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Why are we so weird about speed limits (US)? (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 22 hours ago by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world
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  1. Why does everyone drive 10-15 miles above the speed limit?

  2. Why don't we raise the speed limit if that's how fast everyone wants to go?

  3. Why is traffic enforcement given to very expensive and ineffective police instead of cheaper and more automated traffic cameras?

  4. Why do we refuse to ever use ANY traffic calming measures? Yes, than you flashing digital sign for telling me I'm going 10 miles above the limit on this incredibly wide and straight and flat road with high curbs and perfect visibility.

It's a serious confusion I have about how society is supposed to operate because it seems like a complete and total breakdown of logic and sense.

And, yes, I know there's some thing people did long ago to set the speed limit at some percentile of what people were already traveling at, but that's obviously a stupid way to do it and we did it anyway. So why?

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[–] 17 points 13 hours ago (3 children)

  1. Because the average American believes speed limits aren't meant for the especially skilled drivers like themselves.

  2. If the speed limit is raised, then people will drive 10-15 MPH over the new limit. Natch.

  3. Traffic enforcement cameras have been routinely abused by the government and so have to be regularly taken away from them like the naughty children they are.

  4. People will assure you that civil planning has done their job and everything is already working like a well-oiled machine. I don't know why people keep saying this when it's obviously not true. It's astounding.

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  • [–] 3 points 6 hours ago (1 child)

    Traffic enforcement cameras have been routinely abused by the government…

    People focus on the nasty abuse like stalking etc. but in my experience traffic cameras (specifically stop sign cameras) are abusive in another way: the fines are low, the crime is classed as civil, and no points are added to the drivers license. Which means if a citation is issued, people just pay it because contesting a false positive case is impossible because you have to schedule a court date, take a day off work to go to court, and pay the court fees even if the judgement is in your favor (which are higher than the actual fine). This only gets worse as more of these cameras switch to AI flagging with “human review,” which we know translates to “no one fucking watched the video, they just isssued the fine.”

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  • [–] 2 points 1 hour ago

    Even before AI was in the mix, local governments were pulling crap like shortening yellow light timers to less than their own laws require for safety. And fine citizens (or habitual yellow-light runners) did the leg work to catch this crap. We've always had to be on our guard. That isn't a new phenomena.

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