From: nau@ssesco.com (William Nau)
Subject: Re: NJ's Guv Jim says no to 65, was Re: speed limit
Organization: SSESCO
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1992 19:24:34 GMT

In article <1992Sep30.170429.29323@watson.ibm.com>, lpickup@xanadu.btv.ibm.com (Lance Pickup) writes:
|> In article <1992Sep30.030621.9627@cabot.balltown.cma.COM>, welty@cabot.balltown.cma.COM (richard welty) writes:
|> |> In article <1992Sep29.181822.28330@watson.ibm.com> lpickup@vnet.ibm.com writes:
|> |> >In article <1992Sep29.155533.7838@porthos.cc.bellcore.com>, whs70@dancer.uucp (22501-sohl) writes:
|> |> >|>                                             Those that favor keeping
|> |> >|> it 55 rely on the old theory that if the everyone is driving 65 now when
|> |> >|> the limit is 55, then they will all go 75 if the limit is 65.  That
|> |> >|> has not proven to be the case at all in those states (over 40)
|> |> >|> that now have 65.
|> |>
|> |> >It hasn't??  Not that I'm against 65 or anything, but in the states
|> |> >that I've driven in which have 65 (mostly VT, NH and the states down
|> |> >the east coast: VA, NC, SC) people sure aren't going 65!
|> |>
|> |> i've got news for you.  here in NY, and in PA (both 55 states where i
|> |> drive a lot) they're not going 65 either.  they're going between
|> |> 65 and 70 (10 to 15 over.)
|> |>
|> |> the statistics show that when the speed limit went up 10 mph  (from
|> |> 55 to 65) the average speed went up 2 to 3 mph.  not quite what the
|> |> doomsayers were predicting.
|> 
|> Okay, let me be more specific.  Admittedly I don't have access to
|> these "statistics" that are being quoted that say the speed went up
|> a few miles per hour (and I'm not saying that they aren't real either!)
|> but my experience has been that before the speed limit change, the
|> average speed "appeared" to be about 10 miles above the speed limit
|> (i.e. 65).  Now that the speed limit is 65, it still "appears" to
|> be 10 miles above the speed limit (i.e. 75).  What is my definition
|> of "appears?"  Well, I typically go about that fast, and I find
|> that about half the cars I pass, and half the cars pass me,
|> so I figure I'm about average.  Granted, not a highly scientific
|> analsys, but at least it's my own perception, and I can trust that
|> a lot more than I can some propaganda some special interest group
|> or another may be floating my way.
|> 
|> I think that I would have noticed that I was driving faster than
|> most cars if I was the only one who drove 10 mph faster when they
|> raised the speed limit.  But that has not been the case with me.
|> What I have noticed is that it pretty much seems the same as it
|> used to be.  Take this for what it's worth--just one guy's
|> perceptions.  Sometimes though that gives a better indication of
|> what is actually going on than some published statistics from who
|> knows where!
|> 
|> --
|>     ...Lance
|> 
|> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
|> Lance Pickup                VNET/IBM Internet: lpickup@btv
|> IBM/Vendor Systems                   Internet: lpickup@vnet.ibm.com
|> Technology Products
|> Burlington, VT                          Phone: (802) 769-7104 (tie 446)
|> -----------------------------------------------------------------------

I'd bet it varies a lot from one part of the country to another.  From one
road to another.  From one time of day to another.  Hell, we have a lot of
people that actually do 55 in a 55 and 65 in a 65.  Then there's the occational
ass that does 40 in a 55, but that's another story.
Newsgroups: rec.autos