Oct 18, 2005

What is the limit?



(Pic adopted from Angelfire)

I always wondered what the real meaning of 'speed limit' is .. All those who drive in US know that one can drive upto 15 miles more than the actual 'speed limit'.. why the hassle of putting some number and making the driver to add 15 to it? Wouldnt it be much better if the sign boards change to, say, 'Maximum speed 84' at the freeways? It is not like the IST (Saw in Srivatsan's page: Indian Stretchable Time). In a country like US where time, etc. are followed nicely, why not this speed?

12 comments:

Balaji said...

"All those who drive in US know that one can drive upto 15 miles more than the actual 'speed limit'" - not really true. in theory u can be ticketed for driving even 1 mph over the limit and i've known cases where guys were ticketed for going @ less than 5mph over the speed limit. so 'speed limit 70' does actually mean 'maximum speed 70' :)

Raju said...

Balaji, appadiya? Oops.. nalla velai sonneenga.. Then the post becomes only partially valid.. may be only for eastern US.

I know that in Florida the max. speed is speed limit + 15.. I was also told by a friend that he drove from our place to NYC mostly on 'Auto mode' keeping the speed at 82 mph. My favorite zone is from 81-84 mph. Florida has almost no 'Radar detection'... but in Georgia I saw a few radar readers on the way to Atlanta. On the way back from Atlanta, my speed exceeded 90 quite a lot of times and even then a few vehicles overtook me. (just for a couple of secs, I made it touch 100, for kick) :-)

Anonymous said...

yeah, balaji is right. I know in Florida, the consensus is that you can get a ticket with speed of 10mph more than the speed limit.but its more stricter in neighborhood areas, if it says 30mph there, try to go close to 30mph, unless you are very sure there are no cops around. yesterday, my friend was telling me how he drove at 35mph at 30mph zone, and one police copcar was on a private area, he thought it was the cops house, but suddenly he came behind him with the lights, and gave him a $80 ticket. I usually hate the 30mph speed limit in areas, since Florida is filled with old people, and my neighborhood is filled with old people. they tend to follow the speed limit strictly, which pisses me off, when I am coming back from college sweating in the hot sun.

Raju said...

Nitin , OK.. this post is leading into a different direction into what I thought about while posting it. I better be careful.. Rarely do I stick to the speed limit but I think the Gainesville police department guys are more generous.. (The average age of a Gainesville citizen is 27, which tells the huge University population and thus more youngsters.) Since the most parts of the city around university is full of apartments, mostly students live here.. so not very strict rules.. Still, I gotta be consciously careful. (My wife will be very happy with the outcome of this post). :-)

tt_giant said...

I never go more than the limit in neighborhoods. Its just too risky. Highways and main roads, is a different matter, but only when it is safe for some distance.

More than interstates, I like driving on state roads. Less people, almost non-existent towns. And the limit is 70. The max I have done till now is 125 on a state road, and there was absolutely no one on the road.

Vehicle efficiency peaks at 65 mph and for every 10 mph more, you spend around 5c per mile more than usual.

Now who in the world would dispute this above statement?. he he.

Drive safe.

ada-paavi!!!! said...

india its a diff matter, here day time speed limit is 40km\h and nite time is 50km\h,
most ppl arent aware of it
those who are aware like me, follow it only if there is a cop with the speed gun rnd (this is only at specific locations, so we can kinda predict and reduce speed then, example mountroad, after spencers between 11 amd and 2 pm)
otherwise ppl like me can drive bikes at twice the speed limit,
so what is the point?? cops can catch ppl and earn some money

Ram C said...

If you put 84, people will still think of going higher.. Eventhough the flight tickets have 20 kgs as permissible weight for check-in luggages, they permit 10-12kgs more.. They could have directly put 30kgs, isn't it? I believe they are used to put a limit and stretch it further.

Raju said...

Deepak, I have so far always added Speed Limit + 15 wherever - neighborhood, state roads,interstates.. I read that in the "Florida drivers' handbook" so took it for granted. Will be more careful now on. What you said about state roads is true.. Nice info on the 65 mph mark.. however disputable it is..:-)

Vatsan, I didnt know about the day and nite speed limits in India...good to know that.. 40 and 50 km/h.. Oh man, when I drive there, I would feel as if I am crawling.. If cops catch here, they earn money for their state, not for themselves..

Ram, thats why I chose different terms (Max. speed vs Speed Limit) to stop stretchability. Your comparison with the luggage is true but dont they follow it strictly nowadays?

Balaji said...

raju, looks like cops r more lenient in FL. good for u :)
btw, hurricane wilma... unga areala no scares i hope?

Raju said...

Balaji, yeah.. IMHO, the cops here are leniant as far as speed is concerned.. but they patrol even at midnight for crossing the red signal, etc..

Hurricane Wilma, according to this picture, seems to be in a mood to spare us. I am keeping the fingers crossed, since it is gonna be quite sometime before it takes the square turn towards Florida after touching Mexico..

tt_giant said...

inga wilma aappu adikum nu nanaikaren. by saturday it would be close to FL.

Raju said...

Deepak, mm.. I saw that.. Good you are 'escape' before Wilma smells Florida. :-) We in North Central Florida need to keep a close watch on it..