WEBSRFR

Just read this article about a road in Texas that will have an 85 mph speed limit. I envy the W212 drivers who get to drive on that road Some of the speed limits in some parts of the country are ridiculous and they are just a scheme for generating tax revenue by way of tickets.

Our cars just float down the highway around 80-85 and it would be nice to see more reasonable speed limits. Especially on vast long stretches of highways with light traffic that connect cities spread across great distances.

Hopefully one day we will see stretches of road similar to the Autobahn...

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012...in-nation?lite

hyperion667

that's pretty cool.......those LONG open stretches are grueling I'm sure.....would help do be able to go that speed without being hassled.....

your Autobahn ref reminded me of why that road was built.........gotta love the Germans......well.........unless they were coming to invade you.....

BenzV12

I think some long stretch roads autobahn , large highways can be limitless or limited up to 140 mph , I see no harm doing that unless you drive recklessly which you should not
Driving taking for granted and keeping your eyes off the road for various reasons are way more dangerous than going over 20 mph above posted speed limit

BM2BZ

read the same article earlier today and have heard "everything is bigger is texas" for years but i want to know what is really bigger in texas .

telemakhos

The highway patrol is pretty good around my area and allows drivers to go 80 mph without pulling them over despite the official limit being 62 mph.

Arrie

About those Autobahns in germany.

The road, the bahn, might have no speed limit meaning you can go as fast as you can, WRONG!!!!

With the amazing E Class you pretty much can but in Germany the cars have speed limit by the model. Each car model has the constructional max speed the car is allowed to go.

So, when you see the light colored round sign with four diagonal lines across it that cancels all limits you need to know what your car's constructional max speed limit is. If you go faster than that you get a ticket.

On rental cars there is a sticker at right or left top corner of the windshield that tells you the speed limit for the car.

Also is some cars there is a warning sticker telling about the max speed of the tires.

Nuru

Yep these cars are quite smooth at 80 - 90 mph.

amdeutsch

Some car manufacturer's have limiters in cars, others don't: Porsche, Ferrari, Lambo, etc. Constructional limit is pure . Hit something bigger than you and you'll find out.
If you are caught driving in an unsafe manner you'll get booked regardless.


Correct. rental usually have a sticker but not always. if you rent econo boxes versus Luxury/sport cars.

Regarding tires that is identified by the speed rating letter in most cases.


And while you are at it you forgot the roving speedlimits during rush hour around cities on the Autobahn. Its a misnomer thinking there are none.

mnje350

It will never happen. While I have spent many enjoyable hours on the autobahn in some of the best cars Germany has to offer, and have wished to be able to experience the capabilities of our cars over here, the typical American driver has no concept of what high speed traffic is all about. When you consider that many drivers have no driving education whatsoever, it makes one ponder the chaos that could and would happen. An unlimited speed restriction would require a cultural change to driving habits and the upkeep of the cars that are on our roads over here.

Just my opinion.

WEBSRFR

I agree with you to some extent...

The cultural change I'd like to see is a move away from simply ticketing someone going fast in a straight line minding his own business to aggressively ticketing people who tailgate, cut people off, change lanes without signalling and generally driving like they own the road with no regard for other people on the road. I think it is these people who actually cause accidents.

It is lazy for the police to pull over someone driving 20 mph over the limit safely and causing no harm to others when the people who drive all over the road and zig-zag aggressively in and out of traffic are the people who cause accidents.

I believe the key here is money. The current system is ripe for abuse because politicians and little towns end of turning to frivolous speeding tickets for revenue. As long as they have a financial incentive they are going to ticket to make money and not necessarily to keep roads safe.

If we ever have a system where perhaps all ticket revenue goes to hospitals or some other cause and the politicians, small towns, and police departments no longer make money from tickets I think the whole ticket writing mentality will chance to one motivated by profit to one motivated by going after unsafe and dangerous drivers because it is those people who make our roads dangerous.

If people just do 3 small things our roads can easily handle higher speed limits:

1) Not tailgate and always follow a safe distance.
2) Signal and change lanes responsibly without getting in the way of traffic
3) slower traffic keep right

ttoE550

You know, I'd like to believe you, but I'm convinced that American drivers are, at best, oblivious and, at worst, are unbelievably stupid morons. For more than four years, I drove home at about 4 pm on the Mass Pike in Massachusetts going west from Boston. That was shift change for the state troopers, and I was going in the same direction as their station. These police
folks were in a hurry to get home, so they'd do about 75 mph; the folks around them would do 55 to avoid a ticket.

Naturally, they would come across some friggin idiot camping in the left lane talking on a cell phone. Behind them was an impatient cop with lights AND siren burping. It would be like that for miles. The idiot had no clue there was anyone behind him, much less a cop with lights and siren. In the rare case that someone did see the cop, the first reaction was to pull into the right lane. That's right, pull into the right lane, not check to see if someone was already in the right lane. Mayhem at 55 mph. Every. Friggin. Day.

I've been stuck behind two cars doing 55 mph side by side for miles in a 65 mph zone. It wasn't malicious, as soon as I purposely hit the rumble strips, the car in front realized what they were doing and got out of the way. I think the laws regarding slower traffic kep left ought to be enforced more carefully, perhaps prosecuting offenders with aggressive driving violations.

WEBSRFR

It has to start somewhere. I refuse to acknowledge that we are inherently incapable of driving as well as the Germans, with proper education and meaningful enforcement.

I am all for tougher license requirements and ensuring we have educated drivers on the roads but my point is we are not solving this issue as long as the system is built to financially reward law enforcement and local politicians for enforcement action that has little to do with safety. Ticketing some guy going 15 over the limit on a straight road with no one in sight makes no one safe but it just brings in more revenue.

I live in the DC area, home of the nations worst traffic and perhaps drivers but I still think even around here, most of the drivers mind their own business and are careful. Who wants to get in an accident? I think the safety issue has more to do with people who drive recklessly and that does not necessarily have anything to do with speed.

I am sure the same way we have morons in America who can't drive, they exist in Germany and other countries as well. What I'd like to see is more enforcement of actual dangerous driving like those idiots who zig zag in and out of traffic and tailgate people.

The speed laws are basically absurd. If you drive on I-270 when there is moderate traffic, on a road where the speed limit is 55, basically everyone drives around 75 and for the most part drives safely and carefully with the exception of the very few idiots that actually drive recklessly.

In any case, it would be nice to see more roads with 85 mph speed limits when it is safe to do so... People already drive around 70-75 on most highways but the problems is that makes 80% or more drivers susceptible to getting a ticket at the whim of a police officer.

hyperion667

I say: throw away the laws of driving.........do what you want behind the wheel.....and if you kill someone because of it.......get the death penalty.......

yes, not realistic......

problem solved.... 'weed 'em out'



the meek shall inheirit the earth haha...

mnje350

All very accurate points. While I feel that there is no reason an American isn't capable of achieving the discipline that the German drivers have I just don't ever see it happening. Here are a couple of additional reasons.

1. Driver education in Germany, Europe in general for that matter, costs the student thousands of dollars. A drivers license is difficult to obtain. Here in the US, they will give anyone a drivers license. In some states, if you are of a certain age, you don't even have to demonstrate you know the difference between the accelerator and the brake pedals.

2. Far fewer drivers in total and significantly more expensive to drive, buy a car and maintain it. While this does not imply skill, in general, the average driver in Germany has a higher education level.

I totally agree that speed alone is not the issue. It is the total lack of discipline in the driving environment in the US that when combined with high speed is the deadly combination.

Could our culture change, sure. But not in my lifetime. Just my opinion.

Arrie

I did not forget anything. I don't think my message says thetre are no speed limits on Autobahns in Germany. I think I mention that sign with diagonal lines that cancels all limits so before that sign there were limits, right?

What about your roving speed limits I'm not sure what you mean but there are electronic speed limist around cities that change according to the traffic conditions.

I have not checked if it is a law or some sort of a rule that rental cars in Germany must display the max speed limit for the cars but every car I rented in germany had this sticker regardless of what kind of a car it was. And there has been many cars I have rented in germany.

Karl901

Just getting out of the left lane would be nice. No law enforcement in the USA enforce this traffic law. Doing this would be a start. If your old enough you can remember before 1973 55 speed limits the cops actually ticketed people for going slow in the left lane.

Nuru

Yep, but now there are a lot more cars and the police really want to go after the easy ones, not the more difficult ones. Think of it as a predator going after the closer prey.

WEBSRFR

Now they sit on the side of the road in many places in the DC area with a camera setup in front of their car. They eat donuts while collecting tax from people driving past who might go 10 mph over the limit. Absolutely no law enforcement anymore. At least they are treating this transaction like the tax that it is

hyperion667

I guess the answer is to OBEY!!!!

......and consume too

Karl901

Hyperion667,
If you drive a CLS63 2012, and Obey, then sell that beast!

hyperion667

you know what bugs me (putting ice cream down)
are the stupid trooper stickers people plaster on their
car with the hope of not getting a ticket if they get pulled for something.......in my state anyway.....the one that's ranked 50th in highway quality........

hyperion667

haha, I was actually rompin' this morning in my GROW car......I could only imagine the transformation a tune would conjure