i know there's a video thread, but this seemed like it might warrant its own discussion.
basically, a group of GSU students shut down the atl perimeter by going the speed limit.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5366552067462745475&q=meditation+speed&pr=goog-sl

seems a little dangerous, but if some one were hurt, how do you think would the courts have ruled?

3/9/2006 11:16:10 PM

it would be funny to start a group called "Drive the Limit" where you go around and drive the speed limit. Basically doing what these people are doing.

3/9/2006 11:25:45 PM

i was doing the going rate of traffic around atlanta back in high school and it was 90mph bumper to bumper. i got where i needed to be mad quick.

3/9/2006 11:27:02 PM

me and a friend did that on the way back from when i got my gears done. i was only supposed to go 55, not like the jeep goes much faster, but yea, my buddy in a dakota rode in the other lane of a two lane highway and basically caused a traffic jam. people were pissed. flashing their high beams and honking.

all because we were going the speed limit

3/9/2006 11:28:46 PM

I really wanted to see some pictures or news footage from a helicopter to really get a scope of it.

3/9/2006 11:32:31 PM

here's an article from the ajc about the project:
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/atlanta/stories/0303metfilm.html

my favorite quote from the article:

Quote :

"David Spear, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, said if the students weren't blocking emergency vehicles and were going the speed limit, "they didn't do a thing wrong." Spear added that the speed limit was lowered to 55 because it saves lives. "In Atlanta, the actual effect of it is we expect the people going 75 to move over so the people going 95 can have the right of way," he said"

3/9/2006 11:39:59 PM

i'd actually be willing to put up with this sort of stuff for a while if it brought down our draconian speed enforcement and limitations

3/10/2006 12:05:23 AM

honestly our roads here arent good enough to raise the speed limits

3/10/2006 12:17:05 AM

I DRIVE 25 IN BATESVILLE

3/10/2006 1:11:16 AM

^^sure they are

3/10/2006 1:36:53 AM

Our drivers aren't competent enough to raise the speed limits

3/10/2006 2:11:39 AM

http://www.motorists.com/pressreleases/montana.html

The only part I question about comparing to the autobahn is that German's have a much more rigorous licensing process which generally makes them better drivers. The mentality is entirely different, though. Here, people mostly have a fear and an understanding to stay the hell out of the faster lanes or you'll get tailgated and run over. In the US, entirely too many dumbasses think they have a right to the left lane even if they aren't passing. It needs to start with the education of younger drivers and a more strenuous licensing process, and eventually over time I think we could migrate to a system where people learned to get the fuck over.

3/10/2006 4:32:17 AM

Quote :

"Our drivers aren't competent enough to raise the speed limits"

that an not every car can go 90mph safely.
to do 90+ you need to be a good driver (not a racecar driver, but know what not to do) and have a car that is designed to do 90+ and be able to stop within a reasonable distance when going 90+.(and not roll or go apeshit)

3/10/2006 8:35:37 AM

^^
http://americanautobahn.com/
great book for every angle relating to that discussion.


p.s. cops used to do this back in the day when the nationwide 55mph speed limit was put in place.

3/10/2006 9:04:08 AM

blocking all lanes going the speed limit killing the flow of traffic just to amuse yourself is g'damn gay

[Edited on March 10, 2006 at 9:07 AM. Reason : and pointless]

3/10/2006 9:07:22 AM

^^^ Do you drive in Raleigh? Not every car/driver here can do 45mph safely.

3/10/2006 10:42:12 AM

That video is retarded. Of course 55mph is too slow for the majority of vehicles, but as that quote from the traffic engineer demonstrated, the government has essentially given up on trying to accurately control traffic.

In the near future, photo checkpoints will be installed everywhere to catch speeders. (they're already used abroad and in a few areas of the united states) When they become more prevalent, people will demand an overhaul of the current arbitrary speed limits.

I personally favor a graduated lane system on divided highways. The speed limit would increase in each lane to the left, with commercial and 4x4 vehicles restricted to the right-most lane. The left-most lane should be reserved for passing and high speed traffic, with a reasonable speed limit.(perhaps as much as 80mph). Penalties should be severe enough to make the limit stick, but there should be some very accessible method for the public to contest arbitrarily low limits and petition for a change.

A perfect example of innane speed limits can be found just south of wake county. It's a 3-mile, completely straight 2-lane road that up until a few years ago was flanked by farmland. In the past I've confidently hit as much as 140mph on this empty road(I'm not saying this was a safe or recommended speed, I'm just saying that the road was that incredibly straight and well-paved). Even after houses were built I felt extremely confortable traveling 80mph since I could see any obstacle in my path for miles. Recently, the richer homeowners petitioned and the limit was dropped to 35mph...for 300 completely straight feet in the middle. Other areas of the road are still 55mph, even though there are just as many houses(albeit poor ones) and sharp curves. Wake County sherrifs have a field day on this road, and patrol it daily. It's a speed trap created by traffic officials caving to a few people's demands and not accurately setting a safe speed that encourages efficient transportation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anyway, when I'm driving...
Commercial vehicles & towing: 5mph under
Passenger cars/light trucks: 10 over
300zx: 20+ over

Conditions permitting for all of them, of course. If you don't like it I don't really care. As long as everyone stays out of my way I'll stay out of theirs.

3/10/2006 3:17:15 PM

this was on the national news days ago. So old it's rediculous.

3/10/2006 3:18:25 PM

isn't there a law that states the left lanes are for passing only, and that slower traffic should stay in the right lane?

3/10/2006 4:57:56 PM

Not in every state. I don't think it's so in NC, in fact.

[Edited on March 10, 2006 at 5:11 PM. Reason : it might also vary by road.]

3/10/2006 5:11:13 PM

you fucking speed nazis need to shut up its a fuggin interstate its not like you're making high g turns or anything. omg this sweeping turn has a 2 mile radius holy shit i could.... wait.. i could make it around this turn with only my knee on the wheel.

the speed limit should be 80-85 something like that

and they should have an i drive a pos or i'm old lane that they enforce moving shitty cars and old people into. & timid drivers.

3/10/2006 5:26:48 PM

something that no one has mentioned so far...

These people conduct this little experiment and the official even says that they've pretty much given up on the 55mph speed limit there. So, they've given up on the speed limit and let cars go 20+mph over consistently but as soon as a cop gets a bug up his butt, he can dole out as many tickets as he wants (all pretty major speeding tickets at that). Raising the speed limit to prevent somethign like that is another impact of the experiment

3/10/2006 6:03:00 PM

Summary of the effects of no daytime speed limits:

1.Fatal accident rates on these highways reached an all time low in modern times.

2.On 2 lane highways with no posted limits the frequency of multiple vehicle accidents dropped 5 percent.

3.Seat belt usage rose to 88% percent, with only a secondary enforcement law.

4.Posted limits and their enforcement, had either no or a negative effect on traffic safety.

5.As predicted by the engineering models, traffic speeds did not significantly change and remained consistent with other western states with like conditions.

6.The people of Montana and its visitors continued to drive at speeds they were comfortable with, which were often speeds lower than their counter parts on high density urban freeways* with low posted limits.

7.The theory behind posting speed limits on this classification of road is to reduce conflicts in traffic flow, thereby reducing accidents. The paradox is that the desired effect from posting speed limits was achieved by removing them.

3/10/2006 8:51:18 PM

Dear Pyro,

You simply cannot have cars travelling directly out of residential driveways onto a road with a 55 mph speed limit. Its bad.

Sincerely,

Mr. (Former) Access Management Project Engineer

3/10/2006 9:04:37 PM

^ for real

on Hwy 55 in Durham there's a few houses with driveways that open to the road with a speed limit of 45-55. Must really suck for them to pull out in the morning. You can't blame the homeowners for wanting to leave their houses safely.

3/10/2006 9:11:47 PM

sure you can. it's done all the time. i'm not familiar with that stretch of highway, but it's done all the time.

3/10/2006 9:14:01 PM

if you were familiar with 55 you would agree with them

3/10/2006 9:16:50 PM

I enforce the Tad speedlimit.

Meaning nobody goes faster than me.

bitches.

3/10/2006 10:17:57 PM

hey slut.. how fast did you get pulled for.... and where?

[Edited on March 10, 2006 at 10:24 PM. Reason : .]

3/10/2006 10:23:52 PM

^x6
Nah man, this is in the middle of nowhere. One house every 100 yards. I can count on one hand how many times I've actually seen another vehicle in motion on this road. I grew up right on a heavily travelled 55mph 2-lane road and never had a problem.

But forget that example. I think we can all agree that typically speed limits on divided highways are too low.

And yes traffic congestion will become a concern, actually reducing the safe speed. The solution to this, of course, is new/wider roads(an area in which NC has been lagging in recent years). It's a tough problem from many angles, but if something's not done soon all of Wake County will be 35mph.

[Edited on March 10, 2006 at 10:27 PM. Reason : .]

3/10/2006 10:26:04 PM

shmorri2

Montana lowered theirs to 75 again.
And while the number of accidents went down, the number of fatal accidents went up.

Also, Montana, statewide, has less daily traffic than Atlanta or DC have in an afternoon commute. It works there because there is SO little traffic. Have you driven through the state?

While I absolutely favor massive reform, most areas do not have the infrastructure to implement graduated lanes or autobahn like rules.

3/11/2006 11:01:24 AM

my dad was in a roadway design class recently. he said in terms of vehicles/minute, they calculated most efficient speed to be 45mph. anything faster, and you loose efficiency due to following distances, over-braking for slower cars, etc.

3/11/2006 12:29:22 PM

following distances? yeah this should be a problem but there are plenty of people willing to follow 30 ft behind someone while going over 80

3/11/2006 2:39:24 PM

I'm all for enforcing the "leave ten minutes earlier so you don't have to drive like a dumbass" rule

3/11/2006 4:15:36 PM

^^that be me and if you got a problem with it you can suck my cock

[Edited on March 11, 2006 at 4:18 PM. Reason : i do stay in the right lane tho]

3/11/2006 4:17:44 PM

Quote :

"this was on the national news days ago. So old it's rediculous."

old like your subaru powered 2002? whens that shit coming together again? seems like it should have been by now...

[Edited on March 11, 2006 at 8:58 PM. Reason : *]

3/11/2006 8:58:30 PM

yeah slmorrio will be driving a sbc powered 944 soon, wheres the bmwaru at noen?

3/11/2006 9:00:51 PM

run what ya brung bitches

3/11/2006 9:37:20 PM

awwwww snap

I can't say anything, I've got a couple of unfinished projects myself.

3/11/2006 10:38:18 PM

"bmwaru" huh?

3/11/2006 10:58:16 PM

bmw/subaru

from what i've seen it's a subaru engine that's gonna get squeezed into a bmw? i dunno, i've just seen it and it looks like it'll be fun

3/11/2006 11:02:18 PM

pics,links? Has this been done before?

3/11/2006 11:06:54 PM

its a forester drivetrain going into a 2002.

3/11/2006 11:08:04 PM

Why? thought thoes 2002 were pretty cool as delivered? To each there own. Sounds like a real pita though. Forester motor turbo charged?

3/11/2006 11:11:02 PM