Have you ever thought a speed limit was too fast?

[2o6]

Have you ever thought a speed limit was too fast?


Simple question. I was driving along a side street and I actually thought 25MPH was too fast.

[dazzleman]

There have been a couple of times, maybe, but it happens very rarely.  I think it's much more common that the speed limit is on the low side.

[ifcar]

When I first started driving, there were a few streets where I felt the limit could have been lower. All were windy back roads and I wasn't fully comfortable taking the Caravan around them at the full limit. So I just drove under the limit at those points. "Speed limit" technically just means the maximum anyway. There are almost no streets where 25 would be too high; usually it's unrealistically low.


However, just today I was on some roads with limits that seemed questionably high. I'd gone out to a rural part of the county to look for some twisty back roads, and some of them were essentially driveways with 35 mph speed limits. That seemed questionable, especially because the main road in the area was 30. (More political pressure on the street people actually use, I suppose.)

[Raza]

Haven't run into anything that's unreasonable.  Sometimes in 25s, 25 is too fast (kids at play, snow, et al), and the same can be said for any road depending on conditions.  Conditions are the real speed limits.

[Eye of the Tiger]

Yes. Right in front of my apt is one of them. It's 25 here, but if you go that fast, there is a 100% chance that you will hit one of the 3-foot-tall Somalian kids that run around between he parked cars unsupervised at all hours of the day and night.

[VTEC_Inside]

Yep. There have been a few times (not too often) that I've thought the limit on a particular road was a bit high.

Often irks me more as there are several roads where I feel the limit is too slow.

[S204STi]

I can remember a few times thinking, "Wow, XXmph is wicked fast for this road... I'm barely comfortable at that speed," on a few occasions.  And I generally drive 5mph over the posted limit at all times, and I don't see the yellow signs if you get my drift.

[S204STi]

Yes. Right in front of my apt is one of them. It's 25 here, but if you go that fast, there is a 100% chance that you will hit one of the 3-foot-tall Somalian kids that run around between he parked cars unsupervised at all hours of the day and night.

lol

[SVT_Power]

I can remember a few times thinking, "Wow, XXmph is wicked fast for this road... I'm barely comfortable at that speed," on a few occasions.  And I generally drive 5mph over the posted limit at all times, and I don't see the yellow signs if you get my drift.

I dunno if the yellow signs are the same as here ("recommended speed limit"), but by definition I thought you didn't have to keep to that speed....

[SVT_Power]

and as much as I like to speed (admittedly a little way too much  ), even I've found roads where I clearly see kids running around on the sidewalk and felt like the speed limit was too high. Small residential streets are the only ones I won't go over the speed limit at all on.

[ifcar]

I dunno if the yellow signs are the same as here ("recommended speed limit"), but by definition I thought you didn't have to keep to that speed....

Maryland law is that you're only in trouble if you crash going above the recommended speed on the yellow sign.

[Raza]

Just because there are kids playing on the street doesn't mean the limit is too high.  You slow down when there are kids, or when kids are likely to be there.  Does that mean that a residential street's 25mph speed limit is too high at 3AM?  No.  

Hell, most people (and I mean people; 40 year olds in SUVs and minivans, adults with children, et al) do 40 in my neighborhood and roll stop signs.  I'm the only one who does 25-30 and makes full stops at stop signs.

[S204STi]

I dunno if the yellow signs are the same as here ("recommended speed limit"), but by definition I thought you didn't have to keep to that speed....

What I mean is that even if there is a lower recommended speed for a corner I tend to judge it myself and decide whether I need to brake or not, so most of the time those signs are irrelevant to me.  In the winter I am a tad more cautious of course.

[Raza]

What I mean is that even if there is a lower recommended speed for a corner I tend to judge it myself and decide whether I need to brake or not, so most of the time those signs are irrelevant to me.  In the winter I am a tad more cautious of course.

I use them to benchmark turn speed.  Usually, twice recommended is a good speed for the corner.

[omicron]

Inner-city suburbs, certainly, especially when the limit was 60km/h (37.3mph).

[93JC]

All residential streets are by default 50 km/h max., however I'd never go that fast. The frequency of inattentive pedestrians is too high, the roads too narrow, and there are too many parked cars on both sides of the street to be able to adequately anticipate potential hazards on the sidewalks. I usually go about 30 km/h on any given residential road, sometimes up to 40 on my own street (because I know the hazards well enough).

There are a few roads in disrepair where the posted limit is too high, practically speaking. The frost-heaved asphalt is like a row of speed bumps.

[SVT_Power]

Maryland law is that you're only in trouble if you crash going above the recommended speed on the yellow sign.

my dad got a ticket for going too fast on the off ramp (i didn't even know that was possible)

[Tave]

Barring road damage, I don't think so. At least not very often.

If it's worth anything, I drive plenty of roads with reasonable limits, IMO.

[dazzleman]

my dad got a ticket for going too fast on the off ramp (i didn't even know that was possible)

I guess disregard for speed laws runs in your family....

[James Young]

Given the conditions that obtain when limits were set, no, I have never seen a posted speed limit that even approached the 85th and 95th percentile speeds that engineers use much less the design speed.  I have noticed that there are certain roads in Temecula that are posted at 55 mph (Rancho California Road) that would be posted at 40 or even 30 mph in OK or TX.  Since the 85th percentile speeds along RCR are closer to 65 mph that just goes to show what morons set the limits in OK and TX.

[Speed_Racer]

Driving through upstate NY on their back roads this summer, many revert to the "State Speed Limit" of 55 mph. There were a few times when I was going 40 and felt that it was plenty fast enough (within the limits of safety). But the roads had plenty of passing zones, making traffic backups non-existant.

[The Bartender]

Most states have overall regualtions in effect that residential side streets HAVE to be set at 25MPH, and this makes sense in most cases.  You are going to have too many distractions, kids, pets, people backing out of driveways, etc, etc.
Oddly, in MD, at least, any limit below 25 MPH is not enforceable by the police.  (I can't recall the source on that, but I read it just a few weeks ago.)

THere is one back road in my area that is posted at 50 that I feel uncomfortable doing over 45 or so.

As mentioned above, the road conditions are the most important factor.  You can be ticketed for "Driving too fast for existing conditions" in many states, regardless of the speed limit, if the officer feels you should have been going slower due to rain, fog, snow/ice or other hazards.

[Byteme]

Have you ever thought a speed limit was too fast?


Simple question. I was driving along a side street and I actually thought 25MPH was too fast.

The speed limit in our subdivision is 30 MPH.  I never drive that fast there becasue of the number of cars parked at the curb and the number of kids out and about.  I generally go 20-25 through our subdivision.

The street behind our old house was 3 lanes each way, but with stop lights every quarter mile or so.  It was, and is, a main route for trucks and thru traffic, plus there are subdivisions on each side so there is a lot of traffic entering and leaving the street. For years the limit was 55 which I thought too fast for conditions and general traffic volume.  I guess the city finally agreed because it was lowered to 45 a few years ago. .

[eThirteen]

Small residential streets are the only ones I won't go over the speed limit at all on.

LIAR.

[Raza]

Hell, I've taken to speeding in my neighborhood on the way to and from work.  In the morning, at most there will be high school kids waiting for the bus, and by the time I get back, everyone's inside having dinner.  No point in tiptoeing if no one is going to hear you anyway. 

During the weekend, I drive at 25-30 though. 

[ChrisV]

I've never found a posted speed limit that was too high. A posted limit that is higher that you want to go merely means that if it's prudent you can go faster. In fact, I'd prefer that to be the case everywhere, and enforcement based on reasonable and prudent for the conditions. A posted limit that is higher than you want to go allows for judgement, and the reality of a new Lotus Elise on sticky tires being more competent a mount to decide from than a beater Cavalier. I hate limits that are based on forcing everyone to the limits of that beater Cavalier. The reason we HAVE lowest common denomintor drivers, is we force everyone to BE lowest common denominator.

[TBR]

Barring road damage, I don't think so. At least not very often.

If it's worth anything, I drive plenty of roads with reasonable limits, IMO.

University between North Point and Shattalon. It's a surface street with frequent heavy traffic as well as a large shopping center and two busy lights yet has a 55 mph speed limit. A lot of times 55 is safe, but during peak times it isn't, imho.

[omicron]

I've never found a posted speed limit that was too high. A posted limit that is higher that you want to go merely means that if it's prudent you can go faster. In fact, I'd prefer that to be the case everywhere, and enforcement based on reasonable and prudent for the conditions. A posted limit that is higher than you want to go allows for judgement, and the reality of a new Lotus Elise on sticky tires being more competent a mount to decide from than a beater Cavalier. I hate limits that are based on forcing everyone to the limits of that beater Cavalier. The reason we HAVE lowest common denomintor drivers, is we force everyone to BE lowest common denominator.

One could argue that, if the state is subsidising your medical expenses should you be involved in an accident, then it has an obligation to the taxpayers to mitigate their financial burden by ensuring drivers and passengers are less likely to suffer the severe (and expensive) injuries more likely in 60mph crashes relative to 50mph ones, or 35mph ones relative to 25mph ones.

Playing devil's advocate, mind.

[JWC]

The speed limit for the street at the end of my block is too high in my opinion for the location.  It used to be a 25mph zone, about two years ago it was raised to 35mph.   The logic of increasing the limit escapes me.  The street goes from 25mph, then to 35mph just before it gets to a elementary school playground, then the street ends at another cross street, with a stop sign and you have to turn left or right.  For about 300 yards, it is 35mph.  Makes no sense.

[93JC]

I found a speed limit that is infuriatingly low.

There's a four-lane, separated stretch of a road called Elbow Drive that is a measly 30-40 km/h (19-25 mph). It should be 50 km/h (31 mph), and you could easily travel at 60 km/h (37 mph) in light traffic.