Radar detector direct line

That's why I drive the speed limit, and have never had a speeding ticket.

 

They tell me that everywhere I go. I still do it. It's not uncommon for me to be passed by people going 40MPH faster than I am.

 

What is the speed limit ?

 

Keep in mind that most radar units these days are trigger operated and "instant ON".
So....IF there isn't much traffic OR the LEO decides to ignore everybody else and just shoot YOU........
Your trusty radar detector will SCREAM AT YOU; alas it will be too late.
Yes, been there and done that.
Radar detectors lull you into a false sense of security.

If you like to go fast, find a race track. Seriously.
The life you save might be MINE.

 

https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/Publication/812021

"NHTSA estimates that the annual economic cost to society of speeding-related crashes is $40.4 billion. In 2012, speeding was a contributing factor in 30 percent of all fatal crashes, and 10,219 lives were lost in speeding related crashes."

That means my wife and I pay about $400 a year so that you can speed, even though we don't speed. That has increased the cost of my 2004 Prius by $5,200 since I bought it. Thanks for that.

 

I just set the cruise at between 10 under (in 75 zones on short trips) and the speed limit. On really long trips on open roads, I might set it at 2 over, but there the risk is minimal because you are on a largely unpopulated open road with no intersections and one-way traffic. And 52 in a 50 doesn't require a radar detector because no officer will pull you over for that. A radar detector is to avoid getting caught when doing more than 10 over the limit.

I don't drink, I don't smoke, and I wear my glasses all the time I'm awake unless I'm in the shower or the pool/lake. I'm 46, and I can still fly 115+mph model aircraft under 6 feet from the ground, so I think my reflexes are still fine.

Other than drug use (including smoking and alcohol) can you name another activity choice that kills 10,000 people a year just in the US, and is socially acceptable?

 

There are all types of unsafe driving. I think a skilled, focused, alert, undistracted driver going 20 over the limit in good driving conditions, light traffic (traffic that is also moving somewhat over the limit), staying in their lane, slowing down when necessary instead of swerving around other cars, is probably safer than someone going the speed limit while texting or distracted with a phone call, or under the influence of alcohol, drugs, medication, or fatigued after driving for ten hours with little sleep. That doesn't mean I condone speeding, in fact even though I have gone that fast, so have I done other unsafe things which I now try and avoid. Nowadays if in a hurry I will go up to 10mph over the limit if safe to do so, but still I try not to, I consider it avoidable in most cases by simply leaving earlier..

So I certainly won't lecture, the only thing I will rebut is the "you'll get run over" comment which is pretty much a cliche now. I realize it usually is said as a joke, but I never know if the person is serious. I find no problem driving the speed limit as long as I stay in the absolute far right hand lane. Not the most pleasant place to be, in fact I call it driving in the gutter. One problem is the number of lanes changes pretty often, but on my standard routes I've got that all memorized and so I can anticipate when "the gutter" changes from lane number 5 to lane number 4, then later back to lane number 5.

Driving slower than the current traffic flow in the faster lanes is unsafe. There are people who do that and justify it because they say since they are obeying the law they have a right to drive in whatever lane they want and the "law breakers" can go around them. That is unsafe driving regardless of what their self-righteous attitude thinks about it.

One unpleasant thing about the right lane is not so much slow pokes going under the speed limit, because first of all they are not that common, and easy enough to get around. The problem is that a lot of people are so bad at merging, they seem to feel no obligation to merge in safely they just expect me to get out of their way. Another annoying thing is when people who are speeding get close to their exit, and pull into the right lane in front of me, then slow down, so I have to switch off my cruise as they do their last 1/4 mile driving 5mph below the speed limit. The same type of person when getting on the freeway merges in front of me, going slower than the speed limit, causing me to slow down, but once they get their sea legs they hit the gas and move into the faster lanes and speed off and I never see them again.

As for getting "run over" while driving the speed limit, on rare occasions I'm in the far right lane and someone gets on my bumper, usually because their exit is coming up and they are too lazy to go around me. That's their problem not mine, I just keep the cruise control rock steady. Haven't gotten run over yet.

 

I spent most of a career as a tv news photojournalist, and a lot of the video I shot was people's broken bodies strewn across a road, highway, ditch or other final rest stop.

There's a news guy in every town or city just waiting for someone to lose at bumper cars.......

Did several ride alongs with cops around the country and they all said "drive like hell n you'll get there"

 

Interesting how in 30 years of doing that I've never been in or caused an accident.

On a big highway (3 lanes or more) I always drive in one of the middle lanes. This avoids the mergers both directions and gives me the ability to swerve in either of the two directions if something happens in front of me. Also, two of the most common exits I take are left exits so I end up moving to the left lane no matter what in those locations, and one of them is a mile long 2 lane left exit.

 

Apparently not, if you think it is OK to flaunt the law and talk to your elders like that.

 

Funny thread. I sold my Valentine One. It is reputed to be the best. As stated above, instant on radar made it obsolete. It did warn me of "photo radar" in Edmonton, but also of any automatic door in the vicinity. There are a lot more doors than radar.
Now I use cruise in the city and on the highway so I don't speed. Much less expensive.

 

Instead of a radar detector, why not just use a smartphone and run WAZE while driving? It is probably a lot more accurate and provides much more useful road info than just Police detection. Road hazards, pot holes, and so much are being broadcasted by other concerned drivers and it just works.

 

How much sense the speed limits make really depends on the state and time.

I lived in Utah for a while. Utah has 70 mph urban freeway speed limits, which increase to 75 mph in close in rural areas and 80 mph in outlying areas. There really isn't much reason to speed there.

Oregon, where I live now, has lower speed limits. Urban freeways are generally 50-55 mph (with a couple of 60 mph exceptions), with 65 mph limits on most rural interstates.* However, only official interstates get that treatment. Thus, you can have a rural freeway that is straight as an arrow and yet still have a 55 mph limit. US 26 through Washington county (rural in the west, urban in the east) is an example, and few go 55 mph on it. However, few isn't none. Oregonians tend to be pretty relaxed overall and so you will find some people traveling 55 mph in the right lane.

I grew up in California during the time of the federally mandated 55 mph speed limit. There, no one drove 55 mph on the freeways (assuming light traffic.) Even my driver training instructor didn't have the students travel at 55 mph but instead had us go with traffic flow.

* Eastern Oregon has different rules, with up to 70 mph limits.

 

Just pace the fastest car in front of you with your cruise control. Hope he gets the ticket first. I use waze and try and know the speed trap locations. But If you do get pulled over tell them it's a Prius therefore it can't go very fast

 

Wait....what ?? How far behind the car in front do you "pace" ??
And while you are doing that, you are screwing with your phone looking at WAZE reports ????
Something is very wrong with this picture.