How much over the speed limit is too much?

[PimTac]

I generally go with the flow of traffic. I only use the left lane in the rural stretches as the left lane in the urban area is pay to play. In some areas the left two lanes are pay to play.

Honestly, anytime I can do better than 40mph in the metro is a blessing.

In town I do the speed limit.

 

[Nick1994]

Around town I'm 5 over.

On the freeway I'm usually 9 over. I figure they're looking for people going 10+ over on the freeway.

Going the speed limit on the freeway is way too stressful. That means I have to camp out in the right lane with all the cars going 64&66 in a 65 so I have to pass some people very slowly and then I'm getting run off the road. I use cruise control on the freeway.

 

[nicholas]

I always thought it was 8 your fine 9 your mine.

 

[CELICA_XX]

Originally Posted by oldhp
Anybody been through Atlanta or Dallas? You drive the posted speed limit there........you take your life in your own hands. It's stupid.

I was gonna say... left lane traffic in Dallas is 85+ when things are moving smoothly.

And occasionally someone will fly by you in an M3 or a 458 at like 100+

 

[admzn]

In the city I generally am 10km/h over. On the highway I'm 15km/h over. But the highway speed limits in Ontario are only 100km/h. So at 15 over I'm only going 71.5 mph... When I drove cross country I came back through the states two years ago. The speed limit in Montana was 80mph. I was more than happy to follow that. Who needs to go faster?

The worst is driving in Northern Ontario, 90km/h speed limit!

I once got a ticket in Manitoba for going 125km/h in a 100 zone. The speed limit on the trans Canada was normally 110 but it dropped to 100 for no reason at all in the middle of nowhere. RCMP officer coming other direction whipped around and got me. $350 fine and 3 points!

 

[SnowDrifter]

I've always found that it depends relative to the speed of traffic. If traffic is going 80 in a 60, you won't get badgered for going 70.

That being said I have a very personal peeve with enforcing speed limits for the sake of.

 

[9050lx]

Originally Posted by racin4ds
I drive fast, I feel I am more than safe doing 10mph over on highways/interstates and will follow the faster crowd if there is one. Most cops down here seem to let you drive right by doing 65 in a 55.

I think cops needs to focus more on the IDIOTS that park in the left lane and barely do the speed limit or less, THAT is was causes backups and accidents! I've never seen this occur so frequently as I do here in Florida. Up North, it was bad but not this bad!

But here in Florida it is tourist and snow bird congestion,I believe, driving at rush hour times.In order to maintain the left lane here in west central Florida on I-75 at 5AM, one must travel over 90mph. Too fast and too much semi travel at that time to go that fast.I try to stick to no more than 75mph and get my doors blown off all the way to work.

 

[earlyre]

Originally Posted by irv
Originally Posted by FlyingVan
Most of the time I drive under the speed limit. Yes, even out west where the speed limit is 85 I drive at MY speed limit of 65. Works for me. I've been doing it for close to a million miles. I was once young and stupid and drove like a madman, but now the stress level has gone down tremendously. I arrive where I am going maybe half an hour later than if I sped, but I am more relaxed and my vehicles love me.


Have you ever been ticketed for driving under the speed limit? I believe, but not likely in all States or Provinces that driving under the speed limit is also worthy of a fine.
When driving 20 under, do you have/use your 4 way flashers? I believe that is also a law but again, I assume that is State or Province law rather than country wide?


i've been places where they also post a minimum speed, and ticketed for anything below that,(impedeing the flow of traffic, etc), but on a normal road, i don't see that happening, unless you're being the left lane clogger.

on my most recent trip into your fair province, taking the 401 Windsor to Guelph and back, i stuck like glue to the right lane and the posted limit,(which is what i normally do here anyways, but our posted limits are faster)

why not just keep up with the flow of traffic? I didn't want to be the made an example of since i was driving on American plates in a foreign land. (so I'm a little paranoid, and could "see" the Local LEO's "picking on" the guy with the american plates. yes, i probably could have feigned ignorance about the miles/kilometers thing "i was doing 100 like the sign said!"but... meh..)

 

[GMBoy]

Most speed limits are conservative. If you are asking what speed over are you "safe" from getting a ticket, my guess is 5 over maybe 10 on a high speed expressway.

If you are asking what speed is safe to drive (not worrying about getting a ticket) I would say 10-15 over is safe on expressways. On small side streets and 2 lane roads I would not speed (or maybe 5mph over at the most) because who wants to risk hitting a child or other freak accident? On the expressways, I feel a reasonable speed can be fast and safe as long as you are not driving like a fool and changing lanes and tailgating. I will drive 75 on a 65mph road and 75-80 on our 70mph highways safely. Fast speed is not the problem, most of the problem is people who don't practice lane discipline and back up the passing lane...that is where the trouble starts in my opinion. Other issues that prohibit faster, more efficient speed are cell phone users and other non paying attention drivers.

 

[SevenBizzos]

Originally Posted by CELICA_XX
Originally Posted by oldhp
Anybody been through Atlanta or Dallas? You drive the posted speed limit there........you take your life in your own hands. It's stupid.

I was gonna say... left lane traffic in Dallas is 85+ when things are moving smoothly.

And occasionally someone will fly by you in an M3 or a 458 at like 100+


Here too. Rush hour grind of traffic breaks up about half way home for me. The last miles of the interstate (tollway) everyone is pretty much 85 or more. That's just the way it is. I don't even know what the posted "limit" is. Our local tollway system is great because there really isn't any enforcement on it. I think of it like "I'm paying to drive this road so I can go as fast as I feel like". Looks like most others feel the same.

 

[ZZman]

9 over....

 

[grampi]

Originally Posted by irv
Up here, in Ontario at least, our hwys are set at 100 km/h (400 series Highways) It is a known fact (likely not to all) that anything over 20 kms above that, you are fair game.

Also, since different animals are at play here, I think if you are going 20 over the normally posted limit of 50 km/h on city streets, you will be pulled over a lot quicker.

The thing is, not all areas/roads are ok to exceed the speed on. Some common sense has to come into play, but unfortunately 90% of the laws are written for 10% of the population that don't have common sense.

My biggest pet peeve are those that go below the speed limit or take up the left lane/middle lane on a hwy. If somebody wants to go faster than you, move over to the lane you belong in. Just because you are doing the speed limit doesn't give you the right to hold up traffic if someone wants to go a bit faster than you.




While I agree that slower drivers should move right, who is more wrong, the driver driving in the left lane at the speed limit holding other drivers up, or those speeding?

 

[MCompact]

Originally Posted by FlyingVan
Most of the time I drive under the speed limit. Yes, even out west where the speed limit is 85 I drive at MY speed limit of 65. Works for me. I've been doing it for close to a million miles. I was once young and stupid and drove like a madman, but now the stress level has gone down tremendously. I arrive where I am going maybe half an hour later than if I sped, but I am more relaxed and my vehicles love me.


I'm 61 years old and I'd hardly call driving at 80-85 mph on a limited access highway driving "like a madman." I consistently drive at those speeds when the posted limit is 65-70 mph and I'm not stressed in the slightest. My 2er and 2er are happy to run at 100+ mph all day long so at 80 mph they are just loafing.

 

[MCompact]

Originally Posted by grampi



While I agree that slower drivers should move right, who is more wrong, the driver driving in the left lane at the speed limit holding other drivers up, or those speeding?




Easy- it's the idiots who camp out in the left lane; if those morons want to enforce the speed limit they should find a job in law enforcement.

 

[grampi]

Here's the scenario I see most often in IL...traffic will be moving along at about 10 MPH over the limit, then here comes some jack wad doing 20 MPH faster than everyone else, weaving from lane to lane and passing everyone in front of him. Of course IL LE does absolutely NO speed monitoring, so these drivers get away with everything here...

 

[grampi]

Originally Posted by MCompact
Originally Posted by grampi



While I agree that slower drivers should move right, who is more wrong, the driver driving in the left lane at the speed limit holding other drivers up, or those speeding?




Easy- it's the idiots who camp out in the left lane; if those morons want to enforce the speed limit they should find a job in law enforcement.


So it's ok to break the law by speeding, but not ok to break the law impeding traffic flow?

 

[John_K]

Originally Posted by grampi
Here's the scenario I see most often in IL...traffic will be moving along at about 10 MPH over the limit, then here comes some jack wad doing 20 MPH faster than everyone else, weaving from lane to lane and passing everyone in front of him. Of course IL LE does absolutely NO speed monitoring, so these drivers get away with everything here...


This is what gets me. My wife just about got killed on I-71 a few days ago by this. Speed doesn't kill, speed VARIANCE kills!

 

[grampi]

Originally Posted by John_K
Originally Posted by grampi
Here's the scenario I see most often in IL...traffic will be moving along at about 10 MPH over the limit, then here comes some jack wad doing 20 MPH faster than everyone else, weaving from lane to lane and passing everyone in front of him. Of course IL LE does absolutely NO speed monitoring, so these drivers get away with everything here...


This is what gets me. My wife just about got killed on I-71 a few days ago by this. Speed doesn't kill, speed VARIANCE kills!

So you're saying that EVERYONE should drive whatever speed the fastest driver is driving?

 

[John_K]

Originally Posted by grampi
Originally Posted by John_K
Originally Posted by grampi
Here's the scenario I see most often in IL...traffic will be moving along at about 10 MPH over the limit, then here comes some jack wad doing 20 MPH faster than everyone else, weaving from lane to lane and passing everyone in front of him. Of course IL LE does absolutely NO speed monitoring, so these drivers get away with everything here...


This is what gets me. My wife just about got killed on I-71 a few days ago by this. Speed doesn't kill, speed VARIANCE kills!

So you're saying that EVERYONE should drive whatever speed the fastest driver is driving?


Of course not. But everyone going a few miles over the speed limit IN TANDEM is hardly unsafe.

 

[SuperSalad]

Originally Posted by grampi
Originally Posted by MCompact
Originally Posted by grampi



While I agree that slower drivers should move right, who is more wrong, the driver driving in the left lane at the speed limit holding other drivers up, or those speeding?




Easy- it's the idiots who camp out in the left lane; if those morons want to enforce the speed limit they should find a job in law enforcement.


So it's ok to break the law by speeding, but not ok to break the law impeding traffic flow?

If they are not passing anyone, they should not be in a passing lane and there is no reasonable justification for doing so.

Speeding is also not right, but there is some actual justification that most people tend to agree on for doing it.

Neither one is "right", but one of them sure does cause a lot more negative repercussions than the other.