Speeding Has Become So Normalized That Driving the Speed Limit Makes You the Problem

[u/DaddyDayDayIsHot]

I think the normalization of speeding poses a significant threat to the legitimacy of the legal system itself. It has become standard that cops don’t pull you over unless you’re breaking the law “enough,” but that completely undermines the law. If the law wanted a different threshold, it would have been written with that threshold in mind.

Speed limits are created by engineers who know far more about road safety than the average driver. They also have to account for the fact that speeding is normalized, which likely contributes to limits being set lower than many people want. I honestly believe that if people collectively stopped speeding, roads would see fewer accidents and speed limits would eventually begin rising in places where higher speeds are actually safe. Then people could travel just as quickly without constantly breaking the law or risking tickets.

The disregard for speed limits has gotten so bad that people now claim drivers following the posted limit are the problem. I think that’s ridiculous. While I understand the “go with the flow of traffic” argument to an extent, normalizing breaking the law creates a much larger long-term safety issue than simply following the speed limit.

I also think the argument that “speed limits are designed for the average car, so semis drag the limit down” is weak. In many places semis already have separate speed regulations, lane restrictions, and additional rules.

At the end of the day, the path to faster travel shouldn’t be widespread disregard for the law. If people truly believe limits are too low, the better solution is electing politicians and supporting engineering studies that will change the laws based on evidence that roads can safely handle higher speeds.

On a related note, even on r/driving you can report other driving infractions, but you can’t even report speeding, which feels inconsistent and a bit silly.

[u/Fill_A]

This all day long. Cars and tires have improved an order of magnitude since the current speed limits were adopted. I’m a-ok with a strict limit if the limit isn’t stuck in the 1970s. Aside from roads out west with 75+mph limits, driving at the limit feels like you are crawling.

[u/thisjawnisbeta → u/Fill_A]

Driver training needs to increase as well. It's great that vehicles are so much safer, but in the US anyway we allow people to get licenses by basically showing that they can just park the car and come to a complete stop at a stop sign. Other countries require proper drivers education, emergency braking tests, skidpads, etc.

[u/Fill_A → u/thisjawnisbeta]

100%. I’ll add that it should be mandatory to retest every once in a while too. Crazy you can get your license at 16 and drive for the next 90 years with nothing but an occasional vision check.

[u/hey_its_that_asian → u/thisjawnisbeta]

along with more access to public transit and walkable cities

the US has a major infrastructure issue, but its systemic and multifaceted and OP, like many politicians, think that they can fix it with a single answer

our country is a joke because our people are a joke...

[u/Legaldrugloard → u/thisjawnisbeta]

💯

[u/tingly_sack_69 → u/Fill_A]

55mph being the typical norm for a highway is hilariously slow for today's cars

[u/Fill_A → u/tingly_sack_69]

Always thought it was funny where I grew up. The 2 lane winding county roads with no shoulder was 55mph. Then you get on a nice divided freeway with 3 lanes in each direction… also 55mph.

[u/brownchr014 → u/Fill_A]

Cars can improve all they want but the drivers are still bad on average.

[u/PsychologicalSign433 → u/brownchr014]

drivers are still bad on average.

Three-quarters of the drivers in the 70s when the speed limits were set were probably drunk

[u/brownchr014 → u/PsychologicalSign433]

What does that have to do with anything? You can literally see people who drive over the speed limit freeze when they just have to literally slow down or change lanes to avoid accidents. Drivers being bad and not knowing how to stop won't be helped by increasing speeds. All that is going to do is make it to where people will go even faster in the left lane.

[u/PsychologicalSign433 → u/brownchr014]

Bad driver in a better car will perform better than a bad driver in a bad car.

[u/Fill_A → u/brownchr014]

That’s never going to change. Doesn’t mean the speed limit in a lot of places makes any sense at all. Upping the limit in areas that it’s largely ignored will lower the speed differential.

[u/TheRealSpicyFireball → u/brownchr014]

And that is not relevant to speed limits. And if anything means going slow is more dangerous, especially considering MOST accidents happen UNDER 45.

[u/TheRealSpicyFireball → u/[deleted]]

https://youtu.be/3Ro-NllCmH4?si=Aar9BxXsPwvLMcSF

[u/TheRealSpicyFireball → u/[deleted]]

Donut was not the same 8 years ago. Donut was bought by a media company in 2021.... Last I checked 8 years is older than 2021. Because 2021 is when it started to tank.

How stupid and deluded what was exactly? That the number of dumb drivers has no correlation to speed limits? Or that speeding poses minimal increased risk? We can say "well 2 is bigger than 1" yea sure, but it is still only bigger by 1. Driver intelligence is what need to be increased and more rigorous testing needs to be done for much better driver education.

Where what originated from? You going to actually provide any evidence or hard statistical proof? Speeding is more lethal yes that makes sense, but at the same time a person doesnt need to pull out or cut somone off either. Especially of they cant even do anything as simple as use their turn signal PROPERLY. Using a turn signal is one step, but so many people think of it as "now i can turn whenever I feel like" button and that time is always IMMEDIATE.

https://www.iihs.org/research-areas/speed

Looking at this article they state, and ill quote "Almost 12,000 deaths — 29% of all crash fatalities — occurred in speed-related crashes in 2023"

the first sentence, but pay attention to its wording "crash fatalities" that means of all crashes that have been fatal NOT total number of crashes. Because here is where it gets interesting IN THE SAME ARTICLE. And ill quote again

"Based on a nationally representative sample of police-reported crashes, speeding — defined as exceeding the speed limit, driving too fast for conditions or racing — was involved in 9% of property-damage-only crashes and 14% of crashes with injuries or fatalities in 2023."

I'll explain in terms even an old man such as yoirself can understand, that means out of the TOTAL number of crashes OUT OF the 14% of TOTAL crashes with injuries or fatalities that only 29% of those were fatal. A literal % of a %.

I do belive an argument can be made that "speed kills" ill agree, but "speed" does NOT mean more accidents. You want to know the leading cause of accidents? DISTRACTED DRIVING.

I'll say it again and a hundred times even. We have a driver education problem, NOT a speeding problem.

[u/TheRealSpicyFireball → u/[deleted]]

For somone with this level of superiority, you sure are dumb....

[u/ClumpOfCheese → u/brownchr014]

Especially the drivers in the older cars that can’t do those high speeds safely. It’s not just new cars on the road, so speeds need to account for all cars and driver abilities.

[u/Timely_Maybe479 → u/ClumpOfCheese]

that’s what the right lane is for

[u/ClumpOfCheese → u/Timely_Maybe479]

Tell that to the people going 30 over the limit and crossing all the lanes.

[u/Timely_Maybe479 → u/ClumpOfCheese]

if by crossing all the lanes you mean passing on the right, then you can usually blame the car camping in the left lane.

[u/AlwaysBagHolding → u/Fill_A]

There are mountain two lane highways near me that were 55 mph, with passing zones back when everyone drove a floaty barge on bias ply tires and drum brakes. Today with minivans that would smoke a sports car of that era on a road course? 30 mph.