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Is speeding wrong? Should radar detectors be illegal? Let's find out! (1 Viewer)

Glenn Overholt

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Garrett - that sounds like something Michael Moore should handle - a DMV movie, and how screwed up their employees are.

I cannot however, agree to the 85 year old limit. People age at different rates and some 85 year olds are excellent drivers, while others should have stopped driving at 65 - maybe sooner!

The problem is that when they cannot drive, they consider themselves (and sometimes this is true), stranded. Althought the thought of retiring out in the country might sound great, consider what would happen if you lost your license.

Glenn
 

Chris

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Agreed. I know very many able people at 85.

I'll tell you a goofy story, though:

years ago, I was hospitalized (comatose) for a while, immediately after rehab, they just handed me back my licence. Within 2 months, I racked up 3 tickets.. 95/60, 90/60, 92/65. I had never received a ticket before..

Now, my fault, I should have realized I wasn't back to my normal self and should have turned away my licence and done other things.. but there are lots of "young" people holding drivers lic. who are far worse drivers then older people ;)

Besides, since I installed Satellite Radio, I don't mind the time in my car at all, in fact, I enjoy the hell out of it :)
 

Yee-Ming

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Even if most new cars can go 90mph (150kmh), doesn't mean they don't struggle to hit that high speed. And it also means there's no "reserve" to pull ahead if necessary.

I have a Mitsubish Lancer, on local expressways I do maybe 110 kmh (limit is 90), but if I hit 120 I can tell the car is struggling, and 130 it is really struggling badly. I have never hit 150 (your 90 mph), and don't intend to try, least of all because at 60km above limit if you get caught you lose your licence. And since I just got a ticket for doing 96 in a 50kmh zone and got 12 demerit points on my licence for it (if you get 24 points within 24 months you get suspended), I'm going to drive a little more carefully right now... :frowning:
 

Seth_L

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Yee-Ming, my car was still pulling nicely at 142MPH when I eased off the gas one time. It's all relative to what you're driving.
 

Chris

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*laugh* It's the 6000SUX.. it gets 6 gallons per the mile.

If you got popped here in Kansas doing 142, they'd nail you on manslaughter charges. You don't have to hit someone, it's just that your risk factor to someone else is there.. it's the same as randomly firing a gun off in a field of people. Even if you don't hit someone, you can get hooked ;) It's called reckless endangerment ;)

I will say this to: if I would have caught your plates (and yep, I keep a dash camera mounted in my van) I would have enjoyed calling it in ;) Of course, I think you're responsible enough that this didn't happen on a communal road, more then likely a closed track ;)
 

Jimi C

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Garrett, radar detectors are not illegal in Ny unless you are driving a commercial vehicle. Just turn that thing off before you get to canada or maryland.
 

Glenn Overholt

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Boy, that's a twist alright. I wonder if they'll ever come out with home models so I can sit on my front porch and slow down the traffic here.

However, I wouldn't want that done to me on a freeway. Talk about a disaster waiting for a place to happen...

Glenn
 

Yee-Ming

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Interesting. Crooked types will suddenly flood the second-hand car market. On the flip side, wouldn't this make car-jacking easier, or worse kidnapping, if crooks can get hold of the device as well?
 

Jeff Ulmer

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Judging a person's ability to drive solely on their age does not work.

That said, the number of young people who should not be driving is also very high. While an older person may not be the best driver, they do benefit from experience. How many high school kids are killed each year due to reckless driving, especially in combination with being intoxicated - again lacking in experience.

The problem with raising the speed limit is that no matter how fast it may be, there is always some yahoo who has to go faster, and no matter how good a driver they think they are, all it takes is one mistake before they and the person(s) they hit are hamburger. I like the idea of being charged with a criminal offense for exceeding the speed limit substantially, whether you hurt someone/something or not.
 

Seth_L

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I keep telling everyone this, and I'll continue to say it. People need to have their drivers license tied to their vehicle and driving ability. You have to run a standardized autocross course in a certain amount of time. No time concessions are made for the vehicle you're driving. There is a baseline time, you get up to 3 tries and your average time for the number of runs you make has to be below the threshold, or you don't get a license for that car. And I'm not talking about a softball test with a baseline that any person with a pulse can pass, I'm talking about something that would require real skill to pass.

You can't get a Ford Excursion around the course quickly enough, then congratulations, an Excursion's not the vehicle for you. Maybe a Mazda 3 would be more your speed.

We don't haphazardly give out pilot licenses to everyone, why should we do the same with driver's licenses?
 

DaveGTP

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We recently did a drive across country from Michigan to Vegas (to get married), then to L.A/Long Beach for a cruise, then back across the country. A lot of fun.


I understand speed limits. I understand they are designed for the lowest common denominator. The speed limit in a few states, on the long interstates, was 75. I drove my normal 10 over for freeway and felt totally comfortable.

I know some cars can't go 90. My wife has an old '93 Saturn with a pathetic little 1.8L? 4-cylinder with like sub-100 HP. And she's not really good about doing maintenence since she doesn't really care about the car. I can't see going over 75, 80 in that thing.


However, I can drive that speed, and on freeways, I think it's safe. I pay attention. If I can dodge a deer at 75 MPH at nighttime with only my headlights, I think I'm within my reflexes for normal daylight driving. I think 90 is a reasonable speedlimit on those long ass interstates, with 80 for more local freeways. I understand and support slower speedlimits for semis, big trucks, etc - more mass = more inertia = harder to stop. Here in Michigan most of the freeways are 70MPH (where I drive 80MPH). I really hate the 65MPH states, and driving to Toronto through Ontario where the speedlimit is ~55 MPH feels like going the speed of molasses. I feel bad for you Canadian folks. Then again, it seemd poorly enforced.


And as far as gas mileage at higher speeds, my Grand Prix GTP got 31+ MPG on the way back from California, driving between 75-85, with the A/C on (climate control) the whole way. Of course I have to feed it premium for the supercharger, but I bet a normal GP gets similiar mileage. I know little 4-banger cars get weaker mileage at high speeds, and I can see why people that are very concerned about mileage would drive slower.


But I don't have enough time in my life as it is, and I appreciate every 30-40 minutes of time saved on a trip. More sleep for the next day. :D Or 5 more minutes with my wife, or 10 more minutes of sleep every night, etc.



As far as Radar Detectors being legal, I really find the only place I strongly disagree with the speed limits is the freeways & highways. And a radar detector does little good at those speeds. Mine got stolen a few years back though, along with all my CDs, so I guess it's been a while for me.



P.S. - I like Seth's idea about testing people in their cars. Too bad it'll never happen. :frowning:
 

Brian Perry

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Not only that, but how would it disable the engine without affecting other vital electronics such as braking and power steering systems?
 

Yee-Ming

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Interesting idea Seth, different grades of licences for different grades of cars. We have something already like that for motorcycles, when you first pass you get a Class 2B licence (Class 3 is cars), which lets you ride dinky motorbikes with engines up to 200ccs, after a year you're eligble to try for class 2A, which ups the engine-size to 400ccs, and a year after you get your 2A you can try for class 2, which is unlimited. An additional test in the class 2, which isn't tested in classes 2B and 2A, is pushing a pretty large bike (900cc I think) off its main stand, laying it on the ground, and then pushing it back up and onto the main stand, in essence testing that you are strong enough to handle such a large bike.

A pet peeve is seeing people who are evidently new and inexperienced drivers, or just plain crap drivers, handling large vehicles, like MPVs and SUVs or luxury cars like S-class Mercs or 7-series BMWs, and taking forever to park the damn things in ordinary parking lots. If you can't handle such a large car, DON'T. Do us all a favour and get a smaller car. It is quite "amusing" when entering a car park, I get stuck waiting for such a driver to get into his/her lot, when enough space develops since said driver is half-way into his/her lot I zip past, then back into a lot in one movement, shut the engine and get out of the car, and the driver is still inching back-and-forth trying to straighten his/her car. Bleh.
 

AjayM

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Manslaughter? Nope, not going to happen. Some kind of reckless driving, reckless endangerment? Sure, I can see that happening quite easily, probably with a multitude of other charges.

Time savings? They don't add up to much for anything you would call a commute. Even on a 100 mile commute, the difference between averaging 100mph and 70mph isn't that great (20'ish minutes).

But now drive 10hrs a day because you need to get across the country. Average 90mph and 65mph, after the day is over the difference between 900 miles and 650 miles is quite big, more than 3.5hrs of driving time saved. Multiply that by 2 days and the differences get even larger, by the third day you've saved yourself a days worth of driving.

Also, look at a country like Germany. The highway death toll is lower than we have here. The highways have speed limits in populated areas and no speed limits in unpopulated areas. Trucks have to follow a different speed limit (as they do in most states of the US), people drive fast but for the most part they don't go way overboard with it. But you have to actually demonstrate some actual driving skills in order to get a license in Europe (this is probably the biggest reason for the different accident rates).

Andrew
 

Chris

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It's attempted vehicular manslaughter; it is a felony, and you can/will be charged in KS, it's happened numerous times :)
 

Shayne Lebrun

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Actually, it's more simple than that; retesting, and the actual concept of 'you lose your license.'

Hardship? Need it to get to work? Wah wah, you should have thought of that before you REPEATEDLY BROKE THE DAMN LAW.

Too many people regard driving as an inherant right, not an earned privilege, and it shows.

Just the other day, I was driving my aged grandmother to the doctors, and some woman in a truck splashed with the logos and what not for a local radio station just blew through a stopsign, and could have tboned me. When I honked at her, I got a shrug, a smirk, and off she went. THAT sort of attitude is the problem.
 

AjayM

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Got a link? I'm not saying I don't believe...well I am saying I don't believe ya, but in a nice way :) Did it happen only with accidents (in which case I'd agree with the charge), or only with somebody speeding excessively?

I just find it hard to believe that somebody would be charged/convicted of a crime they didn't do. Manslaughter is basically a lightweight murder charge, somebody has to die in order to be charged. Or in the case of attempted manslaughter somebody has to be in immediate danger of dying while doing the crime. Driving at 140mph on a public road is dangerous for sure, but the DA is going to have an uphill battle to prove that somebody was in immediate danger of death(how is he going to prove that other people were on the road, etc). Basically if I were on a jury I'd have a hard time agreeing with that charge.

Andrew
 

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