Speed Limits Rise to 70 Effective July 1 (legally, metro area, areas)

[dba07]

Originally Posted by natininja

This is such a silly debate, because the first could be acknowledged, but accompanied by an argument for why increasing the speed limit is still worthwhile. Instead, proponents here are denying there are any negatives whatsoever and claiming it's all a conspiracy for revenue generation. Which is empirically absurd.

What is absurd is that in many municipalities, speed limits are set by politicians without regard to the input of engineers. There are small towns throughout the country who intentionally set the limit artificially low and set the city budget based upon projected revenue from the resulting fines collected. I cannot speak to Ohio specifically, but if you're insinuating that speed limits are never a conspiracy for revenue generation you are wrong.

[dba07]

Originally Posted by flashes1

Hensley:

That's incorrect on all counts, because (1) Saudia Arabia remains on of the top exporters of oil to the U.S. and their citizenry sponsor many of the world's worst terrorist groups, (2) tighter emissions since the 1970's is beside the point, the fact is more gas and emissions are released by cars traveling at higher speeds, and (3) the decrease in fatalities would be bigger if cars were traveling at lower speeds.

If you're consistently running late for appointments, I recommend leaving earlier. Don't jeopardize my life and the lives of my family because you need to get to Kroger faster.

No. Most of our oil is imported from Canada. Recent studies indicate that speed does not kill, DIVERSITY of speed kills. You are completely incorrect. Cars do not magically run into each other once you accelerate. Morons driving too slow in the left lane causing traffic to bunch up is far more dangerous that a lone car driving at 80.

If you're too scared to drive faster, stay in the right lane, and you and your family will be fine.

[natininja]

Originally Posted by dba07

What is absurd is that in many municipalities, speed limits are set by politicians without regard to the input of engineers. There are small towns throughout the country who intentionally set the limit artificially low and set the city budget based upon projected revenue from the resulting fines collected. I cannot speak to Ohio specifically, but if you're insinuating that speed limits are never a conspiracy for revenue generation you are wrong.

I was insinuating nothing whatsoever about "small towns". I was saying the Ohio 65 mph maximum is not a conspiracy for revenue generation. Don't know what small towns have to do with that, which is what this thread is about.

[natininja]

Originally Posted by hensleya1

Hi natininja--

There are times where lower speed limits are absolutely necessary. This includes congested urban areas, tight turns, blind spots on the other side of hills, and when the weather's simply abysmal. And a crash at 70 MPH will invariably cause more damage than a crash at 50 MPH, all things equal.

But you can't sit here and defend the actions of the Arlington Heights mayor's court and believe their sob story about "safety", when you realize that traffic tickets form the majority of the municipality's income. They join armpits like New Rome and Elmwood Place in making shameless money grabs.

As far as driving at higher speeds go, I'll just point to an old argument - that there's no speed limits at all on large stretches of the Autobahn, and their crash rates are far lower than ours.

And it's because the Germans take driving seriously.

Almost nobody in the States knows how to drive. They just know to put the car in "D" and put the gas pedal to the floor to get going.

They don't know how to correct understeer, they don't know how to brake in an emergency (apart from stomp on the pedal and pray that their ABS isn't broken), they don't know how to take corners at higher speeds, and they often don't maintain their cars properly.

To be fair, it's probably buried on page 133 of the driver's guide the BMV hands you when you're 16, but nobody reads that anyway.

I firmly believe that you could take the stretch of I-75 in Butler/Warren Counties at 130 MPH if you had a good car and knew what you were doing. The combination of long straightaways, multiple lanes, wider lanes, and long line-of-sight make for a VERY safe road.

If people know how to drive.

I was talking about Ohio. Not sure what Arlington Heights has to do with the state max speed limit.

The autobahn is more limited-access than US highways (e.g. there are much fewer exits), largely due to public policy that doesn't promote sprawl entitlements. It is also built to a much higher quality standard. It doesn't get completely obliterated annually by salt, and Germans actually fork over the taxes and fees necessary to keep it maintained to such a high engineering standard.

If you want to create a bigger government by making driver's licenses harder to obtain, I would be all for it. This is a major point we can agree on, but I find it kind of surprising since you usually are opposed to bigger government. I guarantee you stricter licensing leads to more bureaucracy than stricter speed limits.

Regardless, there will always be greater emissions and crash risks at greater speeds than at lower speeds, all else being equal. There's no right answer about how much of these two things is acceptable, but I err on the conservative side of keeping the status quo rather than going lower to decrease emissions/risks or higher for lower travel times.

[hensleya1]

Originally Posted by natininja

I was talking about Ohio. Not sure what Arlington Heights has to do with the state max speed limit.

The autobahn is more limited-access than US highways (e.g. there are much fewer exits), largely due to public policy that doesn't promote sprawl entitlements. It is also built to a much higher quality standard. It doesn't get completely obliterated annually by salt, and Germans actually fork over the taxes and fees necessary to keep it maintained to such a high engineering standard.

If you want to create a bigger government by making driver's licenses harder to obtain, I would be all for it. This is a major point we can agree on, but I find it kind of surprising since you usually are opposed to bigger government. I guarantee you stricter licensing leads to more bureaucracy than stricter speed limits.

Regardless, there will always be greater emissions and crash risks at greater speeds than at lower speeds, all else being equal. There's no right answer about how much of these two things is acceptable, but I err on the conservative side of keeping the status quo rather than going lower to decrease emissions/risks or higher for lower travel times.

Hi natininja--

We may be talking about two slightly different things (Arlington Heights' speed trap and the raising of speed limits across the board) but there's no illusion among any of us that Arlington Heights likes to keep the speed limit low through that stretch in order to keep up the revenue - nevermind that northbound traffic was redirected from that trench over to the viaduct many years ago, alleviating any design speed issues.

I guess I should say that the engineers should re-examine the speed limit in that stretch. The speed limit is 55, and traffic could easily do 65 through there.

As far as road quality, etc., that's an issue with a shortage of funding when ODOT decides to cut a few corners and pave a few more miles in exchange for it going bad sooner. And there needs to be the appropriate funding.

Although I honestly have no clue what takes road works so freaking long to get anything done. Especially since 99% of the time I drive through a construction zone and either (1) nobody's working; or (2) one guy is working and four more are standing in a circle chatting. Which is why it takes years or decades to get something done, and roads appear perpetually under construction.

Because it's been proven that road works could be completed quickly.

And lastly, turning to licensing: I make a clear distinction in my general opposition to government. I have almost no problem with State government taking control of the licensing procedure (as they currently are in control: and I would have no problem with making drivers take driving seriously). My opposition to government is almost exclusively opposition to Federal programs when they're misguided or just a flat out waste of money.

[flashes1]

Originally Posted by dba07

No. Most of our oil is imported from Canada. Recent studies indicate that speed does not kill, DIVERSITY of speed kills. You are completely incorrect. Cars do not magically run into each other once you accelerate. Morons driving too slow in the left lane causing traffic to bunch up is far more dangerous that a lone car driving at 80.

If you're too scared to drive faster, stay in the right lane, and you and your family will be fine.

You're wrong. Saudi remains one of the top 5 importer of oil to the U.S. "Diversity" of speed kills? Yes, morons driving 80 in rush hour kills a lot more people than folks driving 65-70......and yes, I stay in the right lane except when I'm passing in the left doing 70. People who want to drive faster than 70 can, and will, remain behind me.

And for the record, I have a lot less problem with people driving faster on the open highway with few cars around. My main problem is with idiots who want to drive 50 down a busy suburban road stopping every 1/2 mile at a red light. Drive smarter......and coast into red lights.....instead these fools want to do 50 right up to the light just to slam on the brakes....wait 1 minute....and then floor it until the next red light.....repeat and rinse.

[iNviNciBL3]

Why does everyone always wanna be in a rush for? just set the cruise control to whatever the speed limit is, listen to your favorite music and enjoy the open road.

[Buckeye in SC]

Originally Posted by iNviNciBL3

Why does everyone always wanna be in a rush for? just set the cruise control to whatever the speed limit is, listen to your favorite music and enjoy the open road.

When you have dogs/kids in the car on an already 8-9 hour long trip w/that last hour to two in Ohio, shaving even 10-15 minutes off the trip is worth it.

[natininja]

Worth what? How many injuries and fatalities is it worth?

[ram2]

Originally Posted by iNviNciBL3

Why does everyone always wanna be in a rush for?

Why should it bother you? Just stay in the right lane and enjoy your music.