EU speed limiter proposal

[John Boothby]

Originally Posted by mike100

I just got back from Newport News/Hampton area Friday (lots of work out there for us at the moment) and I've never been so nervous to drive on the interstate.

just to rub it in, a majority of cities in SoCal/San Diego have turned off their red light cams due to a change in state law eliminating quota based income for the cities.

Also I got a warning for going 89 mph from the CHP last Friday (the 13th!). Can you believe that? This car was tailgaitng me so I kept going faster to get out of the way. changed to a slower lane- still all up in my bumper- gave it more juice, then got lit up-the tailgater was a CHP Tahoe truck... anyways I think he felt bad for egging me on as I couldn't see his car thru the self dimming mirror. it was somewhat humorous really. Traffic enforcement has changed a lot in 20 years here. I'm not saying that they don't care, but they kind of don't.

I have driven the LA freeways at 90mph (keeping even with the flow of traffic) with cops passing me! It seems they won't bother you if you are going with the flow! And, folks in SOCAL DO drive a bit faster.

[LancePearson]

The vast majority of freeways and interstates where terrain allows are easily capable of 100 mph or more speeds for cars which are capable of it. True, you use more fuel, you are at risk if a tire blows out, etc. but most speed limits for a long time were 55 and now most are moved up to 65 or 70 and in those places I get passed by people going well above that.

This isn't about actual speed but some legislator's views on what you can and can't do.

I'd a whole lot rather the police as they may be doing in Socal concentrate on dui type enforcement and to some degree red light runners and keep the speeding down to reckless driving at any speed. Things which are nuts are following too close, weaving in and out, yakking on phones, cutting across three lanes to get to the one they should have been on without even looking, etc.

Oh well, government is government. I too used to drive around San Diego up to Vista and Newport Beach and outside of rush hour the socal drivers know how to drive, how to merge, how to flow. That is NOT true here in Virginia. I've seen drivers stop on expressways and back up to turn into an exit they have missed. We also construct expressways here so that the entry and the exit share the same 200' of roadway. Isn't that exciting? Someone saved $$$ but it is a constant crash potential. Oh, and the legislature passed laws saying that (since they refused to fund bicycle lanes) cars and bicycles must share the same narrow, two lane, 55 mph twisty roads with NO shoulders, big ditches, oak and hickory trees right there. We have accidents all the time when they try that mismatch and the car driver usually gets tabbed as the bad guy. It's impossibly unsafe for the two and the legislature went home happy as they had "done something." Nothing is what they did.

Lance

[Racinfan83]

Lance you got that one EXACTLY right! Sounds like here in Missouri... We have those entry/exit deals too - though they are slowly getting rid of them. And the speed traps they run around here are ridiculous...
Taxation by Citation is all it is....

[LancePearson]

Racinfan83....Speed on big, open roads like interstates and expressways is not inherently unsafe in well cared for, designed for it vehicles. Racing, reckless driving, dui, etc. are far worse things in terms of accidents.

I like the Big Bend Open race where the state participates by donating closed roads, etc. When I was in College the Kansas turnpike between KC and Wichita where my family lived was 90 mph...and the police cruised past you at 100 mph. Same road, no more unsafe now than then. Some Texas roads are now 85 mph max. On daylight, dry pavement, no traffic tell me those roads aren't places we could let our cars out to 150 mph or more for a minute or so?

In my three years of owning Corvettes my conclusion is that those of us who own them are better, more conservative, safer drivers than the idiots out there who don't. Yes, I can speed and do what are crazy speeds on twisty roads to a guy in a Honda but "no" I'm not at all unsafe. I worry more about some 17 year old in a tricked out Hyundai doing what he can't manage than a couple of us running third gear up to 120 to see how the car feels that day. Far worse.

Wasn't Europe where they had the German Autobahn with NO speed limits at one time? Wonder what it is today? Same, limited?

Lance

[Racinfan83]

The Turnpike was fun. Haven't been on it in a long time though. I grew up about 65 miles NE of KC.
Biggest problem here in the STL area is that the roads are plenty good enough for 70 mph - but the limit is 55 & 60. So you have 3/4 of us who run 70-75 and 1/4 who go the limit and think they can do it in the left lane. So then you have people tailgating, passing on the right, weaving in and out of traffic, etc - all because the speed limits aren't realistic. I'm a firm believer that keeping traffic FLOWING is much safer then the current system. I have driven in the So Cal area - and it is amazing how much better it is when everybody is running like 85-90 then traffic around here is at 70.
We just finished with a prime example here. They closed one of the 2 bridges where I-70 goes over the Mo river to rebuild it. Went from 5 lanes each way to 3 on one bridge. No workers on that side. 45mph limit. I totally understand the 45mph when workers are present - but the workers were totally on the other bridge. So every day - we had massive backups because some people slowed down to 45 - causing the rest to brake - which created a chain reaction and stop & go bumper to bumper backups for miles. The days when traffic was lighter - we all sailed across the thing at 70mph with no issues and no backups. I contacted MODOT and mentioned that they could eliminate the backups by just putting the limit back to 60 so that people wouldn't brake - the reply I got was that it was 45 due to 10' wide lanes and a "slight curve" where the WB side switched to the EB side. My reply to that was that if you couldn't drive in a 10' lane through a slight curve at 60mph - you probably shouldn't have a drivers license
I am not a speed demon by any means. My Vette will probably never go over 100 mph. I am fairly "aggressive" as a daily driver - but that's mainly to get around and stay away from the idiots who can't drive. But controlling my driving by limiters or computers will NOT happen.

[LancePearson]

Agree on the flow concept. I can't say I'm not a speed demon. The Z is loafing at 100 and likes to get into three numbers where safe. I don't really care all that much for first gear acceleration other than as necessary to get into the good gears which will really stretch the Z out. Wish I could find a place like Wyoming or Montana or Nevada where I could let it all the way out and find out what my limit is in terms of speed. I have had it 145 mph and on straight road but was 90 over so did it briefly. Interesting thing is the car's suspension at 120 feels like 60 or 70 and at 145 I could feel no instability at all though it was straight road. Partly it is getting use to watching the trees go by much faster. At those speeds the car is going more than two thirds of a football field every second. Think about that then ratchet it up to 170 or more....not sure my reflexes are good enough for 170 to be honest, much less the 180-190 this particular engine/car can do.

[Hog]

Most cars trucks are limited to 98mph/160kph
The 2wd and AWD Silverado SS is limited to 112mph
TBSS as mentioned is 130mph.

My 97 rcsb Vortec 350 truck was 98mph, now is set at 256mph(highest attainable with TC2). Ive had it at 124mph, but I chickened out. That was only 4200rpm in OD.

[LancePearson]

Hog, I probably would hit 150 or so in the Vette and chicken out too! One member said he had his in a big, wide open western state and he chickened out at 170. I could relate!

My TBSS like your SS is set up for road racing and was test proofed on the Nurburgring. It probably like your truck has enormous sway bars, Billstein shocks and mine has more horsepower than the stock LS2 which came with it (about 415 hp now). At 4600 pounds it gets to 120 as fast as just about anything stock. At 120 it rides well and below that little old ladies don't like it at 35mph with the stiff ride but throw it into a corner at 80 mph and it is just right, rides perfectly and is really well done. they also lowered it 1" plus at GM Performance Group so it was well done. I can pull trailers with it and with the power and the 4:10 rear end it does well. Thankfully, fourth gear is a big time overdrive or it would get no miles at all.

Nothing like my ZR-1 though which really gets with it. Two days ago at 60 a mustang cobra gt of some sort a couple years or more older with dual exhausts pulled up next to me and ran it away from me to impress me so I waited then gave it a little and left him then let him catch up. he wanted to race then but we would both have gone to jail so I declined, laughed and waved at him in his disappointment. Hard to be responsible in a Z sometimes but I managed it.

[LancePearson]

For whatever it is worth, the speed limits also allows the car companies to limit the speed rating of the tire on it. 112 on the Silverado is an S rated tire I believe and 98 probably allows them to go one speed class down. That means: spending less money on tires by the car companies. My Vette tires are I think 180 mph rated tires, V or something like that and are $1800 a set. Make 2,000,000 cars and save $200 a set of tires on each by limiting speed and having the government happy you do saves a wad of money every year to the car companies.

[cvette98pacecar]

It will never happen in the US. The revenue that is created from speeding tickets is in the billions per year. It is big business for municipalities and lawyers all over the United States.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-...eding-tickets/