P0rsch3F113

+1. No kidding!

CORSASCHNELL

Our speed limits are too low for some of the greatest open roads we have in the US, however due to the very low skill level of our average drivers it is probably not that far off from the proper limits.

Chris from Cali

Another annoying thing to me - rather than improve people's skills, let's just lower the bar. We really need to adopt German-style licensing requirements. Of course, then the left will cry that it would be only for the rich, etc. My retort is that it's a privilege, not a right.... With traffic congestion only getting worse, taking crappy drivers off the road sounds like a good idea to me.

Macster

It has been a while -- sometime early in 2012 -- since I've been out in my Turbo anywhere near/in Texas so that 75mph speed limit at night is news to me.

About time.

To be heading east on I-40 in NM and running 75mph (or 80mph... along with everybody else) and racing the sun only to lose the race and entering the Texas panhandle at night and having to slow to 65mph feels like the car is standing still.

Macster

There is one in CA that's pretty bad. I do not remember the county name from the newspaper stories I've read but I do recall that a judge that hears traffic cases loves to take drivers licenses away from speeders. The county has the major north/south freeway (I-5) running through it and he hears lots of traffic cases.

While 3 days in jail is no picnic and the fine is not small change losing your license can be a real pain.

firedancer414

Remember, it's not the the drivers that need the higher standards, but also the cars and the roads. The number of cars running around with bare tires, toast brakes, on unkempt roads, etc. etc.

Para82

The jail time kept mine down to a 60 day loss of license.

My buddy in the Lambo was smart, he bargained for the 6 month loss of license to avoid any jail time. Judge went for it. After the court proceeding he got the company to send him to work in Afghanistan for 6 months, finished his tour and came back with a trunk full of cash and valid drivers license. So what's he do when he get's back? Sells his Gallardo and buys a Murcielago, drives even faster now lol.

vg247

Nice one your friend did

I think it's Kern county, CHP galore around here on the 5 evrytime I'm driving to SoCal..

shammerman

I am originally from Finland. There the speeding ticket is based on ones income (welcome to social democratic scandinavia). Check these examples out:

(Newser) – If you think that pricey speeding ticket is unfair, just look at Finland, where fines are based on income. Mental Floss takes a look at five doozies:

•In 2002, a Nokia exec on a Harley got hit with a whopping $103,600 fine for cruising at 47mph in a 31mph zone.
•A young dot-com entrepreneur, Jaako Rytsola, had to shell out $71,400 for driving his Beamer 18mph over the limit.
•A newly wealthy man got fined $14,500 for speeding and argued it down to $9,000; but when the judge discovered he'd paid only $750 a pop for previous infractions, he turned punitive and tacked on another $38,000.
•Same Jaako Rytsola, same BMW, same year, and other $44,100 ticket, bringing the year's fines to $115,500.
•A sausage heir going 50 in a 25mph zone holds the record for steepest fine, at $204,000.

russo

Funny, according to one of the federal agencies, I think the NTSB? less than 1% of traffic fatalities involve excessive speed. Many States, especially those that are in the budgetary red, are far more aggressive in collecting additional taxes in the form of traffic violations. I don't believe that speed is the number one threat to motorists.

drummin4fun

It's more about revenue than safety. When some States have wanted to raise the maximum speed on their interstate highways, the fed has threatened to pull their funding, forcing compliance.

sjfehr

On a typical 65mph interstate with traffic flowing 80mph, you're statistically 2x safer driving 90mph than you are doing the speed limit, and just as safe driving 105. Shame the laws and fine schedules don't reflect this.

Minok

Legal doctrine would not support that, as it would allow for the population to set the speed limt in an ad-hoc sort of fashion on any day and place. That said, fines should be more based on endangering than purely numerical values, so driving 40 in a 30mph limited neighborhood should be a serious fine due to the blind turns, driveways, pedestrians, etc. While doing 90 in a 70 dual-carriage way controlled highway with very light traffic should get no fine or just a small fine or warning.

But logic doesn't always work.

Sgt Angus

Third week home with the P-car. Sunday morning out with a friend w/no traffic, roosting around an onramp that leads into a gentle downhill. Stopped doing 150 in an 80km/hr zone.
Officer says 'looked like you were having fun'. I reply "the best time of my life- I finally got a Porsche!"

She takes my paperwork back to the cruiser, a few minutes later she and her partner walk back, note my Veteran licence plate and say 'Take it easy, and have a nice day'. My buddy was speechless, but I wasn't. "YES!!"
The cops laughed.

CORSASCHNELL

You are one lucky driver. I have never been able to talk myself out of ticket nor been let go. Good for you.