yourmama

Maybe the cars can handle higher speeds than in past, but too many driver's don't have the skills or judgement to do so.

If you don't believe me, stand back and have read the crash stories and look at the crash stats for the posters here, many of whom judge, and misjudge for that matter, themselves to be better than other drivers out there.

The other part is that while cars are better than they've ever been, we have more of them competing for space on essentially the same highway infrastructure we had twenty years ago. More cars per lane mile means closer proximity to more other cars, and that's where the collisions happen, especially when there is significant speed differential between those cars.

On top of that, the volume of truck traffic is also far greater than it has ever been in past, thanks to just-in-time production delivery philosophies, where fixed warehouses have now been largely replaced by rolling 18-wheel warehouses.

The safest speed is not necessarily what the highway was engineered for. The safest speed has to take into account traffic voulme, proximity of fixed obstacles such as guard rails, poles, bridge abutments lining the highway, frequency of on and off ramps, available visibility, and this comes last after all the others, the prevailing speed of traffic.

Just because YOUR car can do 140 with supposed ease doesn't make the highway safe for 140. You also have to take into account that trucks are also on that highway, and the last thing I want to start seeing is heavily loaded trucks doing 140.

But we can't easily set different speeds for different classes of vehicles. By doing so we end up enshrining speed differential, and speed differential is a major cause of collision.

Speed differential in any but the lightest traffic requires either braking or lane changes, and that change in vehicle trajectory and equilibrium is what contributes to collisions and crashes. Speed differential is a major factor in rear-end collisions, side-swipe collisions as faster traffic tries to go around closer traffic, failure-to-yield collisions by both slower and faster cars as they change lanes to try to "get out of the way/get around" each other, and even skid collisions caused by braking as faster traffic comes up behind slower traffic and find themselves with no place to go.

The safest speed is usually the 85th percentile, assuming that road, weather and lighting conditions support safe operation at that speed. The 85th percentile is rarely higher than 115 to 120km on the 401 when you take the trucks into account, and that is only under ideal low traffic conditions. And when was the last time anyone here ever saw anything like that on the 401 in the GTA? If anything, a maximum speed limit of 80 or 90 would be far more realistic for the 401 and 404 in the Toronto area given the usual round-the-clock traffic volumes.

If you are travelling above the speed of most other traffic, YOU are the danger on the road no matter how highly you judge (or misjudge) your car and driving skills. Cars travelling significantly below the limit are also a hazard, but not as great as the speeders. Cars that lose control and crash at higher speeds tend to do much more damage and involve more innocents in other cars than do those that lose control and crash at lower speeds.

midrange

oh no, i totally believe you.. People think they can drive fast and handle it.. but then realize when they are spinning that they can't... SOme poeple don't understand the factors you need to take when driving fast.. little things like changing lanes has to be taken more cautiously... and so on..

Moosexing

It is good to know where police sit (fishing holes), it reminds one to slow down.

"Headlight flash" to other drivers is very inconsiderate for the circumstances of what is trying to be accomplished. Just think if you see someone always "hammering" it down your street all the time, and you have children, then someone not living in your area, flashes their lights that particular day the cruiser is trying to "curb" the speed on your street, a few days later your loved one gets "smoked" as a the same vehicle above the speed limit strikes them for whatever reason (kid chasing a ball, loss of control on a blown tire, tie rod breaks). You would be the first to cry fowl.

Police are NOT glorified tax-collectors. This is one area as a whole that can not be deemed that. Can you get out of paying income tax? gas tax? alcohol tax? cigarette taxes? property tax? NO......however, if you obey all the rules of the road, you will never get a ticket, thus you won't pay a fine or this alledged "money grab" or "tax", one area that you can avoid all your life.


Most speed limits I've seen are very reasonable for the situation. I'm sure police, ambulance and fire are sick and tired of going to crashes and pulling out bodies, parts of bodies and seeing deceased persons, all because of an driver error. SPEED is involved in all collisions (if no vehicles were moving, no vehicles would touch).....and speed itself does not KILL, it's that sudden STOP!

Civic01

Sorry...if I'm not speeding or if I am and slow down before I get caught I ain't flashing. Why would I do that so if a copper is down the street I get a ticket for that. Sorry...I'll let the next poor sap get stuck with the ticket thank you.

gsrjay

When I decied to actually speed like 60-80 over I never seem to have a problem....its when i'm crusing at 20 over I get tickets...go figure