Comment on Virginia passes law to enforce maximum vehicle speeds for repeat speeders
chonkyninja@lemmy.world 23 hours agoPermit speeding? US laws literally say the speed limit is the 90th percentile of the flow of traffic. The number on the sign is a suggestion, a safe one.
notabot@lemm.ee 22 hours ago
There’s nothing on that page that says the speed limit is the 85% percentile of the traffic flow. It states quite clearly that ‘Statutory speed limits are established by State legislatures for specific types of roads (e.g., Interstates, rural highways, urban streets) and can vary from State to State. They are enforceable by law and are applicable even if the speed limit sign is not posted’ and ‘Posted speed limits (sometimes called regulatory speed limits) are those that are sign-posted along the road and are enforceable by law.’
Those speed limits are initially set based on the design speed of the road, then later they can be assessed and possibly modified based on a number of factors including the 85% percentile you referenced, however’ ‘The 85th percentile speed is not the only factor practitioners evaluate when determining an appropriate speed limit; they complete engineering speed studies and often utilize supporting tools like USLIMITS2.’
Critically though, none of this means you can just drive at the prevailing speed of the traffic if it’s above the statutory or posted limit and not be considered to be speeding. The 85% percentile may be used to set the speed limit, but when it’s set, it’s the law.
chonkyninja@lemmy.world 13 hours ago
Yet I have zero moving violations at age 45, and I drive fast as fuck. I’ve even been pulled over, no mention of speed, just a quick “where’s your front plate” question.
notabot@lemm.ee 10 hours ago
What the law says, and what gets enforced are, unfirtunately, sometimes very different things. Sometimes that works in your favor, sometimes it doesn’t.
chonkyninja@lemmy.world 4 hours ago
Can’t wait for someone to get on the freeway and be unable to merge and properly control their vehicle when traffic is fast. This dumb as law is creating the same issue it’s pretending to solve.