70 mph limit takes effect on rural Ohio highways today

[chris08876]

The problem with auto accidents is not the speed its people blocking traffic that are going slower then the general flow of traffic. I see it all the time. Everything is moving fluidly then you get that one person who chooses to go very slow. Often in the left lane. What happens? Everyone tries to pass him/her on the right, often cutting others off, and increasing the chance of accidents. The description of order in the lanes is what causes most of the near-hits and potentially the risk of an accident occurring.

[Rail Claimore]

Originally Posted by chris08876

The problem with auto accidents is not the speed its people blocking traffic that are going slower then the general flow of traffic. I see it all the time. Everything is moving fluidly then you get that one person who chooses to go very slow. Often in the left lane. What happens? Everyone tries to pass him/her on the right, often cutting others off, and increasing the chance of accidents. The description of order in the lanes is what causes most of the near-hits and potentially the risk of an accident occurring.

There's a sizable percentage of drivers everywhere who don't belong on the interstate: they still drive like we're under the double-nickel. This is evident in their cruising in any lane at 55 or maybe 60, and not bothering to accelerate on the ramp, thus creating needlessly dangerous merging situations.

[waterloowarrior]

Originally Posted by Mister F

Here's the thing with speed limits. People don't automatically speed, they drive the speed that feels comfortable. If a highway has a design speed of 130 km/h, that's what people will drive whether it's legal or not. If you make the speed limit unrealistically low, it's just going to get ignored.

I really noticed this driving in British Columbia last winter. This road in BC is designed for 100, has a speed limit of 100, and pretty much everyone was driving 100. This road in Ontario is designed for 100, people drive 100, the police enforce 100, and the speed limit is....80.

If you want people to slow down, lower highway design standards to the speed you want people to drive. That would have a bigger impact than speed limits and ticket blitzes ever could. Some jurisdictions understand this, others don't.

The same goes for residential streets. If North American engineers didn't design everything with such wide ROWs, large turning radii, etc municipalities wouldn't be bombarded with requests for speed bumps everywhere.

[Chicago Shawn]

Originally Posted by waterloowarrior

The same goes for residential streets. If North American engineers didn't design everything with such wide ROWs, large turning radii, etc municipalities wouldn't be bombarded with requests for speed bumps everywhere.

Bingo. Almost all arterial roads and grade separated highways are engineered for speeds of about 20 MPH above posted speed limits. Its called a 'factor of safety' and includes the expectation that people will speed.

There is a lot of truth in that people will travel as fast as they feel safe, with the exception of those few clueless and erratic drivers who probably shouldn't be driving at all.

[Wizened Variations]

The major problem with increasing the speed limit concerns whether the semi and large solid axle trucks also are permitted the increase in speed limits.

A) At a given speed X, a fully loaded semi will damage a given road surface far more than an individual automobile, due to vertical vibrations of solid axles carrying far more weight. Figures of 9600 hundred passenger vehicles having the same wear as a semi on a given road surface are available.

B) Wear is proportional to speed, particularly on road irregularities such as potholes. This, of course, is not a simple proportionality, as tire adhesion, load distribution, road curvature, and, time of year also factor in. Basically, the faster the speed limit the more wear on the road on surface irregularities, with a flattened rate of increase with increasing speed due to the air foil effect.

C) Road weight per axle is a disproportionate factor in road wear during the winter, where frost heaving and the resulting hydration of highway surfaces and bases reduce the roadway's ability to absorb shock.

Wisconsin study

http://epdfiles.engr.wisc.edu/pdf_we...ightLimits.pdf

C) The US, as it is, is not putting enough money into road upkeep. Increased wear rates will only increase the rate of damage at a higher rate.

D) The best way to reduce highway wear is to keep interstate trucking and state highway tandem axle speed limits to 55. Increasing the car, pickup, and, SUV speed limits to 70 or even 80 does not significantly increase highway wear.

Of course, the trucking industry would scream. The trucking industry, for survival reasons, must act like the wear with increased truck speed is linearly in proportion to the increase in diesel usage with that increase in speed.

[LMich]

In related news:

Lawmakers look at raising speed limits to 80 mph in Michigan

By The Associated Press

August 23, 2013

Lansing — Some Michigan lawmakers are looking to lift the 70 mph cap on highway speeds and making other changes to reduce speed traps.

Grand Ledge Sen. Rick Jones is working on a bill with fellow Republican Tom Casperson from Escanaba that they hope to introduce this fall. One issues could be raising speed limits to 75 mph or 80 mph on some stretches of freeway.

The proposal would make all roadways follow the “85th percentile” rule commonly endorsed and employed by transportation officials. That means setting limits that correspond with speeds at which 85 percent of vehicles safely travel.

Jones, a former Eaton County sheriff, said some local governments deliberately set speeds low to trap drivers and generate money from traffic tickets. He’d like to close what he calls a “loophole” in a law enacted in 2006 that requires all road agencies to set speed limits based on speed studies.

...

Michigan’s current top highway speed of 70 mph is consistent with neighboring states including Illinois and Ohio. Some states, such as Arizona, Colorado, Maine and Texas, have limits as high as 75 mph or 80 mph.

If such legislation is passed, transportation officials would need to conduct speed studies before any changes could be made. Statewide freeway studies currently being conducted by the Michigan State Police are expected to be completed by the end of the year.

Jones is a really kind of wacky and doing this for personal reasons (he's gotten many a ticket in downtown Lansing for speeding). I don't expect this to make it pass the comittee, but who knows, these days.

[dchan]

If there's one road that needed the speed limit increase, it's I-70. It's literally a flat straight highway between Columbus and Indianapolis with minor elevation changes and broad angle turns every now and then. You could do 100+ easily if you have the right car.

Between the Ohio Turnpike and I-70, I'd say that I-70 was the more comfortable road to drive on for my recent road trip (not taking into account the turnpike's awesome rest station stops, of course).

[Ch.G, Ch.G]

Originally Posted by harryc

b.t.w. in Illinois it is illegal to drive slower than traffic in the left lane - even if you are already above the speed limit.

Is it? If so, I've never seen it enforced, but so, so, so wish it were.

Originally Posted by Hayward

The speed limit of 65 was punishing driving across the entire state of Wisconsin today. Of course no one was following it. I think most lawmakers know people will generally drive up 10 over. So 80 mph or lower in Michigan is generally the speed to travel without getting a ticket. But Ohio cops were notorious for pulling people over for doing 70...mostly out of state of course.

Yeah, I can attest to that. I was maybe ten hours into a 15 hour drive home and just about to enter Indiana when I was pulled over for doing around that. I was like, "F this, I'm not gonna give them a dime," but then they mailed me the ticket. -____- I didn't know states could collect from residents of other states

[SL,UT]

Article posted on the Salt Lake Tribune.
By Lee Davidson
Posted on 09-17-13


And they’re off: Utahns now have 289 extra miles of highway with 80 mph speed limits — or will as soon as crews finish posting the new signs during the next week or so.

Areas with the new speed limits include:

• Interstate 80 from the Nevada border to milepost 99, near Tooele.

• Interstate 84 from the Idaho border to its intersection with Interstate 15 near Tremonton.

• Interstate 15 from the Idaho border to milepost 366 near Brigham City.

• Another 116 miles of I-15 in southern Utah. Combined with previous 80 mph zones there, such zones will now extend almost all the way from Santaquin to Leeds (north of St. George). However, some mountain passes and the area around Cedar City still will have lower speed limits.

Earlier this year, the Legislature passed HB83 by Rep. Jim Dunnigan, R-Taylorsville, to allow the Utah Department of Transportation to study 80 mph speed limits in those areas, and add them where it is safe. Sen. Scott Jenkins, R-Plain City, HB83’s Senate sponsor, told lawmakers it was "the coolest bill of the whole year."

Robert Hull, UDOT’s director of traffic and safety, said studies found it would be safe to add the 80 mph zones almost everywhere the Legislature had allowed them.

"Based on our engineering judgment, there are a couple of mountain passes and the section through Cedar City where we retained a slower speed limit because of issues with geometry, and in Cedar City because we have a lot more traffic entering and exiting there," Hull said.

UDOT studied how fast people were already driving in the areas with the new 80 mph zones. Hull said the vast majority were going between 80 and 82 mph on the stretches, which previously had a speed limit of 75 mph.

"That’s indicating the majority of the drivers feel safe and are driving prudently at those speeds, 82 and below," Hull said, and now that will be legal.

In previous studies of 80 mph zones tested over several
years on I-15, Hull said, the average speed increased by only 1 mph — which is one reason the Legislature said it was safe to expand those zones.

"Again, people were already driving at that speed and felt comfortable and safe,", Hull said. UDOT will continue to study speeds, he added, to ensure that they do not rise significantly.

While the old 80 mph zones were seen as temporary test zones for years, they and the newly added 80 mph zones are now considered permanent, Hull said. UDOT believes no further testing of them is needed because of the years of studies conducted already in southern Utah.

Crews have already installed signs for 80 mph zones on the southern part of I-15. They also will be posting them during the next couple of days on I-80. UDOT just gave final approval Monday night for sections on I-84 and the northern part of I-15, and Hull expects signs to be posted there within a week.

"We encourage folks to adhere to the speed limits," Hull said, "and always buckle up."

Texas and Utah are the only states that have speed limits of 80 mph or higher. Texas allows 85 mph on one toll road. "But there are many states that are reviewing the maximum speed limits right now," Hull said.
source:
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politic...imits.html.csp



Image source: http://www.scribd.com/doc/168922669/...ghway-sections

[zilfondel]

I just drove through Utah a few weeks ago, and on highway 6 (NOT an interstate by any measure) from I-70 to Provo, semi trucks were doing ~85-90 mph at NIGHT on an undivided, 2-lane highway.

Scariest driving I've ever had to do in my life. Semis continuously crossed the double yellow line and were headed right for me in my lane, many sections didn't even have lines painted on the damn road. I couldn't go slower than the trucks, because they would get right on my tail and on the downhill sections would try to pass!

However, I-84 going north from SLC was very smooth sailing, great road surface at 80.

----

Wyoming was interesting in that the speed limit is (generally) 75. However, they had several electronic speed limit signs with variable limits for some sections of the interstates, and night speeds can be set lower than during the day. When I drove it was all set to 75 mph, and people generally drove at that speed.

[Barbarossa]

Well, many states are losing gas tax revenue due to fuel efficiency, so this in theory could be a cynical bid to increase gas tax revenue.

[Rail Claimore]

Originally Posted by LMich

In related news:



Jones is a really kind of wacky and doing this for personal reasons (he's gotten many a ticket in downtown Lansing for speeding). I don't expect this to make it pass the comittee, but who knows, these days.

No, but I wouldn't be surprised if the lower truck limit was done away with, and/or possibly an increase to 75. Michigan was 70 when every other Midwestern state was 65. The state may want to one-up its neighbors again.

[chris08876]

Originally Posted by zilfondel

I just drove through Utah a few weeks ago, and on highway 6 (NOT an interstate by any measure) from I-70 to Provo, semi trucks were doing ~85-90 mph at NIGHT on an undivided, 2-lane highway.

Scariest driving I've ever had to do in my life. Semis continuously crossed the double yellow line and were headed right for me in my lane, many sections didn't even have lines painted on the damn road. I couldn't go slower than the trucks, because they would get right on my tail and on the downhill sections would try to pass!

However, I-84 going north from SLC was very smooth sailing, great road surface at 80.

----

Wyoming was interesting in that the speed limit is (generally) 75. However, they had several electronic speed limit signs with variable limits for some sections of the interstates, and night speeds can be set lower than during the day. When I drove it was all set to 75 mph, and people generally drove at that speed.

Are the state police as common as they are in Jersey when it comes to radar or laser tracking of speed? ( IMO I think speeding itself as a waste of time for law enforcement to enforce in general, but I figure those large, low populated states are lets say similar to Europe where you could go 200km and never see a cop?) Do they have the speed cameras out there in the midwest or even in the west coast where the states are huge?

[MolsonExport]

wow, a great way to increase fuel consumption and emissions!

[M II A II R II K]

Odd, that a car centric culture with lesser gas prices and longer distances to go wouldn't have higher speed limits, and even an autobahn to go as fast as you want. A freedom not gained that is not objected to.