Calif politico's now want all new cars be speed-governed

Safety
81

:roll_eyes: Another word of [NOT] wisdom.

The heavily loaded trucks do matter a lot. And as much as people seem to want to think that the economy is somehow a problem (which it hasn’t been), the interstates are very crowded with heavy trucks bringin everyone their ample purchases or soon-to-be purchases.

And truck drivers, on average, have gotten worse. But other drivers still don’t know how to manage the vagaries of truck speeds effectively enough to keep the roadways as smooth flowing as possible. And no, the answer is not for everyone to drop down to like 45mph in a 70mph zone just because there’s a mountain to climb.

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82

60-65 in that 70 will do, for a steep grade.

And you don’t have to get up to that speed in two seconds. No one is breathing down your neck, even if you think so…!

Smooth and gradual is key here, folks.

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83

Also works for a good bowel movement. :grin:

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84

I’m going to disagree with you on the second point–depending on the type of roadway that one is talking about.

On a multi-lane highway, one car can’t “make traffic”, but on the rural roads in my neck of the woods (two lanes, no shoulder, no passing) one person driving below the speed limit can cause an incredibly-long backup of cars. The speed limits in this area are either 40 mph (with a prevailing traffic speed of ~45 mph), or 45 mph (with a prevailing traffic speed of ~50 mph).

All you need is one person driving at 30-35 mph to totally screw-up the flow of traffic on these rural roads.

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85

Again, agree! We have lots of dump trucks, box trucks, tow trucks and landscapers with trailers roaming around in addition to the semis. Loaded or empty, they seem to get on it hard when the lights turn. Unloaded ones become apparent because they accelerate past the cars. And there are cars that are afraid of them so hang back. All this creates a jam.

There are sooo many ways to create those jams that no one reason can explain or solve it.

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86

There are virtually hundreds of reasons for slower traffic. If everyone drove the speed limit there still would be traffic jams. That’s a PROVEN FACT. Rush hour here in MA and NH - traffic is usually below the speed limit because of volume. And yet there are multiple traffic jams every day.

After rush hour the speed creeps up to about 15-20 over posted speed limit and there are far far fewer traffic jams. Less volume equates to less traffic jams.

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87

Ah, that was just me not being clear about what I meant. It was attached to a note about ignoring traffic volume. So by “one car” I meant “imagine there there is literally one car on the whole road…” I’m on a rural road - hilly, windy, no passing areas, the occasional proverbial hay wagon - literally or figuratively…

88

This is just one state legislatures bill.

And not a particularly popular one, most state legislatures when asked about have indicated that they are unlikely to support it.

That and the governor has given every indication he will veto it if it ever makes the light of day.

So all you guys pearl clutching over this you can stop that now and relax.

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90

Leave your politics elsewhere. We don’t appreciate comments on either political party here.

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91

Says the pot to the kettle.

93

Kind of defeats one of the EV’s selling points , going 0-60 in 3 seconds . Guess there will never be any passing another vehicle seeing most of the time in order to pass you are going more than 10 mph over the speed limit , specially on 2 lane roads . I can see it now, you go to pass and when you get out in the passing lane suddenly the computer cuts acceleration and there is tractor trailer coming at you in the other lane . sounds like fun .

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94

Minnesota now allows up to ten mph over the speed limit when passing. Still that’s a slow pass. A while back I was following two slow cars on a stretch of road with few passing opportunities. I had one chance so hit the gas an off I went. When I looked down at the Speedo I was going 90. That little Pontiac with a v6 just flies.

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95

Washington state, there is no maximum speed when passing

But the car you are passing MUST be going slower than the posted speed limit.

So if speed limit is 60, he’s doing 61 and you come up on him doing 62, legally you cannot pass him.

96

That indeed seems an unusual restriction.

97

Not surprising, if the car in front is doing the speed limit the law is not going to specifically allow you to break the speed limit. In Ohio it used to be that no speeding was allowed, passing or not. Relative got a ticket for speeding while passing a slow vehicle. I don’t know if that’s still the case.

98

Still, it seems unfair to ticket a passer at 61 mph, but allow a non-passer on the same road the leeway to drive 65 mph unticketed. I’m presuming this is just a technicality, and the Washington police would in practice allow the same speeds for passers as non-passers.

99

That’s kind of difficult to do, when the passee starts to speed up as you are trying to pass them.

100

I have never been bothered by the LEO for passing someone doing the speed limit or less in TN… But I was pulled over by a Trooper in KY once for passing a vehicle towing a boat going really slow, and the chance to pass was about to end for about 10 miles give or take a few, he said you were going kind of fast passing that vehicle weren’t you? I said do you not have to be going faster than the vehicle in front of you to pass them, or do you know another way to pass someone?? Yeah I think he looked for warrants in every county of every state cause he was ticked off and held me there for a very long time (tis was mid 90’s)… He finally let me off with a warning… lol…
BTW the officer was in the oncoming lane, so I either had to speed or have a wreck or be stuck behind a slow vehicle for many miles, I took my chances and had plenty of room and was back in my lane with plenty of time to spare…

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101

In your case, it was the speed difference that LEO noticed.

Naturally, you’re going to be able to pass someone doing 40mph in a 55 a lot quicker than you would someone doing 52 in a 55.

Seems like LEO’s judgement of closing speeds was a little off, when you and the boat tower you were passing were coming toward him.

102

And neither one of you should be going over 60.

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