Car and Driver Article--August 2010

[Whistler1]

To all,

The August issue of Car and Driver Magazine page 32 has an article titled "Sandbagging on Speed Limits". Most of the article deals with local Michigan municipalities keeping speed limits low for the purpose of revenue collection.

I found it to be a very interesting article. The article mentions state law Public ACT 85 of 2006, which many towns and cities have not implemented. Check it out!!



Whistler1

[Akosikojak]

In Michigan, most towns have not complied with a four-year-old state law ordering them to reset speed limits according to specific formulas, says one of the state’s top traffic cops. Lt. Gary Megge, head of the Michigan State Police Traffic Services Section, says one of the reasons for this inaction is the revenue raised by those tickets.

RED = I'm thinking this is about 90% of the reason why the locals haven't adjusted the PSL to what it should be.

“I think money is part of it, and I find it reprehensible that communities aren’t following the law,” Megge says. “In many cases, the problem is the speed limit, not the motorist. Communities have to obey the law, too.”

I find it kind of comical that the Lcl gov isn't following the law but damn if they won't try to collect from us by enforcing a PSL that's low in most cases. I do agree w/what he's saying though mostly, the problem is the PSL not the motorist.

“If you’re driving down a road, and it just feels like the speed limit is way too low, it probably is,” Megge says.

I know of quite a few roads I've been on and I feel this way.

If a speed limit hasn’t been set properly and someone exceeds it, the driver is in violation of the number on the sign,” Megge says. “But if they’re driving at a speed that’s realistic, do they deserve a $200 fine? Personally, I say they do not. I know if I got a ticket on a road where the speed limit wasn’t set properly, I’d fight it.”

I agree here.


Overall a good article.

[nate4488]

Totally agree it seems like there are many roads out there where it would be perfectly safe and reasonable for the PSL to be higher. It's funny when im driving on a road like this I always think to myself that cops are gonna be around. Just a way to make money.

[Riptide]

Totally agree it seems like there are many roads out there where it would be perfectly safe and reasonable for the PSL to be higher. It's funny when im driving on a road like this I always think to myself that cops are gonna be around. Just a way to make money.

This is because you naturally (well most of "you") go as fast as safely possible. To set speed limits they should just not have one for a few days and monitor the speed of traffic flow.
Theres probably something wrong with that though so that'll never happen