jeff@tesla.UUCP (08/02/84)
From: jeff (Jeff Frey) A recent correspondent indicated that he thought the "danger region" (speed above which he would be stopped by a radar-equipped cruiser) was 64mph. Would this not be state-dependent? So, how about a survey here on what speeds (in zones of what speed) people have been stopped at? Include state, please. JF
ashwin@uicsl.UUCP (08/04/84)
#R:tesla:-41300:uicsl:26900001:000:303 uicsl!ashwin Aug 4 15:14:00 1984 <> A friend of mine always claimed that 62 mph was the upper limit; he said he had driven past cops at 62 without being stopped but he had been stopped at 63. His experience was chiefly limited to Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. (Of course, it could be that his old rattletrap didn't do more than 62...)
haapanen@watdcsu.UUCP (Tom Haapanen [DCS]) (08/06/84)
> A friend of mine always claimed that 62 mph was the upper limit; he said he > had driven past cops at 62 without being stopped but he had been stopped at > 63. His experience was chiefly limited to Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. (Of > course, it could be that his old rattletrap didn't do more than 62...) Even if the patrollers were that picky, I doubt very much that you could trust *any* car's speedo to the accuracy of 1 mph. That's 1.5% margin of error at around 60 mph, and should you check some recent road tests in car mags, you'll find that it is not very often that this tolerance is reached even in *new* cars. I think more than the absolute speed of the vehicle the deciding factor would be the speed in relation to other traffic. On the 401 (here in Ontario), the speed limit is 100 km/h (about 62 mph for you), and yet the Ontario Provincial Police will allow most cars to drive at 115 km/h (usually). However, if everybody elese is going at 100, and you are at 115, watch out! Also, factors like traffic conditions, weather and road conditions come into play. It's generally much better to play it according to the current situation, instead of religiously setting your cruise control to 62 mph every time. Tom Haapanen {allegra,decvax,ihnp4}!watmath!watdcsu!haapanen "WEC is back in North America --- long live Mosport!"
ashwin@uicsl.UUCP (08/07/84)
#R:tesla:-41300:uicsl:26900002:000:887 uicsl!ashwin Aug 7 12:13:00 1984 <> I think you missed the point of the discussion, Tom. I agree with what you have to say, but we were looking for a "safe speed vs. zone (or state)" distribution based on people's experiences. I do *not* advocate religiously setting the ol' cruise control to 62; however, at speeds of approximately 62mph under average conditions and circumstances you have a good chance of not being stopped in IL, IN and OH. The "approximately" qualification covers speedometer error, abnormal traffic or road conditions, and the cop whose wife had a headache the night before. Incidently, in California they don't seem to have any speed limits. I recently drove over 2000 miles in a round-the-state trip, and I didn't see a single vehicle stopped for speeding, even though the traffic was moving at speeds between 60 and 90. 70 to 75 appeared to be the best speed to "stay with the traffic".
zemon@felix.UUCP (Art Zemon) (08/07/84)
I have found two "safe regions". The first is roughly what traffic is doing. E. g., 65 is safe is traffic is running at about that speed. The second is anything above the speed of police comminications radio. I prefer the second....
an@hou2h.UUCP (A.NGUYEN) (08/08/84)
> .. he said he had driven past cops at 62 without being stopped > but he had been stopped at 63. Good grief, man, you're talking about splitting hairs here! Most speedos aren't repeatable to 1 mph. Most *PEOPLE* aren't repeatable to 1 mph! I suggest your friend look into the color of his socks, the phase of the moon, etc. Au
mikey@trsvax.UUCP (08/08/84)
#R:tesla:-41300:trsvax:55200096:000:643 trsvax!mikey Aug 8 10:12:00 1984 There is no obligation for a police officer to let you go at even 1 mph over the speed limit. However, in practice a 5-8 mph buffer is fairly common. I heard somewhere that while the accuracy of speedos in the US is fairly poor, there is some law that mandates that if they are off, they must read on the high side so that you will be at or below any indicated speed. When traveling, I usually go with the flow of traffic, but not (usually) more than 10 over. Once you are in the top 10 percentile and more than 5 over, you begin to attract the kind of attention that you may not like. mikey 55, it's not just a good idea, it S*CKS!
sean@zinfandel.UUCP (Sean Gilligan) (08/09/84)
---------- I recently attended defensive driving school in the SF Bay Area, (I got a ticket for doing 65 in a 55), and the California Highway Patrolman teaching the class said he allows for a 7 mph innaccuracy in a speedometer. In other words, he'll pull someone over for going 62. He said it varies from officer to officer, though. Be careful out there...
haapanen@watdcsu.UUCP (Tom Haapanen [DCS]) (08/09/84)
> From ashwin@uicsl.UUCP Tue Aug 7 13:13:00 1984 > > I think you missed the point of the discussion, Tom. I agree with what you > have to say, but we were looking for a "safe speed vs. zone (or state)" > distribution based on people's experiences. I do *not* advocate religiously > setting the ol' cruise control to 62; however, at speeds of approximately > 62mph under average conditions and circumstances you have a good chance of > not being stopped in IL, IN and OH. The "approximately" qualification covers > speedometer error, abnormal traffic or road conditions, and the cop whose > wife had a headache the night before. But you can still judge the 'safe' speeds by the flow of the traffic...
tbul@trsvax.UUCP (08/09/84)
#R:tesla:-41300:trsvax:55200097:000:720 trsvax!tbul Aug 9 12:29:00 1984 /***** trsvax:net.auto / uicsl!ashwin / 12:13 pm Aug 7, 1984 */ <> Incidently, in California they don't seem to have any speed limits. I recently drove over 2000 miles in a round-the-state trip, and I didn't see a single vehicle stopped for speeding, even though the traffic was moving at speeds between 60 and 90. 70 to 75 appeared to be the best speed to "stay with the traffic". /* ---------- */ I spent July in CA (Anaheim - LA area) and the speeders were being caught often. Nearly every time I headed toward the Riverside area, I would see people caught. 55 is fine with me and I chortled every time I saw one. The people seem to average about 60 - 65 mph in the LA area with a few getting up to 75 or so.
chris@umcp-cs.UUCP (08/11/84)
I don't know why everyone's arguing over ``nonintercepted speeds''.
I've never gotten a speeding ticket in my life. (Of course the fact
that the Chevette Scooter doesn't like going > 50 mph might have
something to do with it . . . .)
Come on, people. You don't have to like the law, and if you don't like
it, you can (should?) work to change it, but just breaking it isn't
likely to help much.
--
In-Real-Life: Chris Torek, Univ of MD Comp Sci (301) 454-7690
UUCP: {seismo,allegra,brl-bmd}!umcp-cs!chris
CSNet: chris@umcp-cs ARPA: chris@marylandphil@amd.UUCP (Phil Ngai) (08/12/84)
Speed limits? What speed limits? Just go with the flow, man.
--
amd70 is dead, tell a friend
Phil Ngai (408) 982-6554
UUCPnet: {ucbvax,decwrl,ihnp4,allegra,intelca}!amd!phil
ARPAnet: amd!phil@decwrl.ARPAmorton@bolton.UUCP (Jim Morton) (08/14/84)
a state cop (NY) explained their "upper limit" as being 62 because they "give" you 5 mph, plus allow +-2 mph for those with cruise control... -- Jim Morton, GenRad Inc., Bolton, MA ...decvax!genrad!bolton!morton