speeds generally increasing. Better vehicle tech, better roads, improved economy, etc will all contribute to it. What we really need though are better drivers. Some say speed kills. I say stupid drivers do.
 
Railgun said:
Better vehicle tech, better roads, improved economy, etc will all contribute to it. What we really need though are better drivers. Some say speed kills. I say stupid drivers do.
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Problem is that we keep making more and more of them *because* of all the things you mentioned earlier. We have the most distracted drivers in the history of driving. Speed + distraction = losing combo.
 
senseamp said:
How much time does going 90 instead of 80 save you?
10 minutes between LA and San Diego with no traffic. But in reality, there will be traffic, so going 90 instead of 80 where traffic allows will save you maybe 5 minutes at best out of an hour and a half.
Trade that off vs safety, risk of ticket, and fuel consumption. Plus the time wasted at gas station due to having to fuel up more often.
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I don't typically drive 90mph anywhere but I've hit speeds of 90 from time to time. Hell, I've hit 120 a few times... nobody passed me at that speed. 😳:biggrin:
 
Even my little Fiesta happily cruises along at 90. Mileage takes an obvious hit, but the car is still stable and happy. It's even stable and happy up to 110+ which is thoroughly surprising. It takes a while to get there though.

The other car, we won't discuss how fast it stays stable.

That said, while they are safer at those speeds than past cars, you have to remember that the energy carried by a moving object involves the square of the velocity, so it still isn't safe. They are more confidence inspiring at speed than past vehicles, but if you do crash at that speed, you're likely in for a world of hurt still.
 
Railgun said:
In Chicago, it was an interesting case. I-294 you'd get a good chunk of folks doing 80-90. Same time of day, same relative traffic load...you pop onto I-55 and you'd get 65-70 tops. Never understood it.

That said, over time, I can see speeds generally increasing. Better vehicle tech, better roads, improved economy, etc will all contribute to it. What we really need though are better drivers. Some say speed kills. I say stupid drivers do.
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Easily 80-90. 294 is practically a race track.
 
I was cruising the country this summer and I have to say... People outside the Pacific NW frequently go 15mph over. I saw plenty of traffic where the baseline speed was 10-15mph over.

Up in the PNW, you go 10mph over then you're just asking for a ticket. It's infrequent to see people going 80mph in a 65mph. Most people actually go <7 mph over the speed limit because that's basically the limitations.
 
Ferzerp said:
Even my little Fiesta happily cruises along at 90. Mileage takes an obvious hit, but the car is still stable and happy. It's even stable and happy up to 110+ which is thoroughly surprising. It takes a while to get there though.

The other car, we won't discuss how fast it stays stable.

That said, while they are safer at those speeds than past cars, you have to remember that the energy carried by a moving object involves the square of the velocity, so it still isn't safe. They are more confidence inspiring at speed than past vehicles, but if you do crash at that speed, you're likely in for a world of hurt still.
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You're dead if you crash at 65 too. Maybe people will pay more attention to the road if they are all going 90.

Me going 100 and paying 100% attention to the road is safer than the person going 55 straddling two lanes while texting and eating a meatball sandwich.
 
Insomniator said:
You're dead if you crash at 65 too. Maybe people will pay more attention to the road if they are all going 90.

Me going 100 and paying 100% attention to the road is safer than the person going 55 straddling two lanes while texting and eating a meatball sandwich.
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Eh, braking distance and time is a thing though.

At 100mph, you're going 146ft/s. At 55mph, you're going 80ft/s.

Even if you brake with .25ms reaction time to an event, the person with the burger and phone gets something like 2 seconds to react.

I've been there... No matter how aware of the road I am, my awareness does not somehow make my braking distance/time at 100mph anywhere close to my normal braking distance/time at 55mph.

The worse your car is at braking, the more you need to go slow. And I doubt you have a F1-esque brake setup...
 
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