Why is there an unwritten "real" speed limit?

[clickynext]

Technically it should be illegal to drive at any speed above the limit, but there seems to be some kind of unwritten rule that you're allowed to drive around 10-15 above, depending on where! Why don't they just raise the limit and enforce it more closely so that people stay at or under instead of leaving the ambiguity?

 

[Mo0o]

Originally posted by: clickynext
Technically it should be illegal to drive at any speed above the limit, but there seems to be some kind of unwritten rule that you're allowed to drive around 10-15 above, depending on where! Why don't they just raise the limit and enforce it more closely so that people stay at or under instead of leaving the ambiguity?

Because people go over and under without really being aware of it. Enforcing a rule that gives no room for error would be impossible to enforce

 

[imported_Lucifer]

Originally posted by: clickynext
Technically it should be illegal to drive at any speed above the limit, but there seems to be some kind of unwritten rule that you're allowed to drive around 10-15 above, depending on where! Why don't they just raise the limit and enforce it more closely so that people stay at or under instead of leaving the ambiguity?

People will just go 10-15 mph higher than the newer raised limit.

 

[SampSon]

Typically it's more costly to the municipality to prosecute a driver for a minor infraction of less than 10mph over.
There are some places that will give you a ticket for going any speed over the limit, but that is mostly for reputation and not revenue.

 

[imported_Lucifer]

Originally posted by: SampSon
Typically it's more costly to the municipality to prosecute a driver for a minor infraction of less than 10mph over.
There are some places that will give you a ticket for going any speed over the limit, but that is mostly for reputation and not revenue.

Leon Valley, which is a small city within San Antonio, tickets any speed over the limit. I know a few people who got a ticket for going 36mph in a 35mph zone.

 

[dxkj]

Originally posted by: Ronald McDonald

Originally posted by: clickynext
Technically it should be illegal to drive at any speed above the limit, but there seems to be some kind of unwritten rule that you're allowed to drive around 10-15 above, depending on where! Why don't they just raise the limit and enforce it more closely so that people stay at or under instead of leaving the ambiguity?

People will just go 10-15 mph higher than the newer raised limit.

And they will all be pulled over

 

[jtusa]

Around here 10+ will get you a ticket 90% of the time. OP cops are d!cks.

5-ish over is acceptable.

 

[imported_Lucifer]

Originally posted by: dxkj

Originally posted by: Ronald McDonald

Originally posted by: clickynext
Technically it should be illegal to drive at any speed above the limit, but there seems to be some kind of unwritten rule that you're allowed to drive around 10-15 above, depending on where! Why don't they just raise the limit and enforce it more closely so that people stay at or under instead of leaving the ambiguity?

People will just go 10-15 mph higher than the newer raised limit.

And they will all be pulled over

Not if you are going with the flow of traffic.

 

[Skunkwourk]

In Santa Barbara I got a ticket for going 27 in a 25...

 

[SampSon]

Originally posted by: Ronald McDonald

Originally posted by: SampSon
Typically it's more costly to the municipality to prosecute a driver for a minor infraction of less than 10mph over.
There are some places that will give you a ticket for going any speed over the limit, but that is mostly for reputation and not revenue.

Leon Valley, which is a small city within San Antonio, tickets any speed over the limit. I know a few people who got a ticket for going 36mph in a 35mph zone.

Yup we have a village in my area that WILL ticket you about 90% of the time for going anything over the speed limit. I got one for going 31 in a 30 zone. I brought it to court and argued that between the variances of my speedo and the cops radar there is no way you could truly tell I was going 1mph over the limit. The village reduced it to a parking ticket.

 

[Leper Messiah]

Originally posted by: SampSon

Originally posted by: Ronald McDonald

Originally posted by: SampSon
Typically it's more costly to the municipality to prosecute a driver for a minor infraction of less than 10mph over.
There are some places that will give you a ticket for going any speed over the limit, but that is mostly for reputation and not revenue.

Leon Valley, which is a small city within San Antonio, tickets any speed over the limit. I know a few people who got a ticket for going 36mph in a 35mph zone.

Yup we have a village in my area that WILL ticket you about 90% of the time for going anything over the speed limit. I got one for going 31 in a 30 zone. I brought it to court and argued that between the variances of my speedo and the cops radar there is no way you could truly tell I was going 1mph over the limit. The village reduced it to a parking ticket.

my speedo would be pegged at 27 from then on.

 

[HN]

Originally posted by: Ronald McDonald

Originally posted by: dxkj

Originally posted by: Ronald McDonald

Originally posted by: clickynext
Technically it should be illegal to drive at any speed above the limit, but there seems to be some kind of unwritten rule that you're allowed to drive around 10-15 above, depending on where! Why don't they just raise the limit and enforce it more closely so that people stay at or under instead of leaving the ambiguity?

People will just go 10-15 mph higher than the newer raised limit.

And they will all be pulled over

Not if you are going with the flow of traffic.

Chrono disagrees

 

[SampSon]

Originally posted by: Leper Messiah

Originally posted by: SampSon

Originally posted by: Ronald McDonald

Originally posted by: SampSon
Typically it's more costly to the municipality to prosecute a driver for a minor infraction of less than 10mph over.
There are some places that will give you a ticket for going any speed over the limit, but that is mostly for reputation and not revenue.

Leon Valley, which is a small city within San Antonio, tickets any speed over the limit. I know a few people who got a ticket for going 36mph in a 35mph zone.

Yup we have a village in my area that WILL ticket you about 90% of the time for going anything over the speed limit. I got one for going 31 in a 30 zone. I brought it to court and argued that between the variances of my speedo and the cops radar there is no way you could truly tell I was going 1mph over the limit. The village reduced it to a parking ticket.

my speedo would be pegged at 27 from then on.

That's too slow for the flow of traffic. I peg it at 30mpg when I go through that area and I'll deal with any court matters if they arise. They havn't yet.

 

[imported_Lucifer]

Originally posted by: SampSon

Originally posted by: Ronald McDonald

Originally posted by: SampSon
Typically it's more costly to the municipality to prosecute a driver for a minor infraction of less than 10mph over.
There are some places that will give you a ticket for going any speed over the limit, but that is mostly for reputation and not revenue.

Leon Valley, which is a small city within San Antonio, tickets any speed over the limit. I know a few people who got a ticket for going 36mph in a 35mph zone.

Yup we have a village in my area that WILL ticket you about 90% of the time for going anything over the speed limit. I got one for going 31 in a 30 zone. I brought it to court and argued that between the variances of my speedo and the cops radar there is no way you could truly tell I was going 1mph over the limit. The village reduced it to a parking ticket.

That really blows. Most of these small places make their money from traffic tickets. Hell, Selma TX relied on nothing but traffic tickets to remain a stable city. Of course, it is now illegal and they can no longer do that, especially since they were pulling people over for no reason.

 

[dxkj]

Originally posted by: Ronald McDonald

Originally posted by: dxkj

Originally posted by: Ronald McDonald

Originally posted by: clickynext
Technically it should be illegal to drive at any speed above the limit, but there seems to be some kind of unwritten rule that you're allowed to drive around 10-15 above, depending on where! Why don't they just raise the limit and enforce it more closely so that people stay at or under instead of leaving the ambiguity?

People will just go 10-15 mph higher than the newer raised limit.

And they will all be pulled over

Not if you are going with the flow of traffic.

Under the OP's rules it woudlnt matter

 

[stan394]

I always do < +9 on freeways, where speed limit is like 55/65. and I always do < +4 on locals.

 

[Proletariat]

Originally posted by: Ronald McDonald

Originally posted by: SampSon
Typically it's more costly to the municipality to prosecute a driver for a minor infraction of less than 10mph over.
There are some places that will give you a ticket for going any speed over the limit, but that is mostly for reputation and not revenue.

Leon Valley, which is a small city within San Antonio, tickets any speed over the limit. I know a few people who got a ticket for going 36mph in a 35mph zone.

And thats why you stay away from Texas...

 

[imported_Lucifer]

Originally posted by: HN

Originally posted by: Ronald McDonald

Originally posted by: dxkj

Originally posted by: Ronald McDonald

Originally posted by: clickynext
Technically it should be illegal to drive at any speed above the limit, but there seems to be some kind of unwritten rule that you're allowed to drive around 10-15 above, depending on where! Why don't they just raise the limit and enforce it more closely so that people stay at or under instead of leaving the ambiguity?

People will just go 10-15 mph higher than the newer raised limit.

And they will all be pulled over

Not if you are going with the flow of traffic.

Chrono disagrees

Well that sucks for him. Here, the flow of traffic is usually about 70-75mph on the highway, with a speed limit of 60-65mph. I usually don't go above the speed limit anyways.

 

[Sukhoi]

Well really I think it started with the national 55 MPH limit. It was such a ridiculously low speed for interstates that everyone violated it and went a more realistic speed. Then when the 55 MPH limit was dropped and states went up to 65 MPH or 70 MPH, everyone was so used to speeding that they just kept doing it. IMHO current speed limits are still too slow for the design of the majority of interstates. Limits should be closer to 80 MPH or 85 MPH. But states aren't going to raise limits that high because they get so much revenue pulling people over going that speed in 65-70 MPH zones. If limits were say 85 MPH on the straight interstates out west I think there would be a lot less speeding. I know for one I wouldn't go faster than 90 MPH, especially in my current car.

 

[SampSon]

Originally posted by: Ronald McDonald

Originally posted by: SampSon

Originally posted by: Ronald McDonald

Originally posted by: SampSon
Typically it's more costly to the municipality to prosecute a driver for a minor infraction of less than 10mph over.
There are some places that will give you a ticket for going any speed over the limit, but that is mostly for reputation and not revenue.

Leon Valley, which is a small city within San Antonio, tickets any speed over the limit. I know a few people who got a ticket for going 36mph in a 35mph zone.

Yup we have a village in my area that WILL ticket you about 90% of the time for going anything over the speed limit. I got one for going 31 in a 30 zone. I brought it to court and argued that between the variances of my speedo and the cops radar there is no way you could truly tell I was going 1mph over the limit. The village reduced it to a parking ticket.

That really blows. Most of these small places make their money from traffic tickets. Hell, Selma TX relied on nothing but traffic tickets to remain a stable city. Of course, it is now illegal and they can no longer do that, especially since they were pulling people over for no reason.

Yea well everyone knows that's how it is in that area, so if you get a ticket it's your fault.
This village is wealthy so the ticket revenue isn't worth as much as the reputation.

 

[imported_Lucifer]

Originally posted by: Proletariat

Originally posted by: Ronald McDonald

Originally posted by: SampSon
Typically it's more costly to the municipality to prosecute a driver for a minor infraction of less than 10mph over.
There are some places that will give you a ticket for going any speed over the limit, but that is mostly for reputation and not revenue.

Leon Valley, which is a small city within San Antonio, tickets any speed over the limit. I know a few people who got a ticket for going 36mph in a 35mph zone.

And thats why you stay away from Texas...

What can you expect from such a tiny city? They refused to be a part of San Antonio anyways. There are lots of small cities in other states. Can't just put the blame only on Texas.

And I'm real fond of the "You have every right to protect your property." law here in TX.

 

[imported_Lucifer]

Originally posted by: SampSon

Originally posted by: Ronald McDonald

Originally posted by: SampSon

Originally posted by: Ronald McDonald

Originally posted by: SampSon
Typically it's more costly to the municipality to prosecute a driver for a minor infraction of less than 10mph over.
There are some places that will give you a ticket for going any speed over the limit, but that is mostly for reputation and not revenue.

Leon Valley, which is a small city within San Antonio, tickets any speed over the limit. I know a few people who got a ticket for going 36mph in a 35mph zone.

Yup we have a village in my area that WILL ticket you about 90% of the time for going anything over the speed limit. I got one for going 31 in a 30 zone. I brought it to court and argued that between the variances of my speedo and the cops radar there is no way you could truly tell I was going 1mph over the limit. The village reduced it to a parking ticket.

That really blows. Most of these small places make their money from traffic tickets. Hell, Selma TX relied on nothing but traffic tickets to remain a stable city. Of course, it is now illegal and they can no longer do that, especially since they were pulling people over for no reason.

Yea well everyone knows that's how it is in that area, so if you get a ticket it's your fault.
This village is wealthy so the ticket revenue isn't worth as much as the reputation.

Leon Valley isn't that wealthy I believe. But yeah, it is your fault if you get a ticket in those areas. I tend to be extra careful in LV.

 

[yosuke188]

There is a road near my school where speed limit is strictly enforced, and people get tickets all the time on the road.

 

[jimbob200521]

unless i can get a good speed shield, i almost never go more than 5 over the speed limit. even in our town, the cops are usually pretty leaniant, you dont really see very many people that have gotten tickets for going 5 over

 

[dman]

They should just pass a law requiring all cars have GPS that monitors radio for weather conditions and also works as a toll transponder. Then you never have to wait in lines for tolls anymore, you will never get lost (think of all the time you'll save with it's smart directions), AND they can auto-ticket all those crazy drivers that go 1mph over the limit putting all our lives in danger. You'll save time AND make the roads safer. :roll:

Sad thing is, it's going to happen -- eventually. :|