General lowering of speed limits

Bomber

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First the high speed roads were lowered by 10km/h, then there was a blanket rollout of 50 km/h unless otherwise notified, now anything above 60 has generally been lowered by another 10 km/h.

Could this only be possible due to the climate of fear instilled by speed cameras? Before they became common I imagine that speed limits were set at speeds that people would agree to travel at, but now the authorities can basically set any speed limit they like with enforcement provided by an array of technology.
 
These days, speed limits are usually lowered for revenue generation and ecomentalist reasons, not because of actual safety reasons (because they can't prove that lower limits actually save lives on a per mile basis.)
 
That and idiotic busy buddies.

"For the children!!!111"

"Young kids go too fast. I'm old and hate everything. Where is my social security!?"
 
I-85 in Virginia, a road I spend a fair bit of time on each year, has raised the limit to 70. Then again the DC beltway from I-95 to the Wilson bridge has had the idiotic variable speed signs locked at 55 for the better part of 5 years now. You win some you lose some in the US. If anything, there's been a general increase in speed limits since the 55 national limit was finally abolished in 1995.

These days, speed limits are usually lowered for revenue generation and ecomentalist reasons, not because of actual safety reasons (because they can't prove that lower limits actually save lives on a per mile basis.)

Wouldn't want people enjoying liberty now, would we? Better tax it.
 
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they want us all to be sad
 
At the moment in NSW the NRMA (like the RAC, for those who don't know) are campaigning for motorway speed limits to be raised to 120km/h from 110km/h, and in some areas remove it completely. The idea is that if you're not dawdling along at a slow speed you'll actually pay attention to the road. And its true. I went to the Northern Territory just before the speed limit was introduced, and it all worked fine. There was hardly any traffic, the road was straight, and you could sit on 200km/h very safely, because you didn't get bored and you knew everyone else was travelling fast as well. Since then, accidents have increased quite a lot.

Theres a bit of road I travel on quite often. It goes 100km/h, then 80, then 60, and then 50. For no reason. Its still a dual carriageway, theres no schools nearby, its only because some drunk idiots from a nearby pub keep wandering onto the road and getting hit. And the thousands of people who travel on the road every day get punished for some stupid pissheads.
 
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At the moment in NSW the NRMA (like the RAC, for those who don't know) are campaigning for motorway speed limits to be raised to 120km/h from 110km/h, and in some areas remove it completely.

Have any links for that?

First the high speed roads were lowered by 10km/h, then there was a blanket rollout of 50 km/h unless otherwise notified

I'm pretty sure the blanket for NSW and Victoria is 100, and the road is 100 unless over whys posted.
 
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First the high speed roads were lowered by 10km/h, then there was a blanket rollout of 50 km/h unless otherwise notified, now anything above 60 has generally been lowered by another 10 km/h.

Could this only be possible due to the climate of fear instilled by speed cameras? Before they became common I imagine that speed limits were set at speeds that people would agree to travel at, but now the authorities can basically set any speed limit they like with enforcement provided by an array of technology.

This a recent change? And for what roads?
 
You know how all the jackasses want us to put transponders in our cars that report speed so they can ticket us and where we go so they can tax us for road use? Under regular schemes, this is simple - mine would be connected to my GPS simulator that indicates that I drive around in an open field for a living or something.

Well, I'd actually do it if it were part of some kind of graduated licensing program where after jumping through a certain number of hoops (biannual skills tests, annual reinspections of your car, that sort of thing) certain classes of roads (I'm thinking 2-digit Interstates outside major urban areas - like the Autobahn system - and as a happy coincidence these roads are also the ones most capable of high speed) are derestricted to a given pair of (car, driver) both of which are certified for the task.
 
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"Young kids go too fast. I'm old and hate everything. Where is my social security!?"

I have another theory behind this. The elderly on one road in a nearby town managed to have the speed limit there dropped to 25mph when 40 (or even 50) would be considered safe and prudent.

My theory is that since the elderly on that road are all retired, they have nothing to do. That is also the reason each one is up at 5AM every morning, but I digress. Since they have nothing to do and their ability to store memories is depleting rapidly, they have forgotten that regular people need to get places in a reasonable amount of time. Since the need to actually get places in a timely manner is long gone, the only concern of elderly people is that the cars going past their house are driving "much too fast". You know, just like those damn kids skateboarding on the sidewalks again, listening to their hip-hop music, popping and locking and carrying on like the young hooligans they are. Those damn kids these days are so spoiled, I remember back in the day when you couldn't carry a music player with you. We were amazed to have the gramophone! We actually used to call it the talking machine and you had to crank it to get it going, just like dad's old Ford. That was back when motor cars still competed with horses! There was this one time that my brother Billy walked behind a horse and it kicked him so hard that he passed out and forgot who he was for a half hour.

Wait, what was I talking about?
 
Honduran roads went from derestricted to 80 kph. In the span of a week i met all of the enemies you people meet (the Camry going ten under, traffic jams, people who forget there is a speed limit, tailgaters, people with road rage)hmph. The good thing is there are no cameras.

EDIT:Also, and i just remembered, country roads are still de-restricted
 
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I'm pretty sure the blanket for NSW and Victoria is 100, and the road is 100 unless over whys posted.

I forgot to say in metropolitan areas (in SA).

This a recent change? And for what roads?

I'm surprised that you doubt me. It's not universal for all stretches of road but the the overall trend is downwards. A few examples:
South Road south of Flaxmill Road 70>60 and 80>60
Dyson Road 90>80
Piggot Range Road 100>80
The most pervasive change has been going to 50.

And not to mention the select areas to went to 40km/h in the late 90's (although it's better than speed humps).
 
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These days, speed limits are usually lowered for revenue generation and ecomentalist reasons, not because of actual safety reasons (because they can't prove that lower limits actually save lives on a per mile basis.)

100% correct.

In australia at least, they focus on harm reduction instead of accident prevention. Reasoning that if you are driving slower you will do less damage when you do have an accident.

Also they repeatedly emphasise that speed is a factor in most accidents. This is true because if there is 0 speed involved (ie. nothing is moving) then there can be no accident.

Based on this false logic the authorities can then argue for speed reduction infinitely or until the declare the only safe speed is zero.

This is what is known as circular reasoning.

https://pic.armedcats.net/q/qu/quadrax/2009/12/31/circular-reasoning1.jpg

:rolleyes:
 
Speed limits have nothing to do with safety and everything to do with money.

Haha, since I live in NY, i feel that this is true at times.

I feel that speed limits are kind of for safety, but from a different perspective. Considering here in the US, there is that unwritten rule that when there's a speed limit, people still go over by 5-10mph anyway.

The US has many horrible drivers, and if you ever taken a road test here, you'd see why. I think my road test took about 5 minutes, and consisted of parallel parking, and going through 4 way stop intersections. So in a way to me, speed limits don't really improve safety, but more or less influence the general flow of traffic. What's the safest flow for everyone out on the road during normal conditions. That's how I see it, because speed does kill, if people do not know how to control it, and with road tests being taken here that are only testing how to handle a car at a 4 way stop at no more than 30mph is not really going to teach anyone about speed. Let alone handling a car at higher freeway speeds.

I just wish the US had more rigorous testing so we can have some speed limits lifted. I took a few extra courses in driving, including driver's education, defensive driving, and performance driving. I believe if people actually took these courses and passed comfortably, our roads will be safer with higher speed limits...

then again, a lot of us here in the US are really bad drivers, and this concept is only a pipe dream for me.
:|
 
Unfortunately there are several generations of drivers out there who had little or no training before getting their licenses. Any changes to the system will take decades to filter through.

This topic is a huge peeve of mine so i must resist the urge to rant but...

One of the things i hate is when authorities attribute any improvement to road safety to their nonsensical and often arbitrary "road safety laws". Completely ignoring the vast improvements in vehicle safety. Airbags, ABS, improved crumple zones and the like have more to do with saving lives than many ridiculous road laws.
 
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