Who here lives near Phoenix?

[Chris142]

We vacationed @ Goldfield, Az last weekend. We stayed in Mesa,Az. Now I live in the desert but the phx area is hot! 8:30a and 87F in the discount tire parking lot feels much hotter than even 95F here.

Some things I noticed. The speed limit on the Fwy is 75mph. Nobody speeds. Most cars stay out of the left lane except to pass.

Speed limits in towns and cities are much lower than in California where we came from. Many places are 20-25 mph in Az. In California under 35 is rare,45 more common and people go 65+ and never get a ticket because you hardly see police. Police are everywhere in Az. They patrol highways,towns and even small rural roads out in the desert.

People in Az are much nicer than people in Ca. If 2 or more cars come to the same intersection at the same time they all wait their turn,unlike Ca.

Traffic circles. They are common in Az. I hate them! I feel that they are dangerous! At least to someone like me that's not used to them.

And finally. The AC in our FJ Cruiser is absolutely fridged! We can drive around in 111F weather with the fan on low.

The best mpg was 20.8 on a back road....worst 14.3@78 mph on the hwy.

 

[PPWarrior]

California is a bad place

 

[Kjmack]

Originally Posted by PPWarrior
California is a bad place

Locked , moderator likes California .

 

[Triple_Se7en]

The tax base is likely much different in California, versus Arizona, where it's noticeably lower. All governmental places need revenue to survive, Arizona needs traffic ticket enforcement to pay the bills and California builds that-type enforcement revenue into their taxes.

Besides, if you get pulled over in California, instead of needing two hours to drive 20 miles home, if there's blue flashing lights on the side of the road, that trek home is now 3+ hours.

Taxpayer complaints sometimes work. especially in California, where so many people work for the government and need to get home, just like the rest of us. Result:.... less cops enforcing California highways, per equal square feet.

 

[csandste]

We love traffic circles in Missouri-- at least in St. Charles County-- as much as we hate taxes. And Missouri is one of two states (forgot the other) where you can buy your way out of any moving violation (probably not vehicular homicide) by simply paying more to everyone--city, attorney, etc. to get your ticket changed to something like a parking or muffler violation (yes, this bribery is perfectly legal).

 

[Quattro Pete]

When you get used to them, traffic circles are actually great. They help improve traffic flow and help improve fuel economy, if everyone uses them correctly.

 

[javacontour]

I was going to say the same. Traffic circles are not the unsafe component. It's the motorist who doesn't know how to use them.

 

[Chris142]

Like me! Never seen one before.

 

[user52165]

Originally Posted by Chris142
Like me! Never seen one before.

You need to get out more (LOL). They are great in the right places................ not everywhere like very busy, multi lane intersections.

BIG QUESTION for you -------------------- earthquake damage at home??

 

[Wolf359]

They're popular out here too. Just need to know how to use them. Use them all the time and never felt they were dangerous. Most people are just clueless on how to use them. Not sure about other states as some may have it the other way around, but traffic entering has to yield to traffic in the circle. Lots of times you get clueless people who don't know how to yield to traffic in the rotary and you also get the clueless who want to wait for it to be completely clear before entering.

 

[csandste]

Originally Posted by javacontour
I was going to say the same. Traffic circles are not the unsafe component. It's the motorist who doesn't know how to use them.


Had a friend that had no trouble driving left in England but got screwed up going backwards in a traffic circle. Other than that, they're ubiquitous and I like 'em. Keeps traffic moving.

 

[Vuflanovsky]

Traffic circles are great in relatively low volume traffic situations and in most cases, I'd prefer one of those to a four-way stop. There are several near me and and as their application is pretty straightforward, it helps traffic flow a lot.

Driving in the UK thirty years ago, I didn't have any problems with yielding, fitting into the queue, working my way to the outside....but then clipped the curb and blew out a tire because I wasn't used to the configuration of a large circle that has multiple outer spokes rather just the four-way variety. The inexperienced tourist will likely be more concerned about hitting the right exit portal than knowing where they are in relation to the curb. I've never seen a traffic circle like that in the U.S. ...which is probably a good thing.

 

[Andrew1972]

Originally Posted by PPWarrior
California is a bad place


Curious if you have actually been.

 

[The_Eric]

I'm sure they're fine but around here, if there are multiple vehicles in the que for one entrance, they'll just pile in behind the first person form a train and not allow others to enter until they're clear.

 

[Delta]

Originally Posted by Chris142
And finally. The AC in our FJ Cruiser is absolutely fridged! We can drive around in 111F weather with the fan on low.


Must be a Toyota truck thing of that era; my Taco will freeze you out on low as you say. Best AC in a vehicle I've owned yet!

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted by user52165
Originally Posted by Chris142
Like me! Never seen one before.



BIG QUESTION for you -------------------- earthquake damage at home??

Just the goats house.

 

[double vanos]

There's no doubt Az uses speeding tickets as a sort of tax I guess. But it is a tax you can avoid paying by driving the speed limits. Yes there's cops everywhere but they seem friendlier than most. And if someone calls the cops they're there in record time which wasn't the case when I lived in Houston.

 

[bbhero]

Originally Posted by Kjmack
Originally Posted by PPWarrior
California is a bad place

Locked , moderator likes California .

Likely very correct.

 

[PimTac]

Just drove through a area recently where they have a bunch of these installed on a four lane highway. They definitely force you to slow down. One word of caution is entering a roundabout with large trucks. I saw a near collision with a semi and another vehicle that were trying to go through together. There were signs warning about this but they were among many other signs causing sign overload.

It just takes getting used to.

 

[Nick1994]

Goldfield? Where exactly is this?

Not sure I've seen these slow roads. All of our main city streets across all of Phoenix, Mesa, Chandler, Scottsdale, etc. are 40 or 45 mph. Occasionally 35 in the older parts of town where the streets aren't as wide. Neighborhoods are 25 mph. I actually live in Mesa.

And traffic circles, you mean round-abouts? Only a couple here in the valley, only ones I've ever seen are in small towns.

Slow traffic stays right pretty good. I go 75 in the left lanes.