Exceeding The Speed Limit

Wertz

Urban areas 50km/h; almost never...if and when I do, by intention, it's never more than 15km/h over and would be on main thouroughfares, not side streets or estates (about 30), in low traffic situations and good conditions.

Extra urban, National and Primary roads 60 - 100km/h; sometimes...well it depends on a lot of factors, road and weather conditions, obviously and posted limit Vs road conditions...ie. if there's a posted limit of 60 or 80 on something relatively straight, dry and devoid of potholes, then I'm doing more than that, usually 15-20 over...conversely where I see limits of 80 and 100 on roads that have no business having them, I'll adjust downwards accordingly.

DCs and motorways 80-120km/h; most times... again, road conditions and traffic allowing, usually I'll be doing MW limit on a 100km/h DC and about 135-140 on the MW, speed traps/cameras notwithstanding. Where imposed limits for works or whatever pop up, I'll go with the flow and do what's safest for the situation.

I'll almost always know what speed I'm doing and will usually know the posted limit, so if I do speed it's not unintentional...I don't know if that's better or worse though...

smcgiff

Bobo78 wrote: »

That s excatly what I v been told as well when I was taking lessons for my driving test.
Are u in Limerick maybe?:pac::D

Close - Shannon. Had the highest pass rate in the country at the time and needed all the advantage I could get! :pac:

Greenmachine

97.42 have admitted to breaking speed limits at least once. Sound like one of the most honest surveys. Would be be perfect but for the other 2%. Think the terrified L driver going at 35kph every makes up about .2% of road users.

HashSlinging

Have speeded on occasion, 3am coming back from Airport for example no other cars on the road, otherwise I do like to have the odd 20 second squirt of torque when theres a break in traffic, if there are others around then I stick to the speed limit or just below it and play the MPG game.

-Chris-

cyclopath2001 wrote: »

-Chris- wrote: »

I'd say a lot of cyclists have exceeded the speed limit on their bike too - I know I have!

A cyclist can't be done for exceeding the posted speed limit (while riding his bike that is.).

That's definitely good to know, not that I was worried :D

cyclopath2001 wrote: »

Anyone who goes on about '"it's safe to break the speed limit becuase I'm a great driver" does not understand all of the good reasons for speed limits existing & is behaving rather selfishly.

I don't think anyone's said anything that arrogant...

SV

cyclopath2001 wrote: »

Anyone who goes on about '"it's safe to break the speed limit becuase I'm a great driver" does not understand all of the good reasons for speed limits existing & is behaving rather selfishly.

No one says that.
What people do say is that it's safe to break the speed limit* because they are, by and large, far far too low for the conditions that allow, The only speed limits I agree with completely are town and city speed limits. In most cases they're too high tbh.

*Sometimes

cpoh1

I would typically drive at 140kph on motorways, 120kph on 100kph dual carriageways, 100kph on 80kph national routes but always stick to 50kph in residential, city and built up areas. This is depending on the traffic and weather conditions and speeds are as indicated on the speedo. I dont have any points on my licence either and never have in 12 years of driving.

Knowing some of the road traffic engineers personally working for the coco i wouldnt put too much store on their speed limit evaluations.

Johnny Utah

If I'm honest, I usually translate the km/h speed limit into mp/h and add ten. And the funny thing is I don't have any penalty points. Maybe I should slow down a bit though?

L1011

I think the last time I could say 'no' on this was when I was 16 and 364 days... well, actually, add a bit of time - I doubt I was doing more than 50km/h when initially learning!

cyclopath2001

SV wrote: »

No one says that.
What people do say is that it's safe to break the speed limit* because they are, by and large, far far too low for the conditions that allow,

The opinion of the speed-limit breaking driver is based on a limited set of criteria selected by the drivers for purely selfish reasons.

SC024

cyclopath2001 wrote: »

The opinion of the speed-limit breaking driver is based on a limited set of criteria selected by the drivers for purely selfish reasons.

The people that actually set these speed limits are county council workers who can never be sacked, have probably never driven on Irish roads, either because
1. They travel on public transport
2. They use taxis all the time and claim it as expenses or
3. They are cyclists...

cyclopath2001

SC024 wrote: »

The people that actually set these speed limits are county council workers who ....

And so you would like to think as this helps justify your own 'expert' opinion as to what is the appropriate speed. Coincidentally, this is a speed you like.

Everyone who deliberately breaks the law makes up their own excuses.

I understand.

L1011

cyclopath2001 wrote: »

And so you would like to think as this helps justify your own 'expert' opinion as to what is the appropriate speed. Coincidentally, this is a speed you like.

Everyone who deliberately speeds makes up their own excuses.

I understand.

Whereas you just take the council defined speed limit as being the one and only truth about the appropriate speed for a road.

Everyone who illogically hates private car driving has their own excuses...

Solitaire

The militant cyclist has spoken! :rolleyes:

SC024

cyclopath2001 wrote: »

And so you would like to think as this helps justify your own 'expert' opinion as to what is the appropriate speed. Coincidentally, this is a speed you like.

Everyone who deliberately breaks the law makes up their own excuses.

I understand.

What about country roads where the speed limit is obviosly to high?

theres one wehere I live, the limit is 80, The bends are that bad on it that a motorbike couldn't make it round in dry conditions at 70kms...

I personally have a habit of not breaking the speed limit here....

explain...

Solitaire

SCO24 wrote:

What about country roads where the speed limit is obviosly to high?

theres one wehere I live, the limit is 80, The bends are that bad on it that a motorbike couldn't make it round in dry conditions at 70kms...

I personally have a habit of not breaking the speed limit here....

explain...

Well, you're clearly wrong. Its within the God-given right of any God-fearing driver to plow down any pedestrians they meet before committing Suicide-By-Hedge, safe in the knowledge that they are under the protection of Our Lord, Biffo Almighty, so long as they obey the holy words (or numerals) upon the Little Red Signs without question or reason.

[/sarcasm]

cyclopath2001

MYOB wrote: »

Whereas you just take the council defined speed limit as being the one and only truth about the appropriate speed for a road.

You should know better than that. There is no basis for you to say so, based on anything I have ever posted.

You know and I know: It's a maximum speed. The appropriate speed may be lower.

MYOB wrote: »

Everyone who illogically hates private car driving has their own excuses...

Who needs an excuse to obey the law?

If you think a limit is wrong, find out all the reasons for it and ask for it to be changed. You've no right to makeup your own rules.

Duckjob

I'd be fairly sure I exceed a speed limit every time I get into the car.

I'd consider it safer to have my eyes on the road than down on the speedo all the time.

Yakult

I would go about 5-10mph over the speed limit max depending on road/traffic/weather.

I never break the limit in built up areas.

AugustusMaximus

cyclopath2001 wrote: »

You should know better than that. There is no basis for you to say so, based on anything I have ever posted.

You know and I know: It's a maximum speed. The appropriate speed may be lower.

Speed limits should be indicative of what a safe speed would be on a given road. At least this is how it works in most other countries.

Saying that its just a maximum speed is an appauling cop out by County Councils for their own ignorance or just sheer laziness.



Cyclists not having to obey speed limits is also a bizarre situation. While a cyclists hitting a pedestrian at over 50kph mightn't kill them, it coudl still do a lot of damage. You must also factor in that unlike cars, cyclists are very quiet and might be a lot harder for pedestrians to hear. A cyclist hitting a car pulling out of a junction when doing more than 50kph wouldn't be a nice situation either.

L1011

cyclopath2001 wrote: »

You know and I know: It's a maximum speed. The appropriate speed may be lower.

Yet you refuse, under any circumstances, to accept that the appropriate speed for a road an be higher than the posted maximum? Because of course, once someone sets a limit the road suddenly degrades in quality to that level... :rolleyes:

AugustusMaximus

MYOB wrote: »

Yet you refuse, under any circumstances, to accept that the appropriate speed for a road an be higher than the posted maximum? Because of course, once someone sets a limit the road suddenly degrades in quality to that level... :rolleyes:

R639. It used to be fit for 100kph yet when stretches of M8 open, eventhough traffic is significantly down on this road, it suddenly is only good for 80kph.

What a load of ********. Again, this is due to more laziness by each and every county council.

The Big Red Button

I'd say I never go more than about 10% over the limit, and I don't speed all the time. I always try to be aware of what speed I'm doing at any time too. I did get a fright though, driving home on the dual carriageway five minutes after getting my final degree results and on a total high, when I glanced down and saw what speed I was doing without even realising it - far too high to be safe in my old Colt! That was a once-off though.

I definitely agree that slow drivers are more likely to be the cause of accidents than speeders, from my own experience anyways. I've often seen near-misses where a car ends up overtaking dangerously because of a ridiculously slow car in front. I know that technically the overtaking car would be in the wrong, but the slow driver is partially to blame too. Drivers shouldn't be on the road if they don't have the confidence to drive at (at least) the speed limit.

cyclopath2001

MYOB wrote: »

Speed limits should be indicative of what a safe speed...

That's not correct. They are a limit based on what is socially acceptable at that location.

MYOB wrote: »

you refuse, under any circumstances, to accept that the appropriate speed for a road an be higher than the posted maximum?

Except in the most extreme emergency, it is not appropriate to break the law.

MYOB wrote: »

Because of course, once someone sets a limit

Because you & others think you know better.

AugustusMaximus

cyclopath2001 wrote: »

That's not correct. They are a limit based on what is socially acceptable at that location.

No they're not. For the most part speed limits in Ireland are based on road designation and don't take the standard of road into account at all.

For practically all roads in Ireland, its 80kph for all Local and Regional roads. 100kph for national routes and 120kph for motorways.


A 5 lane dual carriageway with a regional road designation will have a 80kph speed limit until some county councilor gets off his arse and passes the need legislation to correct the speed limit.


Please explain the case of R639 and how the road is now deemed to be unsafe to drive up at 100kph eventhough traffic on the road is down significantly with new stretches of the M8 opening ?

L1011

cyclopath2001 wrote: »

That's not correct. They are a limit based on what is socially acceptable at that location.

You've taken a quote from someone else here and put my name on it. Please stop.

cyclopath2001 wrote: »

Except in the most extreme emergency, it is not appropriate to break the law.

When a law is illogical, unjustified or done with no basis, I'll break it as I see fit. A 60km/h limit on a rural dual carriageway (R449) is unjustified. An 80km/h limit on a wide two lane detrunked national highway (R132, R148, R639, R445...) is done with no basis. A 100km/h limit on a 160km/h design speed dual carriageway (N11) is illogical.

cyclopath2001 wrote: »

Because you & others think you know better.

As opposed to speed limits which are set by council workers who think they know better than road safety experts. You're taking the moral high ground here all off the assumption that council workers actually have any training, experience or knowledge in road safety. They don't.


Another thing is that the high limits - 100km/h, 120km/h - are effectively translations of 1950s British limits, set as a formula of safe braking distances of a standard car of that era. A standard car of that era had all-round drum brakes and cross-ply tyres. A standard car of now has quad discs and radials, and under had braking, has ABS. Incomparable vehicles. Road standards have also improved, yet we're limited to speeds designed for a Ford Anglia on a 1950s rural road.

aero2k

cyclopath2001 wrote: »

Anyone who goes on about '"it's safe to break the speed limit becuase I'm a great driver" does not understand all of the good reasons for speed limits existing & is behaving rather selfishly.

Can you list these good reasons please? Your post implies that there might be some bad reasons for speed limits existing. Are you aware of any?

cyclopath2001

MYOB wrote: »

You've taken a quote from someone else here and put my name on it. Please stop.

Apologies, it was accidental. I was intending to quote AugustusMaximus.

MYOB wrote: »

When a law is illogical, unjustified or done with no basis, I'll break it as I see fit

Hmm, the independent republic of MyOb.

MYOB wrote: »

Do you You're taking the moral high ground here all off the assumption that council workers actually have any training, experience or knowledge in road safety. They don't.

So you know better than everyone else? What's your qualification? Watched all the editions of 'Top Gear'?

aero2k wrote:

Can you list these good reasons please?

Safety, average ability of all road users, noise pollution, traffic flow, convenience of other road users, the wishes of the people through whose neighbourhood your're speeding.

AugustusMaximus

cyclopath2001 wrote: »

traffic flow,

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/08/01/driving-like-a-jerk-reportedly-helps-reduce-traffic-jams/

L1011

cyclopath2001 wrote: »

So you know better than everyone else? What's your qualification? Watched all the editions of 'Top Gear'?

You're the self-proclaimed road safety expert (who thought that brake-testing drivers was safe), its you who needs to show your cards.

Anan1

Why oh why do these threads always go down the same road?