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If they weren't speeding, they wouldn't be tailgating in the first place.
Wrong on both accounts.
1) There is NO legislation pending in New Jersey to institute a saltwater fishing license. None. In fact, the only bills pending are bills to specifically avoid a fee-based license. The MFC can lobby for whatever it wants. Doesn't mean it's gonna get it. They've been underfunded for decades and are starving for cash. The legislature doesn't much care.
2) Tailgating is a side effect of poor lane discipline. When someone is camping in the left lane, they're likely to be tailgated. Now, ideally, both drivers should receive a summons since they are both breaking the law, but this is impractical. If you refocus efforts on enforcement of lane discipline, rather than speeding (which, in and of itself, may or may not be dangerous - while tailgating and poor lane discipline is ALWAYS dangerous) there would be less tailgating because the cause of tailgating would be significantly reduced.
We also have to remember that speed limits are often as political as anything else. Just because there is a number on a sign, it doesn't mean that exceeding that number is inherently dangerous. That's the number some politicians came up with, sometimes (not always) recommended by an engineer that they, themselves as a governing body, are paying. The 85th percentile law is ignored 99 percent of the time.
This isn't whining (I got a speeding ticket once when I was 18, it got tossed when I called the prosecutor) but an explanation of why speed enforcement, while the easiest brand of traffic enforcement, is probably the least effective in preventing accidents.
And obviously, no one is going to respect laws that some people are immune from. Unless the PBA card/shield nonsense is brought under control - quickly - respect is going to be lost for the law as a whole and we're going to see more people hating and disrespecting our police officers, which is unfair and counterproductive.
i agree that the law should be universally enforced, but that doesn't effect me obeying the law. people get away all kinds of offenses, doesn't mean i should break those laws too.
and speeding, though the most effective limit can be up for debate, it's completely logical to assume that the higher the posted speed limit, the more dangerous the roads will be. doesn't mean we need a speed limit of 40 everywhere, but 50, 60, 70, we have to settle on a number and enforce it. if it were purely political, it would never have been raised to 65 from the common 55.
as to tailgating. i've been tailgated in every lane, and i never drive below the speed limit without having my 4-ways on.
tailgating is just poor driving and has little to do with what the "other" driver is doing. when i come up on someone going slow in the left lane, i flash my lights from 4-5 car lengths away. i get a little closer, but i never tailgate.
i agree that the law should be universally enforced, but that doesn't effect me obeying the law. people get away all kinds of offenses, doesn't mean i should break those laws too.
and speeding, though the most effective limit can be up for debate, it's completely logical to assume that the higher the posted speed limit, the more dangerous the roads will be. doesn't mean we need a speed limit of 40 everywhere, but 50, 60, 70, we have to settle on a number and enforce it. if it were purely political, it would never have been raised to 65 from the common 55.
as to tailgating. i've been tailgated in every lane, and i never drive below the speed limit without having my 4-ways on.
tailgating is just poor driving and has little to do with what the "other" driver is doing. when i come up on someone going slow in the left lane, i flash my lights from 4-5 car lengths away. i get a little closer, but i never tailgate.
tailgating is a side effect of douchebaggery.
I agree on many of your points. I strongly disagree on the notion that the higher the speed limit, the more dangerous the road. Most accidents occur on local roads, not highways. Generally speaking, a combination of poor roadway design and congestion are responsible for most accidents. Limited access highways with high speed limits have far less accidents occurring than overburdened local roads, often with the bane of Jersey driving: the jughandle. Jughandles create such havoc that one state Senator (Ciesla, R-Ocean) actually tried to make a law against building them, but it never really took off.
The issue with never driving below the speed limit and still getting tailgated is that speed limits are often artificially low. There was a university study done at one point that concluded that drivers - generally speaking - will drive a certain speed no matter what the speed limit is. On the Garden State Parkway, for example, drivers drive 80-85 because that's what they feel they can handle. 65 mph is too slow, which is why tailgating and other "douchebaggery" occurs when people drive right at this slow speed limit. When Montana got rid of speed limits some years back, they found the speeds at which people drove really didn't change - people weren't going 150 mph "just because they could."
Personally, I don't tear it up on the highways (I usually average 80ish on highways and actually take it somewhat slow on local roads), and there ARE speeds that pose a danger to other drivers - ie. traffic moving at 50 mph and someone doing 90 mph and weaving in and out of lanes. But enforcement shouldn't be based on a number on a sign, it should be based on who's driving dangerously. Is it better to pull over someone tailgating, weaving, etc. or someone driving safely at a speed above that posted on a sign? Unfortunately, the dangerous driver will go on his way while, assuming he doesn't have a PBA card, the "speeder" will receive a summons. That's arse-backwards traffic enforcement, and it's out of pure laziness that it occurs.
I disagree. The average speed of traffic on the Garden State Parkway is 15-20 mph above the posted speed limits. For a road of its size and volume, the number of serious accidents are minimal except for a few key problem areas (Exit 90, Raritan Tolls, Union Tolls) which are mostly a product of poor design that increases crash risk.
Obviously, someone doing 95-100 mph while the rest of the traffic is moving at 80 mph is a hazard, but modern cars and roadways can - and do - handle 80-85 mph perfectly safely on a daily basis here and in every other country in the world. Though traffic moves at 80-85 on most U.S. highways, drivers have been conditioned to genuinely believe that, just because a bunch of politicians decided to put signs up with numbers on them, any speed above that number is inherently unsafe. And it's just not true.
i think, from the state police i know in a few states, that most officers do target people driving dangerously. whether you want to admit it or not, 85mph in many vehicles is dangerous. if a sports car is going 80mph and has good tires, good brakes, and a good driver, then that's reasonable. but if anything happens, it's a simple fact that that driver won't be able to react in time. especially since most drivers i see do not allow proper distance between vehicles accounting for their speed.
how many of those people driving 80-85mph know how long and how many feet it takes their car to stop in optimal conditions? i'd bet maybe 10%, and i'm being generous.
it may be that more accidents happen on local roads, but that doesn't prove that driving on a highway at 80 isn't more dangerous than driving at 60. simple physics class proves that getting into an accident at 80 is more dangerous than at 60.
I disagree. The average speed of traffic on the Garden State Parkway is 15-20 mph above the posted speed limits. For a road of its size and volume, the number of serious accidents are minimal except for a few key problem areas (Exit 90, Raritan Tolls, Union Tolls) which are mostly a product of poor design that increases crash risk.
Obviously, someone doing 95-100 mph while the rest of the traffic is moving at 80 mph is a hazard, but modern cars and roadways can - and do - handle 80-85 mph perfectly safely on a daily basis here and in every other country in the world. Though traffic moves at 80-85 on most U.S. highways, drivers have been conditioned to genuinely believe that, just because a bunch of politicians decided to put signs up with numbers on them, any speed above that number is inherently unsafe. And it's just not true.
i don't think people are saying any speed above the speed limit is unsafe. it depends on a lot of factors. sometimes, the speed limit is unsafe (heavy rain, snow, ice, etc).
problem is, a lot of people don't know what's safe or unsafe, so we have speed limits. their are people who go to college and study traffic engineering. this isn't a bunch of politicians who want to raise revenue (it's part of it for sure) without any consideration to information that we know. it's like the BAC level. we know the levels of impairment. we actually know that any alcohol in your system impairs your ability to react, but we accept some risk and allow some level. or, you can look at it cynically and say we only have a BAC limit because politicians want to raise money.
it's not the speed, it's the a-hole behind the wheel. if everyone would drive like they do on the autobahn (you wouldn't DREAM of driving in the left lane unless to pass), it wouldn't be as much as an issue. although I do have a problem with an 80 mph speed limit in a state like NJ.
There are a few highways I can think of in New Jersey that would be perfectly adaptable and safe at 75-80 mph. NJ 55 through Cumberland County is one of them, even though it's not an interstate highway. It all comes back to a combination of traffic volume + terrain.
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