speeding> do you?

[FL_CH]

Maximum speed does not mean "always go at this speed", it means a maximum safe speed in good conditions.

Night driving, just like winter driving, need driver discretion. I rarely go over 110 at night. Well then, I'm yet to see a moose on the 401

[rsandor]

Interesting thread.

As usual, the vast majority of posters believe that they are "above average" drivers.

My take: Until you have done a bunch of track days and driven in South America, Asia, or Naples Italy - you don't know jack about driving!

1: The left lane is for passing only. Unless you are a fat-ass sea turtle crawing up the beach to lay eggs, get out of the passing lane!!!

2: Swallow your ego and let faster traffic pass you. It does not make you a lesser man. If someone is tailgating you, it's because they are faster and you are holding them up. So what if they are speeding? You are not a cop - let them by - the cops won't be able to give them a speeding ticket if you are holding them at the speed limit!

3: Just because speeding is illegal, does not mean it is unsafe. Safety is a subjective term. What is safe for me (based on my experience) might be uncomfortable and unsafe for others. Conversely, some speed limits are too high in certain circumstances, and not all drivers can recognise when this is the case.

4: Why are the speed limits on our highways the same at all times? In germany and many parts of europe, electronic displays can alter the speedlimits on the highways depending on traffic and weather. There is no reason why you can't do 130kph on hwy 1 in Vancouver on a clear night with no traffic, and conversely, 90 kph during rush hour in the rain is way too fast, yet technically legal.

5: Doing a few track days with a car club will open your eyes. We've had 40-60yr olds with lots of driving experience go back to being students at the track - they realise that after all those years there was so much they never learned! Am I talking about you? I might be....

Anyways, do I speed? Hell yes. I live in Vancouver - if I don't do at least 10kph over, I'll be holding up traffic. Most of the time I'm not even looking at my speedo - I'm looking outside of the car and driving at a safe and manageable speed at which I can safely stop at all times. Sometimes that is faster than other traffic, sometimes it's slower - and when it's slower, I let other traffic by!!!!

[justplanecrazy]

Quebec announced today that they are moving from a 0.08 to a 0.05 to be considered a drunk driver, with automatic suspensions.

Good, way to catch up to the majority of the country, where I live it is .004. I speed regularly, but don't wish to do it amongst folks with impaired judgement, the freeway here looks like bumper cars for bar stars after midnight on the weekend, not a good time to be behind the wheel.

Where do you live? The Criminal Code of Canada defines impaired as .08 You say it is .04 where you live? An automatic suspension is not a criminal charge and it pisses me off that they'll nail you for it. You don't get warnings for almost speeding. 05/.04 is pretty damn low... a guy/girl lightweight could blow that after one or two drinks. Shouldn't they lower it if they find that people are racking up there cars after having a sip of wine and leave it at .08 if there's no evidence supporting that???

I'm all for stopping drunk driving but I also like to have a beer or wine with my dinner. MAD is pushing for a 0 tolerance 0.0 level and thats why I never give them any money or support. The fact is, the people that are messed up and killing people are well over the present legal limit, so what purpose would making the limit lower serve, other than clogging the courts with responsible citizens? Up to 6 beers and I can still hit a baseball as far and as accurate as 0. I'd love to see them do some testing between someone that's drank a case of beer and some of the 80 year olds with drivers licences. Sounds like too much emotion and not enough common sense are going into these decisions. If Quebec wants to reduce intoxicated driving maybe they should stop selling beer by the bottle at 3am at gas stations. Nothing like a pick me up on your way home from the bar.

[Alex YCV]

You can't buy beer legally at a store in Quebec after 11PM.

[Driving Rain]

Best highways in Canada are all in Alberta. Worst highways in Canada are in NW Ontario down as far as Sudbury and then Saskatchewan runs a close second.
Does Manitoba ever test driving ability before they issue a drivers licence?

[justplanecrazy]

You can't buy beer legally at a store in Quebec after 11PM.

That must have changed since I lived there but it still begs the question why would you buy chilled beer by the bottle in a gas station unless you were planning on popping one on the road.

[TheCheez]

You can't buy beer legally at a store in Quebec after 11PM.

That must have changed since I lived there but it still begs the question why would you buy chilled beer by the bottle in a gas station unless you were planning on popping one on the road.

Really? Are you serious?

Do you really think there's NO other reason to buy beer at a gas station than drinking and driving?

[justplanecrazy]

When you buy pop for the house, you buy a 2 liter or a case. When you're buying it for the ride home, you usually grab a single bottle at a gas station. Why would beer be any different??? Selling chilled beer by the bottle in gas stations definitely encourages you to crack it on the way home. If its in a sealed box, you generally stick it in the trunk and don't open it until you open the fridge door. The only exception might be when you're getting a mixture of that wierd 10% "beer" that they sell, and you don't want a case of bleau.

[zzjayca]

Does Manitoba ever test driving ability before they issue a drivers licence?

It sure doesn't seem like it. I have lived in Alberta, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Ontario and Manitoba. By far Manitoba drivers are the worst I have experienced. They don't seem to plan beyond their front bumpers, and they definitely don't pay attention to what is coming up behind them (ie: staying in the left lane for no reason). Also, has no one in Manitoba been taught how to use a merge lane or how to allow traffic to merge?

[zforzulu]

"rsandor" has it right.

Until you've done some track days in your regular car, you don't know jack about the dynamics of driving. Three days at a track and you really will be an "above average driver", not just someone who, like most Canadians, thinks they are.

z.

[seniorpumpkin]

Indeed driving is a dangerous activity. I think the real break-down here is in drivers education. I'm sure there have been changes since I went through the program, but clearly it is not adequate these days! I think graphic videos and real time spent behind the wheel with an instructor would be quite beneficial. I think that if I had seen some of the gore that occurs on the road I wouldn't have sped so much as a kid. Perhaps showing kids how vehicles handle differently on adverse road conditions would be the answer. I'm just happy that I survived that stage in life. Implementing re-current training would also save countless lives, I'm sure.

[BoostedNihilist]

.

[FamilyGuy]

Interesting thread. I've driven all over the world and most Canadian drivers SUCK. Very few are good.

Even really poor Eastern Europe has better drivers than most of us. They know the LEFT lane is for passing only (on the few divided roads) - AND they signal all their highway passes. They use the merge lanes to accelarate and conversly slow to the appropriate speed. I think they are taught that if they don't fit in they will be shot! They "speed" intelligently.

GTA drivers and roads aren't bad. I really like the signs that say merging traffic ahead - which is actually followed for the most part. What I didn't like is 6 lanes of traffic doing 140 and then everyone pounding the brakes - for a car stopped on the side of the road! WTF!!! Take a look at the rims of any Ontario car - always covered in brake dust!

Montreal - just plain crazy for a cement truck to be doing 140! It's become a culture thing for everyone to speed and they really don't know what they are doing.

The Prairies are simply unfathomable. Miles and miles of flat straight roads yet they have far too many fatal highway accidents. How can anyone @#$! that up??? You can see for miles??? Farmers....OLD farmers...governed semi's. 110 and twinning seems to be helping.

BC is interesting - mountain roads are well designed and most drive the highways well. Hongcouver however is a drivers nightmare. All the stereotypes apply - go there - it's unreal!

Do I speed - never. Do I exceed the posted limit - almost always - EXCEPT when conditions do not permit. Night, snow, school or residential zones, stuck behind some asshole doing 101 in the LEFT lane.

I've thought of putting a push bar on my car for those aggravating assholes that think it's okay to impeed the flow of traffic. 101 in the left lane beside a semi doing 101 for 20+ miles is not safe driving ASSHOLES!

Just remember that 50 over is an automatic criminal offence regardless of where you do it. 150 is moving too fast for most cars/drivers/perfect conditions.

[Rockie]

The problem is you formula one types share the road with the rest of us so it doesn't matter how good you are. You are not safer driving fast no matter how good you might think you are because you aren't on a track. Things happen on a regular road that you have no control over and cannot predict. You can't tell when Pa Kettle is going to suddenly change into your lane because he doesn't notice that you're going 150. You have no right to criticize Pa Kettle when he does that because he is obeying the law and you are not. If you want to drive fast with a bunch of other drivers as good as you are then take it to the track. In the meantime obey the speed limit or get a ticket, but above all please shut up about how slow drivers are the problem. They're not...you are.

[linecrew]

You can't tell when Pa Kettle is going to suddenly change into your lane because he doesn't notice that you're going 150. You have no right to criticize Pa Kettle when he does that because he is obeying the law and you are not.

Not to nit pick but changing into a lane without verifying that it is safe to do so right into the path of an overtaking vehicle cutting it off is not exactly obeying the law and nakes HIM the unsafe driver. A lack of situational awareness of other vhicles on the road both faster and slower is a real danger.

[Rockie]

You can't tell when Pa Kettle is going to suddenly change into your lane because he doesn't notice that you're going 150. You have no right to criticize Pa Kettle when he does that because he is obeying the law and you are not.

Not to nit pick but changing into a lane without verifying that it is safe to do so right into the path of an overtaking vehicle cutting it off is not exactly obeying the law and nakes HIM the unsafe driver. A lack of situational awareness of other vhicles on the road both faster and slower is a real danger.

Pa Kettle should have no reason to think the car he sees in his mirror is doing 50 kph faster than he is. So again he is not the problem, it's the guy doing 50 kph faster than he should. If I am smoking down the road and someone pulls in front of me as if I were doing a normal speed, it is my fault not theirs. That's why I don't drive fast. You simply cannot predict what the other guy will do and you can't expect him to know what you're doing either. It is not a race track.

[FamilyGuy]

Things happen on a regular road that you have no control over and cannot predict. You can't tell when Pa Kettle is going to suddenly change into your lane because he doesn't notice that you're going 150. In the meantime obey the speed limit or get a ticket, but above all please shut up about how slow drivers are the problem. They're not...you are.

You are absolutly correct - NO driver has control over all the other idiots on the road. Doing 150 and screaming past someone doing 100 either on a divided road or two lane is NOT being considerate of the conditions now is it!

Most other drivers will not know when or where I push the limits - kinda like "if a tree falls in the forest" type thing. I usually slow down to pass most other cars for exactly that reason - never know what these morons will do. I've had more than one driver pull into my lane when not safe to do so.

Just reinforces that most drivers have NO CLUE what they are doing. My speed has nothing to do with it. However a blanket "speed kills" or speeding is unsafe statement is just so incredibly unintelligent that I can't even begin to put into words all that is wrong with that.

Don't like my driving - stay off the sidewalk.
Don't like my driving - dial 1-800-328-7448 (eat shit)
Don't like my driving - make us all safer - take the bus!

[Rockie]

So what's the alternative? Drive this speed unless you're really skilled then you can go faster? Everybody thinks they're special and deserve their own set of rules but unfortunately there are more people involved than just you. That's why there is one speed limit. It's not unintelligent, it's how society works. One set of laws.

By the way, all those other drivers you just called moron are calling you the same thing. Who's right?

[Thr-Bird]

For those who live in Quebec.... Last friday the Minister Julie Boulet (ministre des transport) got busted speeding and committing numerous infractions driving from Laval to Quebec, some reporters from "Le Journal de Montreal" followed her taking pictures, it was on the news. And this b***h was rapping all week about how we drive too fast and the speed limits MUST be reduced... bunch of HYPOCRITES!!!

Reducing the speed limits and sending cops to every corner at 9 in the mourning making the poor folks who get busted late for work is not gonna reduce the number of deaths on the roads. What kills is inexperience and distraction.

I totally agree with Cat, i come from north Italy and people in Europe drive much faster with narrower roads. But also, i find the average driver in Europe drives better than the average here.

[rsandor]

The problem is you formula one types share the road with the rest of us so it doesn't matter how good you are. You are not safer driving fast no matter how good you might think you are because you aren't on a track. Things happen on a regular road that you have no control over and cannot predict. You can't tell when Pa Kettle is going to suddenly change into your lane because he doesn't notice that you're going 150. You have no right to criticize Pa Kettle when he does that because he is obeying the law and you are not. If you want to drive fast with a bunch of other drivers as good as you are then take it to the track. In the meantime obey the speed limit or get a ticket, but above all please shut up about how slow drivers are the problem. They're not...you are.

You are right, but you are also wrong.

I agree wholeheartly that fast driving belongs on the track and not ever on public roads. That's why I go to the track on a regular basis, I get it out of my system legally and safely.

However, a driver with track experience is simply a BETTER DRIVER than one without track experience. Track days teach you far more than just "how to drive fast"

Only someone without track experience would try to argue that. Track days teach you where to look, proper seating postures and had placement, smoothness, the limits of your tire traction, judgement, awareness, and many more things than just "how to drive fast". Graduated licencing does not teach this properly.

Slow drivers are still a problem for many reasons. Slow drivers generally have very little comprehension or understanding of what the traction limit of their car is, and what do when they exceed it. Think of it as a pilot who has never learned spin or stall recovery. That's exactly the analogy! Imagine how many more deaths we'd have in aviation if we stopped training spins & stalls!!! Imagine how many less deaths we'd have in the car world if everyone knew how to drift their car on demand with precision, the same way pilots enter and recover from spins.

Slow drivers generally are driving slow enough that they can look away from what they are doing and distract themselves with cellphones or maps or dvd's or what have you. You may notice that if you speed, you tend to pay much more attention to what going on ahead of you - the opposite is true when you are coasting along at the legal speed limit - totally unaware if it's even a safe speed.

There is speeding, and there is EXCESSIVE speeding. Going 5-10kph over is trivial. It's when you create a massive speed differential that you have a potential for a huge accident. In this country, large speed differentials are not the norm, and we can't handle it.

[rsandor]

I guess what I am trying to say is that the safest drivers are the ones who have the "racing experience" but choose not to speed excessively on the public roads.

I'd rather be a passenger in a car with a driver with track experience doing 10-20kph over the limit, than in a car with a driver with NO track experience doing exactly the speed limit.

[FamilyGuy]

So what's the alternative?

Everybody thinks they're special and deserve their own set of rules but unfortunately there are more people involved than just you.

By the way, all those other drivers you just called moron are calling you the same thing. Who's right?

That is precisley why I said "all the other idiots on the road". Truth is I agree with you - we all think we are right - you, me, the asshole holding up traffic doing 101 in the left lane. We are all idiots in our own way.

There is no one final solution other than to mind your own business, drive defensively and STAY IN THE RIGHT LANE EXCEPT TO PASS!

Let the long arm of the law catch and prosecute, with no discretion, those who choose to needlessly endanger others. I'm very comfortable with that, so long as it's not you or your ilk who choose the time and place of my comeuppance.

Go slow(er) - stay right - eyes forward. I'll get around you when safe to do so - its no big deal - go back to bobbing your head to the music on the daily commute - maybe talking on your cell phone or putting on your makeup - whatever makes you happy. Me, I'll focus on driving "prudently".

Karma.

[Rockie]

You think that everyone who drives slow does so because they are not capable of going fast, or that they are oblivious to what's going on around them. I choose to drive the speed limit for the simple reason that it's safer. I am more aware of what's going on around me than if I were going fast and have dodged bullets coming up behind me on several occasions. Having been involved in the low altitude/high speed business I am acutely aware of how attention needs to be focused directionally the faster you go. The more you are focused in front of you the less you are aware of what's going on around you. And it's the people around you who are unpredictable.

I'm not talking about the people doing 10-20 over, so long as you do it in the left lane. It's the people going even faster than that and the ones travelling 10-20 over using all the lanes. You talk about slow drivers in the fast lane but worse are the fast drivers in the slow lane, and there are many of those.

If everyone were driving roughly the same speed there would be far fewer accidents. The speed limit has to be reasonable because most drivers are average and not speed gods like a lot of people think they are. So if you are going excessively fast you are unsafe and at fault for accidents that it causes. No way around it.

[mighty mouse]

xxx

[mighty mouse]

Second, Public roads have public rules. Bring back photo radar!