Newish Highway Speed Limits

Post by **abscate** » 24 May 2015, 05:27

Not much longer for those trucks. In 3 years max, they will be autonomous and only driving at night.

Post by **abscate** » 24 May 2015, 19:14

Ironically, we lost a Nobel laureate mathematician, a John Nash, to a car crash today in NJ.

Condolences to the family.

Post by **MrAl** » 25 May 2015, 08:04

Hi,

You beat me to it ! I was reading about this and was going to post in this very thread. That's nasty isnt it? Too bad.
Both him and his wife were not very 'genius' about traffic safety however, as both of them did not wear their seat belt. Not very smart. We had an ex governor several years back,same thing, and ended up badly injured, lucky to survive at all.

I believe traffic safety and awareness has become more important now with the new speed limits. Now any of us can go at any time, but might as well take precautions to try to limit your outcome...see Nash Equilibrium...which is also ironic 'cause this kind of strategy reckoning was actually named after him!

I am hoping Sunday driving is a little safer than weekday driving as i have to travel a little bit more than usual again this Sunday.

Post by **abscate** » 30 May 2015, 04:52

Just for laughs I tried 60 mph on cruise on I 287 up to Mahwah for 30 minutes to do a fuel economy check. I got three angry light flashers and horn blowers who had come up,behind me at 80+ But were situationally unaware enough to merge over in time and then got "stuck behind me"

Interestingly enough that the 70 mph crowd effortlessly eased over and flowed around me.

Not a practice I'll repeat,soon.

Everyone got reacquainted about 10 miles from the border in a 5 mile standstill traffic jam due to an accident.

Post by **MrAl** » 30 May 2015, 09:20

Hi,

Wow that's amazing, so some people really get mad about that. That's too bad. They should know that not everyone can go 80 mph. I guess the 70mph crowd is more reasonable.
I guess none of them would like to get behind anyone doing 45 then huh? ha ha. That's my favorite speed, well for the back roads that allow that anyway.
I know some back roads where i have to go that take me roughly past another members home area but then after that i'll have to be on Rt 22 for a while, maybe as much as 30 miles. I wonder how that is going to go over. The speed limit in some sections is 65mph and i would be more comfortable at 55. What do you think about that?

I guess i am so used to this area around where i live, where even on Rt 22 around here you are lucky if you can go 45 without having to stop for something due to the traffic conditions.

Post by **abscate** » 30 May 2015, 18:01

55 mph on those 65mph highways is way too slow. Median speed is 75 mph at least.

At 60 mph I had several tailgaters and angry horn blows

Post by **MrAl** » 02 Jun 2015, 11:51

Hello again,

I am starting to think that it may have something to do with the location, time of day, and general mood of drivers that day.
The reason i think this is because i went on highway 287 here in NJ today just to see what it might be like. Traffic was light and most of the cars were doing about 65mph. I was in the right most lane doing 60 and had no problem whatsoever. There were two more lanes to the right of me where people had no problem passing. Only one guy got behind me for a few seconds and then passed me doing about 65, then as he got clear of the car he got back in the right lane, using his blinker appropriately.

I have also read other stories like this now on other sites. Some people only go 55 because they dont accept the new speed limits at all, having been on the road for some years now. They say that the people that want to pass just pass and really dont seem to care.

I also read that in Germany on the Autobahn some cars go 120 and some are limited by design so they go 60mph. There's no way around this, the cars that must go 60 really have to or they might get a ticket. But there's no ban on them driving on that highway, rather the special speed limit that's all. So if the police are in control of that then it must be safe enough to have 60mph drivers mixed with 120mph drivers. The faster ones just pass that's all.

Now maybe at certain times it would be more frustrating for the faster drivers around this area, because the road would be literally filled with cars, making it difficult for them to get over to the left to pass. This might frustrate them. But if the time of day is right, i think 60 is a safe speed. I do not like going fast, so i figure if it seemed safe to me it must be safe

Also, i noticed the driver of the car i was riding in a couple weeks ago on Rt 78 would stay mostly in the fast lane because he wanted to go maximum speed. I think fast drivers would quickly learn this is best for them if they want to go 75 or 80mph.

BTW there was absolutely no one going 80mph, no way. I was happy to see that, but could easily imagine them in the left most lane if they wanted to go that fast, and not having any problem with the slower 65mph traffic in the middle lane.

Now driving 60 in the left most lane would not be the same. That would be ignorant. Even if the highway entrance took a car onto the fast lane (some do in some areas) i dont think 60 would be good. I would suggest going faster until you have time to move over to the middle lane and then to the right most lane.

Good luck to you all out there !

Post by **regent** » 03 Jun 2015, 08:37

abscate wrote:55 mph on those 65mph highways is way too slow. Median speed is 75 mph at least.

At 60 mph I had several tailgaters and angry horn blows

Yea, I remember I had a tailgater once who happened to be a State Trooper...

He told me I needed to get up in the air if I wanted to go even faster

Post by **MrAl** » 04 Jun 2015, 05:10

Hi,

Well that's interesting

Did he actually pull you over, and if so, for what reason?

The four main highways we have in this general vicinity are, in order of probable max speed:
Rt 22, Rt 287, Rt 78, and Rt 80.

I am sure that Rt 22 is the slowest because often you cant even do 45mph. Rt 287 seems at least civil and maybe around 65 to 70, and Rt 78 there are definitely 80mph drivers, and i am guessing that on Rt 80 they do 80 too because that's a super highway.

I wont drive on Rt 78 or Rt 80, so i might be ok. Rt 22 in this area is almost not even a highway as there are so many red lights. Once you get out west more though this changes. Out near PA and in PA on Rt 22 the speed limit is 65 again for some areas at least.

I actually like the back roads better though because there is more to see. Here in NJ if i took the back roads to PA i would see lots of hills and farm areas which have a nice appeal to them, and there are lots of stores i would pass to stop and get a soda or hamburger on the way. Much nicer than cold, hard, concrete all the way and crazy drivers who tailgate at 75mph. I dont have to hurry to get anywhere so it doesnt matter to me that it takes about 50 percent longer to get there.

Post by **regent** » 04 Jun 2015, 07:06

Yes, I was pulled over; one officer stated I was doing 82 in a 65 zone, as you can see, the other two just kept watching me, ready to intervene…

: NJ ST K9.jpg (16.45 KiB) Viewed 1003 times

(I thought I was doing at least 95 but I decided to 'zip it' --- starting an argument with the officer or with his K-9 buddies would not have been my best option, right?
So, I was let go with a verbal warning only… that was on I-78 in NJ.

Please don’t tell anybody about this - they were all very nice after all

Newish Highway Speed Limits

Re: Newish Highway Speed Limits