A cure for slow drivers? The Left Lane Drivers want to sell you a sticker.

Ah, so you've resorted to mockery as you've failed at making any other point in this thread.

Got it, please, continue.

Why do you want him on your tail, David? Just move out of the way and let him past, so he triggers the radar trap, not you.

Nah. I resorted to mockery because holier-than-thou bullshit makes me want to mock the bullshitter.

Please continue to risk the lives of yourself, your family, and the families of people sharing the road w/ you as you blow buy them at 90mph so you can get to the stop light first, or so you can get to work 5 minutes before the next guy and snag that primo parking spot.

There is no excuse for speeding unless it's a life/death situation, and to treat the danger that it causes as trivially as you are is arrogant and contemptable.

That was my point in an earlier post--that any few seconds you notionally save by driving at an excessive rate of speed in rush hour traffic will very likely be lost as soon as you hit the city streets.



I've always found it ironic that so many people complain about their jobs, and then drive with reckless abandon to get there in the morning.

Actually, I work from home, so I don't commute.

I'm also a careful driver, and rarely speed.

(How's that for holier-than-thou douchebaggery?)

Where did you get the idea I'm a speed demon?

You're getting carried away here, maporsche.

First of all, someone might be speeding at 5 mph faster than you. That's not endangerment.

Secondly, these speed limits are arbitrary. Who says that 60 mph is the safest speed? Why are you so willing to be led around by the nose by those in authority?

Where I live, cops give a blind eye if you're up to 10% over the limit, so there you go... it's all arbitrary. It may be the law, but it's a guide. Yes, I don't think you need to go 120 kph in a 90, but 120 kph in a 110 kph is no biggie. On these straight, flat prairie highways, people often go 130 kph (or even higher) and it doesn't feel any more dangerous or speedy than 110 kph. When you're driving 6 hours somewhere, as I did this past weekend, that shaves an hour or more off your time. People were going faster than me, in fact, in both lanes, at times (130 kph to my 120).

Chill out about the danger factor. People have gotten killed by a car going 30 mph for heaven's sake.

I'm thankful for that DrewDad. I'm curious though why other people playing chance with your life doesn't bother you more. I assume from your username that you are a father. I also assume that you understand that traveling faster increases the liklihood of death during an accident. Speeders should be punished severely for doing so.

Where did you come up with that crap? Have you ever heard of traffic engineers? The traffic lights on city streets are designed by traffic engineers to assure, as much as will be possible, the smooth flow of traffic. On expressways, the speed limits are determined by the available traffic load of the roadway. That these systems are now strained, because drivers (in Canada, as well as in the United States) are out there, one person per vehicle on highways built in the 1950s and -60s is just good reason to slow down, not speed up.

What the hell's your hurry anyway? Is every little thing in your life so important that you have to drive at excessive speed so you can get there 30 seconds sooner?

You're the one who's getting carried away.

In Massachusetts no one drives at the speed limit. The staties in fact have said more than once that they won't ticket anyone going less than ten miles over the speed limit--they'd get laughed out of court (I'm talking large highways here, not city streets). Storrow Drive into and out of Boston, a two lane ach way divided highway is posted 35 miles an hour, but the right lane regularly moves about 40-45 and the left lane about 50-55, other than rush hour. Move at those speeds and everything runs smoothly. Drive slower and people back up behind you and get pissed. Drive 35 in the left lane and there will be a steady stream of people trying to pass on the right. If you have a line of cars stacked up behind you following closely, you're driving too slow. If everybody is spaced out evenly, you're driving at the right speed. It's not what the traffic laws say--even the cops work by the principle of what the large majority of people actually do. Driving at the consensus speed is what actually works best and produc es the smoothest traffic with the fewest dangerous surprises. And here that's over the speed limit virtually all the time.

By the way, everyone i've ever seen in Canada, including the blue-hairs, speeds, to one degree or another. Any Canadian responding here and calling for people to get out of the left lane so they can exceed the speed limit are just promoting a stereotype of Canadian drivers, so richly deserved.

ontario drivers are a special lot .
speed limit is 100 km/h (62 mph) on our major highways .
driving speed is more like 120 km/h (74 mph) .
the OPP (ontario provincial police) usually won't pull anyone over unless they are exceeding 130-135 km/h (80-85 mph) - but you can never be sure - bit of a game .
so when we cross to new york state we have to be rather careful because the NY state troopers like to hide "in the bushes" along I-81 and will nail almost anyone going more than 5 miles over the 65 mph limit .
it's kind of interesting that when switching from ontario's 401 - push , push push ! - to new york's I-81 the traffic seems to run like molasses <GRIN> .
hbg

The speed limit is 65 on the Throughways . . . otherwise, it's 55 mph in New York. I should know, i've got the ticket to prove it.

When i drive up through Toledo and Detroit to Windsor, at the point at which i get on I75 (at Findley, Ohio), i know i'm getting close because of the semis blowing my doors off as they head north. Every one of them has Canadian tags.

But safety isn't their only concern. They balance safety with usability. If safety were the only concern, we'd all be walking. (It's good for the heart!)

Any speed limit is somewhat arbitrary.

Everybody knows the safest speed, whatever is posted, is the speed everybody's going at. If it's snowing, icy, rainy, it's likely to be slower than what's posted. It's a guide.

There's no need to get your ugly mouth out just because you disagree with me. You seem to have as much anger issues as cjhsa.

Ha! Financing New York with Canadian moolah, eh?

There are more forms of reckless driving than just speeding, though. I'm more worried by sleepy drivers than I am by speeding drivers. I can anticipate speeders.

You not of what you speak in Vancouver. Left turn lanes in the city should be outlawed. Block after backed up due to short, inadequate left turn lanes... designed or sanctioned by those same traffic engineers. Yeah, right.

I'm going to walk away from this for the rest of the day.

This is a serious issue though, even a difference of 4 mph at highway speeds has shown to increase injury related accidents by as much as 5% (according to a 1998 study by the government titled Synthesis of Safety Research Related to Speed and Speed Management). An increase from 65 to 70 mph on a 5 mile trip will save you 25 seconds. On a 15 mile trip you'll save 75 seconds. Hell on a 15 mile trip, going 90 vs 65 you only save 6.25 minutes!!!!

Is it really worth it?

It's hardly my fault that the traffic engineers in Canada are lame. All the on-ramps and off-ramps i've seen in Canada are short, inadequate nightmares.

Although i do suspect that you must have brought traffic engineers in from other countries--obviously, your highways were not designed by people who knew that Canadians will inevitably drive as fast as they can, whenever they can.