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American Drivers Think Speeding Is Okay Because Everyone Else Is Doing It (www.jalopnik.com)
submitted 2 days ago by to c/fuckcars@lemmy.world
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What's a little extra 5 or 10 mph on the clock?

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[–] 20 points 18 hours ago (7 children)

I don't think I'm autistic. But it tickles my brain that the speed limit is one USian law that is designed to NOT be followed literally.

If it were, it would be trivial to use automatic toll reader cameras to give everyone who speeds a ticket. They have a time stamp when you enter the toll road. They have a time stamp when you exit. They can calculate mathematically that if your average speed is higher than the limit, you broke the speed limit.

But they don't do this, because society does NOT believe in following this specific law (speed limits)... because why exactly?

There is an unwritten rule in society that the speed limit law is not meant to be followed literally?

I hate it.

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  • [–] 2 points 9 hours ago

    They don't do it because the U.S. has good standards for what is a crime.

    For example cops can't tailgate you then give you a ticket for speeding.

    Additionally, doing this only on freeways would probably make the roads less safe as drivers would go faster on surface streets. Thr 65mph speed limit was set in the 1950s by 1950s white men for 1950s cars. Freeways are safer than surface streets by multiple factors of 10.

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  • [–] 2 points 10 hours ago (1 child)

    There's lots and lots of laws like that

    Like perjury. It's almost never pursued, the judge will just order your testimony ignored

    Or paying your taxes. You're basically expected to do your best to cheat, especially if you're a corporation

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  • [–] 1 point 9 hours ago (1 child)

    Yeah I'm trying to accept that there are laws like this :/

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  • [–] 1 point 6 hours ago

    When I was 4, I asked to see the book of laws. You know, the thing that determines whether you live free or in prison, the things that lays out all the things you actually have to do. The absolute list of things that must be followed to exist within our society

    I'm still more baffled than my parents were then that there is no such book, and that it is not a book all adults must obviously have simple and continued access to

    A federal effort to just fucking count the number of federal laws in effect stopped well in the six digits before the effort was essentially declared impossible

    You're not coming to terms with anything yet. Your eyes have cracked open ever so slightly and you're desperately trying to close them again

    I speak this all without judgement in the nature of compassion and desire for understanding. I can put it more plainly but you're approaching the truth on your own, and you will gain deeper understanding arriving to the obvious conclusions yourself

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  • [–] 5 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

    Another factor that hasn't been mentioned yet is it gives cops pretty unilateral right to pull you over if they feel like it. IANAL, but in many places it's illegal for a cop to pull you over just for "being suspicious", but because of speeding and various other traffic laws on the books that are almost universally ignored, they can pull you over for speeding, then decide you seem suspicious and search your car, breathalyze you, etc.

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  • [–] 1 point 8 hours ago

    Keep in mind police in the United States don't have to prove someone was speeding. There is no photographic evidence or logged speed reading. If a cop says you were speeding, according to their "justice" system, you were speeding. End of story.

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  • [–] 11 points 18 hours ago (3 children)

    The other aspect is that we typically are against automated enforcement regardless of the law.

    We typically want people to be in the loop. If there were more visible traffic cops, people tend to slow down to the limit.

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  • [–] 1 point 9 hours ago*

    Well if the limit was actually meant as a limit, they could at least send an automatic warning.

    This seems to send the message that the speed limit isn't a limit at all, it is just informational, and also an excuse for police to pull anyone over for any subjective reason.

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  • [–] 4 points 18 hours ago

    Prima fascie.

    No body is driving perfect, speedometers aren't perfect, and such automatic devices aren't perfect nor can they identify the driver yet. I believe they use these elsewhere like UK... But most likely have a bit of wiggle room

    It may be necessary to speed up to avoid or pass something reasonably and ultimately the speed limit is so for most conditions. In a 70 it may be reasonable to do 80 on a clear, sunny day with minimal traffic. After all it's still 70 at dark when your visibility is cut way back. Plus it can't be a hard rule given weather conditions, traffic speed differentials, etc... 70 may be too fast or otherwise.

    It's not that big of a deal unless you're the one driving too fast or slow relative the everyone else.

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