[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]

Re: Speed limits v actual spd




In article <215.1945.2803@megasystem.com> Jim Poston wrote:
>>   Mr. Traffic:
>
>   I felt the same way as you, though my instructors and texts said
>   otherwise.  In fact, I believed what you do, until I performed
>   before-after studies myself.  Actual speeds do not change
>   significantly when the speed limit is increased or decreased.
>
>   What I said was *actual speeds* do not change.  I'm not talking
>   about driver's estimates of speeds, or opinions, or logical
>   arguments.  Actual speeds.
>
>   

ACTUAL SPEEDS.......EXACTLY.

In the zones here in California where the speed limit is 55, the 
flow of traffic is somewhere between 65-75.

In the areas where they RAISED THE SPEED LIMIT to 65,
the average flow of traffic is 75->90.  If you're going to say
that no matter what the zone, people will go at least 10mph
+ over the sign, I'll say RIGHT.  I KNOW THAT! My classes
are FILLED with that.

What I am saying is that the REASONS that many people feel that
it is acceptable to do that has NOTHING to do with a perception
that 55, or 65 is an unfair speed.  It is based on self-interest. Many
of you who DO feel that 55/65 is unfair....I say FINE! Get the
law changed.  Until you do.....slow the hell down unless you want
to pay for my next vacation.   And don't get pissed off at the cop 
when they stop you.  You're pissed off at yourselves for getting caught.
get caught
>
>   Flawed?  Self-interested?  Show us your un-flawed, non-self-
>   interested study.  Chats with students during your classes don't
>   count.  

CHATS? CHATS?  Hello....McFly!!!!!

Trivializing the feedback I have gotten from hundreds of thousands of
people who have gotten caught, and the rest of them who I talk to
on the air doesn't help make your point.

And BTW, the NMA didn't commission the study, the Federal
> Highway Administration did.

Right....and what Governmental studies do you DISAGREE with?
I would guess plenty.
>
>   Also BTW, what facts do you get from those 300 people a week?  Do
>   they give you speed monitor printouts from their vehicles before
>   and after speed limit changes?  Or do they SAY they change their
>   speed?

Yes...they say their speed.  The facts are THE BEST ones...the real
people doing real behavior.  They don't just represent the ones who
got caught....they represent us as a whole.
>
>->   P.S.  Yes, I'm a member of the National Motorists Association, so
>   you may call me self-interested if you wish.  OTOH, I'm also a
>   professional traffic engineer, and member and office-holder of the
>   Institute of Transportation Engineers, so maybe they offset ...

And....since you are a member of the NMA.....I applaud ANYONE who
tries to get the laws changed for their point of view instead of most
people who are sheep who won't put their Doritos and beer
down long enough to even go VOTE!  Go for it!
>
Kenny Morse
"Mr. Traffic"




Follow-Ups: References: