Exceeding The Speed Limit Where You Live

fmdog44

fmdog44

Well-known Member
Location
Houston, Texas
In Houston exceeding the limit by 5 mph is the norm. Overall they are fairly strict on all violations like turning signals. Quick starts from stop lights also are frowned on. Ironically, you watch the news and hear someone had a wreck last night and had four previous drunk driving convictions. So you ask how are they allowed to have license? As I understand it as long as they do the time for DWI and pay the fine they are allowed to apply and get a drivers license so they can do it all over again.
 

In my area, it seems like enforcement is limited to a few stings designed to keep drivers on their toes.

More and more it seems like the goal is not to enforce the law as much as it is to keep a loose lid on things.

One question about speed/traffic laws. When I'm in a school zone or other area where the speed limit is relatively low and I see a sign up ahead that announces a new higher speed limit. Is the new higher speed limit in effect when I see the sign or when I get to the sign.
 
On the country roads around here exceeding the speed limit by 20 clicks is the norm. You seldom see the police on the back roads.
 

I don't exceed the speed limit more than 10 km (6 miles) as most cops don't bother with it under this. For low speed limits it is best not to speed as that is where the cops hide.
Aunt Bea = When you get to the sign.
 
I try to not exceed the speed limit at all on city streets, and by less than 5 mph on freeways.

My understanding of people with multiple DWIs is that they go ahead and drive with revoked licenses. Sometimes they wind up with breathalyzer locks on their cars. Especially in CA.

https://abc7.com/4943694/
 
Aunt Bea, my guess is that the new speed limit is in force when you get to the sign, not when you see it. How would anyone know when you see the sign? You could always say you saw it from a mile off.
 
I figure that in most cases, the engineers and powers that be have set a speed limit because they have detailed info on the road ahead. I normally follow the speed limit, sometimes going over by 10 mph, on a highway, but I'm certainly not a speed demon.

I've had the rare experience to see someone go speeding by me at incredible speed, then yelling out, "A-hole, you're going to kill yourself!", then coming up on their crashed vehicles, just up the road, apiece. No way did they survive, in one of those scenes. One was in Chicago, on an off-ramp, on the way to see "The Exorcist," one was on a Chicago interstate, at 2 AM. The 2AM incident, I approached the car, and saw the guy convulsing. I called 911 from a pay phone (no cells, back then), went back to guide the EMT's to the spot, since all electricity was lost in the crash, and the kid's life was saved. His parents bought me dinner, and he came to see me, about three months later. Interesting.
 
Aunt Bea said:
In my area, it seems like enforcement is limited to a few stings designed to keep drivers on their toes.

More and more it seems like the goal is not to enforce the law as much as it is to keep a loose lid on things.

One question about speed/traffic laws. When I'm in a school zone or other area where the speed limit is relatively low and I see a sign up ahead that announces a new higher speed limit. Is the new higher speed limit in effect when I see the sign or when I get to the sign.
Click to expand...
Dang, Aunt Bea, what would Andy or Barney do if they pulled you over??
 
I try to drive with the flow of traffic, but that doesn't mean that I will go 10 or 15 mph over the speed limit. One of our main streets here, the speed is 35 and that totally irritates the Millennials here. Unfortunately, "road rage" can happen to those that may pi** off young drivers. Way to many young drivers will carry a handgun in their vehicle and aren't afraid to show it or even use it. They can get fairly upset when they are behind someone not going over the speed limit and they can't go around them.

When we lived in Jacksonville, FL, we seen many, many drivers that didn't use turn signals and ran red lights. Red Light cameras were installed, but came down, due to too many complaints. So, the younger generation got to go back to running red lights. They even ran stop signs quite often.

Here, we see almost everyone using turn signals and very few running red lights and stop signs. However, we see quite a few expired tags, sometimes by months. Seen one yesterday that said 3 on one tag and 19 on the other. Some just aren't afraid to drive around with expired tags. Some have front bumpers gone and a broken side mirror, just hanging.

And, the way Millennials will drive in snow/ice is totally dangerous. Seems like many Millennials were raised on a NASCAR racetrack!

Local law enforcement, get criticized for pulling some people over. That is total BS to me!!

I don't know what Commanders or Sergeants tell fellow officers about traffic stops, but would be curious.
 
On a 35 mph road I go between 40-45. PA, at least where I live, has 35 mph going through any populated area, even when the populated area is as active as a world devoid of human beings. Yes if any at all, I can count the number of cars I pass on one hand and see zero people out anywhere along the whole strip.
 
In populated neighbourhoods, I try to keep to the posted speed limit .. otherwise, I drive about 5 kms. above. I hate driving the highway, as people exceed the posted limit by 20 kms. sometimes.
 
Around here, driving on the Interstate...I-70...is almost a racetrack. If a person isn't doing at least 10 MPH above the 70 MPH speed limit, they are holding up traffic. That, combined with an extremely high amount of truck traffic....which often ties up traffic, as they take 3 miles to pass a slower moving truck, is reason enough for me to stay off that highway if there is an alternate route. The combination of speeders, and cell phone texters makes some of our highways a game of Russian Roulette.
 
Thanks for the replies to my question.

I'm a believer in the idea that if I can see the posted speed limit sign then that is, in fact, the speed limit.

If I turned onto the main street from a side street the only sign I would be able to see is the one ahead of me so I would have no warning/knowledge of what previous signs indicated.

I'm still not sure, I need to ask a policeman or sheriff but I have a feeling that they will give me a squishy non-answer type of answer.
 

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