new almost nation wide law:move over one lane AND drop to 20mph BELOW posted limit if cops pulled ov

Originally posted by adjensen


Seems sensible to me.

The question we should be asking is why we have posted speed limits to begin with?

If the government was really concerned with people obeying posted speed limits they could regulate vehicle manufacturers to include a device that receives signals from transponders placed on the side of the road that limits the upper limit of the speed of the vehicle for that particular stretch of road way. That way no one could break the law, and police wouldn't have to spend time enforcing the law.

Laws keep honest people honest, if you really want to curb behaviour, design for it.

Of course it would mean less revenues because they wouldn't be able to write tickets for anyone.

reply to post by Legion2112


I can't "pick my battles" as it were. To do so would be inconsistent and turn me into another fair-weather idealist. A gun toter until my kid gets shot then an overnight Brady-buncher.

It's amazing you can admit not having a sense of courteous decency toward your fellow man. At least not until some cop grabbed you and told you to have one. It really never occurred to you that what you were doing might not be the best thing to do? That perhaps those working along the side of the highway would have enjoyed a bit more buffer whether they specifically requested it or not?

And now that you have been notified of the 'law' requesting you permit that buffer will no longer be so inconsiderate?

This is important. I need to know that: yes, people are wholly stupid and self-centered (which I do know), and that those people under threat of fines and imprisonment will cease to be wholly stupid and inconsiderate.

reply to post by Illusionsaregrander


That study, at least as it is represented in the ABC article, isnt conclusive or even very well fleshed out. I'm looking through EBSCO now to see if I can find it from an academic journal or something hopefully with more information.

Edit to add:

Found it. Lancet; 6/28/2003, Vol. 361 Issue 9376, p2177, 6p, 2 Charts, 3 Graphs.

We have not assessed other deterrents, such as being charged but not convicted, being stopped but not charged, or being an observer when others are stopped. We have not definitively proved causality, yet a randomised experiment of individual drivers would be very difficult. We have not shown that traffic-law enforcement is the only way to reduce motor-vehicle deaths since gains may also be possible through advances in information, incentives, technology, or culture. We have not tested highly specific questions about road safety because we have limited statistical power and imperfect direct data on alcohol or other disturbances, as is typical in studies of human behaviour.

The rest of the findings are pretty solid within the limited test group. Though throughout the findings the researchers are constantly reiterating that their data is incomplete and inconsistent and acknowledging their methods to make it as complete and consistent as possible to get a workable conclusion.

Not exactly gospel.

End Edit.

Taking it to the extreme is my eventual goal. Do you really need to be threatened to drive at a safe speed?

I was just traveling through several states last weekend. I can tell you I was one of maybe 4 cars traveling the speed limit. Everyone else was easily going 20 miles above the limit. Including the cops. No one was pulled over by a cop in 2 days and 600 miles of interstate.

So what does that get us? 90% of the drivers on the road violating posted limits and no police enforcement? Maybe the cops were just waiting for black guys in beamers? 20 miles above the limit not really violating posted limits?

Selective enforcement of such allegedly important laws or complete lack of enforcement of the allegedly important laws doesnt help the case any.

[edit on 12-8-2010 by thisguyrighthere]

Mississippi has recently added signs on the Interstates that say something to the effect of slowing and changing lanes when officers are on the side of the road.

I agree with some of the other postings that you would have to be an idiot to not do this naturally.

If you are capable of doing so (traffic situation allows), you should move over:

-When you see someone merging from an inbound ramp
-When you see a vehicle on the side of the road (pedestrian, commercial, official, emergency)
-When you see someone walking down the interstate (in MS it is 'unlawful' to stop and pull over on the interstate to pick up individuals)
-When traffic behind you is moving faster than you are willing / able to go

These are just a few generosities to offer the commuting public. Lets face it, its already a bad enough day that you are stuck in traffic or running late or its hotter than hades and your ac isnt working right. Imagine the stress reduction someone will feel by one of the simplest of jestures you can ever make on the road...MOVE OVER!

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


Hey buddy, you try driving around a blind curve on one of western NC's many windy mountain byways and tell me how much traffic you can see on the side of the road up around the bend

Honestly, I think it was enacted for the halfbacks and transplants as much as for people who live here. Even now, after the law was passed you can see Florida plates, NY plates and every other state but NC completely oblivious to anyone on the side of the road, even in the straightaways.

I think the only thing that is not right about this "almost universal law" is that it only applies to LEO's pulled over. I think that if they are going to ticket people for these types of things then it needs to apply to ANYONE pulled over to the side of the road. It makes sense. A police officer's safety is not anymore important than anyone else's.

And I always try to pull over one lane if I can. Sometimes you can't and so I slow way down.

reply to post by KilrathiLG


Most good and repsonsible drivers already did this. This is for the buttheads that refuse to use common sense. This to protect cops and others that need to work on the sides of highways. Most of us have glimpsed those TV shock segments of idiots slamming into police cruisers and disabled vehicles. You have to be alert behind the wheel. Not much conspiracy here. Just my opinion.

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


You'd be surprised at how many idiots are out there and how many close calls there are. I'm not missing any "points." There are idiots out there and those idiots need to be 1.) reminded, 2.) legislated, and 2.) suffer the consequences of their idiocy. The elite probably don't give a flying flip about this one way or another. And you're wrong too in that this HAS made a big difference, as many have pointed out and I will agree with.

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere

We have speed limits so hot shots don't barrel into me doing 120.

They dont work.

Yeah right! If we didn't have speed limits I would be doing 120 on the freeway every day on a motorcycle. The laws work. You are full of B.S.

Also, it says to drop 20 mph from the posted speed limit. That means if you are going 65 then you are supposed to drop to 45, not 20.

Read people read!

Am I the only person that remembers this being taught in drivers education? Granted, I took my Drivers Ed. class about 9 years ago, but I clearly remember the instructor telling us to do this already.

Obviously, to the person that said to "pull off the highway" I need to tell you, some parts of the country that is not an easy option. Like another said, it can be over 30 minutes between exits. patrolman can waste time going off route to give you a ticket, they have specific locations they are required to be in, and their cars have GPS to see where they are at.

They could get into a lot of trouble if there happens to be an acident while they are off trying to give some person a ticket for doing 10 over. Honestly, they'd probably get a mandatory investigation while they are stuck in an office. That is taxpayer money wasted, the officer is being paid to be out on the roads but now is stuck in an office, so really they are just sucking more money from the system. Or paid leave... which is even more of a waste.

Originally posted by SCRUFF
reply to post by truthquest

 

The german autobahn is safe because of their laws. I saw a thing on tv awhile back on the autobahn, if you are ticketed your ticket amount depends on your income. Officer used tailgating as example, one guy gets a $200 ticket and next one gets a $30000 ticket. They don't screw around.

This is incorrect. Wikipedia reads:

A 2005 study by the German Federal Interior Ministry (Bundesministerium des Innern) indicated that Autobahn sections with unrestricted speed have the same crash record as sections with speed limits.

The German autobahn is safe because of its design and because of drivers natural desire to continue to live, not because of its laws. I don't drive in ways that put others at risk and I know very few people that do. The ones that do are bad drivers and don't know what they are doing. Its not that they break the law because they feel like disregarding it... its that they are bad drivers and they simply suck at driving.

The idea that laws make the roadways safer is false. I recently started a new job and it included a safety training video. The point it tried to get across the most is that it is the attitude of safety first that prevents accidents much more so than the companies specific policies in place. How right they are.

The German autobahn shows that speed limits accomplish nothing, and therefore implies that roadway laws as opposed to suggestions do nothing to improve safety while increasing revenues and power of the state.

[edit on 13-8-2010 by truthquest]