New Iowa Speed Limit

C

CharlesW

The Rainmaker
Good:
As of July 1, 2005, the speed limit on Interstate highways in Iowa was raised to 70 mph. :bigups
Good:
The traffic fatalities for the July 4th weekend were the lowest they have been in 10 years!:bigups
Good
Since numbers don't lie, (according to all those that claimed the lower speed limits were necessary to reduce fatalaties), the higher speed limits must be beneficial for safety reasons. :bigups
Not so good:
Those same people will find a way to twist the statistics around to show how the higher speed limit is unsafe.
Also not so good:
The speed limit on the Interstate adjacent to cities and their suburbs remains at 65. The local police of our suburbs spend much of their time running speed traps on the Interstates. For some reason. I thought the Interstates were the responsibility of the Iowa Highway Patrol. :confused:
I'm sure the increased revenue from the fines that the suburbs are able to pick up has nothing to do with their money-grubbing practice. ;)

And no, I didn't get a ticket. :)

Charles
 
Speed doesn't kill, stupidity does. The faster you drive the more you're forced to concentrate. The US needs to have traffic laws like Germany. Current laws do NOTHING to prevent accident. We've had the no cell phone law for a couple years in NY. I see a TON of people still talking on their cell phones and don't know one person that has ever got a ticket from one. I can go on forever about people I know who got no front plate, tinted windows, blue lights, etc tickets that are easy money generators. I don't know anybody who's ever been killed or been in an accident because a car had no front plate. Auto makers also need to get rid of cup holders/vanity mirrors/front storage bins that encourage distracted driving. At the auto show, you could tell cup holders where an afterthought in German cars. American cars are designed around the cup holder. That's the end of my driver/law enforcemtn rant.
 
It's about time they get with the program, but will anyone go that fast. Last time I went through Iowa no one went 65 even. Except once IIRC it was around Thanksgiving weekend, I was pacing traffic in the 90s from Iowa City all the way to NE that was nice.
 
Dozerboy said:
It's about time they get with the program, but will anyone go that fast. Last time I went through Iowa no one went 65 even. Except once IIRC it was around Thanksgiving weekend, I was pacing traffic in the 90s from Iowa City all the way to NE that was nice.
Click to expand...
At 7:00 AM on a Thursday on the I-35/I-80 loop around the North and West part of Des Moines I passed 7 vehicles and was passed by 24. No big deal except I was running 75 mph in the 65 area. If you drive 55(posted speed limit) on the 235 Freeway or 65 on the Interstate you will be a traffic hazard. 10 mph over the posted speed has been the norm for quite some time. Fines are now in the $75 to $100 range for 5 to 20 miles over the speed limit.
They can really make some money now.

Charles
 
I agree that Germany's carmakers knew what was going on years ago. Two generations ago you couldn't get a cupholder in a BMW.
 
This is an old argument. The roads we drive on were designed over 50 years ago for cars that didn't handle as well as even the lowliest xxxxbox cars produced today AND the speed limits were higher then. A 10-15mph increase in current speed limits is not at all unreasonable. My lowly cavalier is rock solid at 80 mph and I have the training and experience to travel safely at higher speeds.

Here is the problem, *I* have a well maintained car, and I am qualified to drive fast. I'm sure 99% of the other people who will read this post also have cars that are meticulously maintained mechanically and operate at 100%. Also, most people who have an automotive hobby usually have more than one (I.E. detailing + autocross, mechanical modifications + road courses etc) and are more likely to have gained some kind of knowledge of how to drive safely at higher speeds. If you may have also noticed, the guys that are in the performance oriented area of the automotive hobby keep their cars/equipment clean & detailed maybe not to the extreme show car level, but they are well detailed just the same (I think I'm trying to say that detailing nuts aren't that far off of being performance nuts)

Now, the first rule of driving fast is to PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR SURROUNDINGS. Personally I scan from the car ahead of me to the horizon on the roadway & back which can be as much as 2 miles ahead or more. I look through the windows of the car ahead of me to see what's right in front of them (Sometimes before they do) and I can see what is going on well enough ahead of me to be ready to react. I can see what the cars to the sides of me are doing out of my peripherial vision and mirrors, if you stare at the bumper of the car in front of you, you don't have a clue about what's coming up next. Those silly little convex stick-on mirrors you put on your side mirrors are actually a great saftey feature because (if you're paying attention) they will alert you to movement in your blind spots. Not least of all, I anticipate other drivers doing something completely stupid.

All I'm trying to say is that if you can see trouble coming ahead of time, your chances of staying out of it are infinately higher.

I'm going to quit before I go into a complete & total rant. But basically a car in good mechanical condition with a driver who is paying attention can easily travel at much higher speeds than those posted on our roadways. But in truth, how often are those two minimum requirements actually met??
 
klnyc said:
I agree, we should copy like German do. No cup holder no stupid vanity mirror.
Click to expand...
No vanity mirror might be a problem.
Can you imagine one of these women trying to juggle their compact, eye shadow and a donut while doing 80 mph in the traffic. I guess she could still blow the horn with her elbow.

Charles :D
 
Oh boy, here I go.

When speed zones are determined in a specific area, a lot of factors weigh in. One thing that stands out is speed zones are posted at a rate that can usually handle a higher speed in that specific area. If an area is posted at 70MPH, the officials in that area expect traffic to travel at up to 80MPH. Most states also have to have a minimum speed because some old timers feel the limit is too fast. If you're going 70 and someone in front of you is going 40, it's amazing how fast you can close on them.

I was going to my fourth of July fireworks shoot with about $10K worth of commercial fireworks in my trailer and a middle aged woman almost took me out in her Suburban while putting on her makeup in the "vanity" mirror. After having a brief road rage :doubleduc word war out the window...I felt much better.

Speed does kill. Don't make me find statistics on it because It's not hard. Like everyone says, it IS usually the idiots/distracted/poorly trained drivers that bump up the death/injured toll on our streets and highways. Some idiots just cannot understand that you can get a ticket doing 60 in a 70. The maximum speed limit is designed for ideal and perfect weather conditions. If it's icey or pouring cats and dogs, you should drive slower. Some drivers cant get this in their heads and that's when I visit them in the back of my ambulance. I've heard a hundred times "I guess I was driving too fast"

I usually drive 6-10 over myself, but being a commercial driver and having extensive defensive driving courses, you learn to become aware of your surroundings. Like Don said, anticipating a bad drivers next move is almost commical...they are so predictable!

Mike
 
another reason to accidents resulting from high speeds is the jerks who see traffic moving at 40-50miles an hour (due to congestion) and decide to still wanna drive 70 cutting in and out.

when ive driven with no music, alone in the car, and no distraction i drive more attent and feel fine going 80-90 as long as there is not a lot of traffic or traffic is moving swiftly as well. i make it a duty of mine to turn off my phone white driving. well atleast until recently since my new car come with bluetooth connected thru the speakers. even then i dont like talking for too long...

i think that if everyone would follow the basic rules (no tailgating, 3 seconds, turn signals, ect,) going 10-20 miles an hour over should not be a problem.
 
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