What Makes Someone A Bad Driver?
By Eric Peters, Automotive Columnist
Everyone has an opinion about “good” vs. “bad” driving — but here are some things we should be able to agree on:
Tailgating
Crowding the car ahead of you massively increases the chances you’ll smash into him if its driver should suddenly brake. If you are too close, you will hit him. And it will be your fault, legally speaking. Always. There is no excuse for tailgating. It’s dangerous — and it’s obnoxious. No one likes having another car inches off their rear bumper.
Remember the “three second rule” — when the vehicle ahead of you passes a fixed object such as a tree or telephone pole, slowly count “one one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand.” If you reach the object before completing the count, you’re following too closely. Double this in poor weather.
If the guy ahead of you is going to slow for your tastes, pass him when you get the chance. If you’re the slow-moving driver, you can defuse the situation by pulling off to the side to let the other car get by.
Failure to use turn signals
Like following too closely, failing to signal your intentions to other motorists is dangerous — and rude. There’s no good reason not to signal — and several good reason to do so. Other drives are not psychic; they can’t guess that you are planning on making a right turn or about to move into the next lane. Signaling is especially important for the safety of motorcyclists, bicyclists and pedestrians. If they are in your blind spot and you just assume no one’s there and execute a maneuver without signaling first, these folks will get no advance warning and will suffer the most if you strike them.
And if you do, it will be your fault.
Impeding the flow of traffic
Driving too slowly can be more dangerous than driving a little faster than the posted limit. In a high-density situation, with many others vehicles sharing the road, a dawdler creates what amounts to a rolling roadblock. Traffic snarls; motorists jockey for position — the smooth flow of cars is interrupted.
The dawdler — often an elderly or timid driver — is less culpable than the tailgater or the person who doesn’t use his turn signals. They are simply uncomfortable driving faster than a certain speed. But that doesn’t make doing 42 mph in a 55 mph zone any less safe — for them or for other motorists.
Elderly drivers — and those who feel uncomfortable keeping up with traffic — can do things such as pull off the road to let the cars stacking up behind them get by.
Or stick to the right lane on the freeway.
Driving an overloaded vehicle (or driving with an improperly secured load)
Ever see a guy trundling down the road with a refrigerator partially hanging out of the trunk of his compact car? Or a truck with a bed full of junk that’s clearly not tied down and looks like it’s about to fly out at any moment — possibly right through your windshield?
Many of us are probably guilty of trying to haul something oversized or unwieldy home (or to the junkyard) is a car not built to handle or it — or not properly secured. It’s tempting — but it’s really foolish and could end up causing a serious injury to someone else, or a dangerous hazard for other motorists. You could be ticketed — and if someone has an accident or gets hurt because the junk in your trunk flew all over the road — you could also be sued.
So, don’t overload your vehicle — and use proper tie-downs/come-alongs to secure your load.
Ok. But how about “technical fouls” – stuff that’s illegal, but not necessarily dangerous?
Let’s look at some examples:
Speeding
There’s a big difference between driving faster than the posted limit — and driving too fast for conditions, your skill set, and so on.
But our system focuses almost exclusively on driving faster than the posted limit — the definition of “speeding” — even though doing so may not be unsafe.
Speed limits are often set too low — mainly in order to make it easier to gin up money for local government via traffic tickets. If you have trouble believing this, consider the 55 mph National Maximum Speed Limit, which reduced previously lawful highway maximums from 70-75 to 55 mph. For more than 20 years, it was the law of the land — and routinely violated by almost everyone.
Motorists were just as routinely ticketed.
But in 1995, the NMSL was repealed by Congress and most highway speed limits are now set at or close to what they were before the 55 mph maximum was imposed — with 65-70 mph being typical.
What was illegal “speeding” yesterday is once again perfectly legal today. Common sense tells us that driving 65 or 70 mph didn’t magically become safe simply because the law was changed. Driving at those speeds was just as safe prior to 1995; but you risked a ticket if you did.
Right on red
Sometimes, the prohibition against making a right turn at a red light is there for good reason — such as poor visibility. But sometimes, laws against making a right on red are the result of over-caution and assume a very low level of competence for the typical motorist — which may be justified. But a competent motorist may be able to accurately judge the speed of oncoming traffic and safely make the turn. Often, there is no oncoming traffic at all — and making the turn is thus obviously safe — even if it is also illegal.
Like “speeding,” this is another example of a gray area in traffic law; if you receive a ticket, you may have broken the law — but you may also have done nothing that’s genuinely unsafe.
The “California stop”
Here, all you did was fail to come to a complete stop at an intersection with a “stop” sign before proceeding through the intersection. Always illegal, it’s not always unsafe.
For example, you come to a deserted intersection and it’s clear there’s no one around for miles. Or, you’re driving in a snowstorm and are trying to make it up a slippery hill with a stop sign at the top. Maintaining momentum can be crucial to avoid getting stuck and it might be safer to creep through without coming to a complete top — assuming your way is clear. It’s arguably more dangerous to lose your momentum and get stuck, blocking other cars — or worse, sliding back down the hill and possibly into another car.
This is another area of nuance — one where judgment and the specific circumstances ought to be taken into account as much as the “violation” itself.
Comments?
www.epautos.com
[...] by: NoJingoLingo What Makes Someone A Bad Driver? I'm not sure there is any "statistic" regarding this but there need not be a statistic [...]
Some information from AZ Dot.
http://www.azdot.gov/Highways/Traffic/Trafeng.asp
I like the text at the end of this web page:
This document is taken almost verbatim from a booklet called ''Traffic Engineering – What? Why? How?'', published by the Arizona Highway Department (now the Arizona Department of Transportation, Intermodal Transportation Division) in the early 1970s.
What is so interesting is that even though this information is over 20 years old, and despite the innumerable technological innovations in the field, that the basic principles of traffic engineering have not changed – achieving the safe, efficient, and convenient movement of persons and goods using streets, roads, and highways.
===================================================================== http://www.azdot.gov/Highways/Traffic/standards/P…
Speed zoning in Arizona is based on the principle of setting speeds as near as
practicable to the speed that 85% of the drivers consider to be reasonable and
prudent, i.e., the 85th percentile speed. The 85th percentile correlates to the first
standard deviation above the mean; statistically the first standard deviation is the
average speed of motorists above the mean speed.
First, however, an engineering and traffic investigation shall show roadway
conditions to be satisfactory for that speed. Speed limits thus established encourage
voluntary compliance because they appear reasonable to the majority of motorists.
====================================================================
Better travel on roads through the use of sound engineering practices :-)
It seems that AZ (on paper) is for properly set speed limits.
schwinn8 name one one source from true engineering principals that states we should set our speed limits at the 85 percentile speed and use no other information? You fool, there is no source that would say that. If in fact you set the speed limt at strictly 85% you would have to change that speed every other year. It would quickly go over 100 mph on most roads because of course you would only need to get 16 out of 100 drivers to keep speeding up under perfect road contions and with almost no traffic. You and George and many others on this site would be part of that 16 out of 100.
This article conspicuously omits at least 4 important things:
(1) Breaking the rules to be "courteous." The most courteous thing you can do on the road is to follow the rules of the road. The only time departure from the normal rules is "courteous" is when, for example, a driver would never otherwise be able to proceed because of heavy traffic. Otherwise, don't step on the brakes and be discourteous to 10 drivers behind you, in order to be "courteous" to one driver waiting his proper turn. Often when drivers are discourteous in the name of courtesy, you can look in your mirror and see that after a couple more cars, the driver awaiting his turn could have taken it in a few more seconds.
(2) This article conspicuously omits speeding, perhaps the biggest single cause, contributing cause or exacerbation of accidents. Yeah, there's a heading "Speeding," but only to complain about speed limits often being too low (I agree) and to say it should be ok to drive faster than the posted limit when safe (I agree but recognize the folly of self-serving judgments!). At the top of the list should be real, bona fide, unsafe speeding. PERIOD.
(3) Constant and rapid weaving in and out of lanes—whether you signal or not—and cutting across more than one lane at a time, signaling or not. My dad was a bad driver in certain ways, but one valuable thing he taught me: never make quick moves, give other drivers a chance to evade, if you make a mistake.
(4) Yapping on the phone (or texting or grooming or reading). God I hate those people. Almost every time you see someone not keeping up, or weaving to the edge of the lane, or not making that turn when they have a chance… if you are able to check it out, they're on the frickin' phone—and no doubt under the delusion that only THEY can do it safely.
I think this article might do well to conclude by "driving" this point home: if you EVER injure someone because you were driving too fast, not paying attention or breaking one of these common-sense rules, you will never stop regretting it and feeling like a jerk for the rest of your life. (No, I can't prove this, nor do I speak from example, but don't you think it's true?)
But this article would not logically contain such a reminder, because this site isn't really about safety as the most important concern, it is about complaining about the rules and getting by with stuff. There is a point to that (read my lips before you blast away), but it should take back seat to safety.
No Randy, you need to leave. Most of you don't know it but Randy actually is the least qualified of any of us to comment on these matters. You see, Randy actually lives in a cave in a country you've never heard of where he herds yaks for a living. He's only seen automobiles on the internet on the one computer they have in their country. Actually, I think last year we established that Randy IS a yak (albeit a very talented one). You can tell though because half the words in his posts are spelled incorrectly and he generally rambles on something fierce. He's also obsessed with the one thing he cannot have, and that is speed. Or is it a large member? He seems curious about what it feels like to be a man:
"George do you feel more like a man driiving all the way up to 90 mph? Does that show your superior driving skills? Was that cool or what?"
Randy should really just be quiet, read and learn. What was it I said before? Oh, yes! I remember, "Yakkity Yak, don't talk back!" Ahhhh, Ha ha ha ha!!!
See ya later, Yak.
"What makes someone a bad driver?" Being a yak named Randy. Oh, and also being obsessed with trying to slow everyone else down because your passive-aggressive diseased psychology is the only thing you have left to live for, as opposed to those who have lives, places to be and who enjoy driving the roads of our beautiful nation in our awesome cars.
And as I said before, if Randy's obsession with slowing people down is because he lost someone he loved in an accident involving speeding, he has my full sympathy and condolences. But if I'm right and he's just a moralizing party pooper then I think we have to call a spade a spade.
Thank goodness he's still around after all this time! This site would be so dull without him!
This is a good read titled, Risk mentality: why drivers take the risk they do
From the article:
"Evaluation is critical for all behavioral programs. No behavioral program, however carefully planned, can be assumed to work without hard data. The influence process is too complex to rely on simple program standards or cookbook solutions. If there is to be progress in driver safety management, it will be knowledge driven. The knowledge for continued refinement of behavioral methods will only become available through objective evaluation. All behavior change methods should be seen as experimental."
In other words, show me the data… everything else is irrelevant.
What data do you want to see schwinn? There is data to show that seat belt laws work in changing the behavior of drivers and to increase seat belt use and decrease deaths. There are statistics that show that increased enforcement of DUI laws has led to a decrease of drinking and driving. There are statistics that show increased enforcement of speed laws leads to more consistent speeds and fewer deaths and injuries. There are statistics out there that show that schwiin is stupid. There are statistics out there that show that red light cameras decrease the running of red lights. These are all well documented. what other statistics do you want?.
I never said seat belts didn't improve safety, yet you insist I am talking about that. I never said anything about DUI laws not improving safety either.
You can call me stupid all you want. I'm not the one making up the rules and regs we have in place today. Fact is, each time you call me "stupid" you are calling the existing laws and regulations stupid (those that say we should be setting 85% speed limits). In addition, you are calling all the traffic engineers stupid (the ones who came up with these regulations, based on DATA.) And you do this all without any data… just your continued ramblings.
Like I said, if I am stupid, so are you. I don't really care either way. Fact is, the DATA should decide. And you have provided none. You keep saying it's "documented" but then fail to ever provide anything.
schwinn8 name one one source from true engineering principals that states we should set our speed limits at the 85 percentile speed and use no other information? You fool, there is no source that would say that. If in fact you set the speed limt at strictly 85% you would have to change that speed every other year. It would quickly go over 100 mph on most roads because of course you would only need to get 16 out of 100 drivers to keep speeding up under perfect road contions and with almost no traffic. You and George and many others on this site would be part of that 16 out of 100.
I think your math needs to be checked.
example:
If the 85 percentile is 50 mph that means that 85% of the drivers are at or below 50mph.
The speed of the top 15 percentile does not matter.
(whether their speed is 55, 125, or any other speed above 55 mph)
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Calling others names or other derogatory terms does not strengthen ones arguments.
========================================================= http://www.th.gov.bc.ca/publications/eng_publicat…
A report from B.C., Canada that reviews and assesses the speed limits posted there. It is an interesting read although a bit long.
M1THRAND1R your statement is why you and George and schwinn should not be here. Uisng the 85% rule, it in fact does not matter what speed the slower 84 percent of drivers are driving at. They could all be driving under 50 mph. If the person that brings the number to 85% is driving 70 mph then you have an 85% speed of 70 mph. You are right in that it does not matter what the fastest driver is driving at and at the same time it does not matter what speed the major majority of drivers are driving at. Those kind of things are the things that engineers look at that you and your brother schwinn seem to always leave out.
This should be interesting.
(Thanks for being a bit clearer in your explanation of your top 16% rule. I still do not agree with it, but at least it is clearer to me.)
"You are right in that it does not matter what the fastest driver is driving at and at the same time it does not matter what speed the major majority of drivers are driving at.
Those kind of things are the things that engineers look at that you and your brother schwinn seem to always leave out. "
It sounds as if you are agreeing with what several people have stated here.
PSL should be set by qualified engineers using sound engineering principles. Among these principles is the 85 percentile guide line which is a very useful starting point in setting a proper speed limit baring any other valid information for a given location.
====================================================
Regarding the top 16%, I would think that sound record keeping might note if a large variation of speed exists on a given road. Using your example: 84% drive below 50 mph. The next 16% drive 70mph or faster.
Do you have any studies that indicate this type of phenomena to be common in the USA?
In my opinion it would seen more common for data to resemble a bell curve that is relatively smooth with a normal distribution of data points. What you appear to be describing seems to be a rare situation.
====================================================
On a more serious note, I'd like to thank you for finding my lost brother schwinn8. ;)
M1THRAND1R I do not have a study handy to send you. In the future I will keep a list of studies that I run across and put them in catagories for your questions. I have seen this type of thing though where groups of a half a dozen cars or so are driving significantly faster than the the other cars. I have also driven in highly populated areas also where if you were not driving well over the speed limit no matter what lane you were in you would have a car on your bumper or a semi even though with the distances that they were traveling the speed they had selected was not needed.
I do bet though that the next post anyone makes will have the 85% rule as the speed limit we should have when as you stated it should only be a starting point.
Thanks in advance for you having sources available in the future.
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(Brief excerpt) http://dx.doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-947X(2006)13…
Most of the studies available in the literature indicate that the speed data on a highway follow the normal distribution.
M1THRAND1R this statement followed directly behind yours "The present study indicates that the speed distribution may be a unimodal or a bimodal curve depending upon the variation in the speed of different categories of vehicles moving on the highway"
A bimodal curve is exactly a curve that I mentioned that you said you did not agree with. The one where there is a group of fast drivers and a group of normal drivers. I do not need to reference this quote do I because you just mentioned it? You and all NMA quotes stop short of explaining the complete story..
As for your previous statement that says I agree with what people have stated here that could not be farther from the truth.
One of the change in speed limit reports that you were looking for. It shows exactly what I have been saying, you see the most difference where the actual travel speed goes up along with what is on the signs as shown with midwest states. In states that typically never follow the speed limit anyway there is little change in fatalities because actual travel speed does not change that much.
http://www.bts.gov/publications/journal_of_transp…
"It has been proven that when speed limits are increased the traffice speeds also increase."
Do you have any data/studies to support this statement that you could present here.
M1THRAND1R are you too ignorant to do searches yourself? Are you too stupid to think that you or others here would not speed up? I llived it M1THRAND1R of course that does not count to you. The speed limiit in the mid-west highways was 55 mph. The average speed was under 60. It is over 70 now. If the limit went up to 80 the average speeds would go well above 70. Are you saying that is a lie? Do you know anyone here that would not speed up. Name that person. I do not countt because I am not an NMA member..
If the speed limit was 80mph, I would not drive that fast.
============================================================
"Are you saying that is a lie?"
I did not say it was a lie. (I did not say it was true either.)
I asked for data/studies to support your assertion.
============================================================
"If the limit went up to 80 the average speeds would go well above 70. "
Are you sure? (Not saying you are wrong/right)
What support do you have that the average speed would go up?
M1THRAND1R use your brain. What do you think would happen if the speed limit was increased. With the posts that you read from other NMA members what do you think they would do? A lot of this does not take rocket science. Many times all you have to do is look in the mirror and determine what you would do. What would you do if the speed limit was increased?
What would you do if the speed limit was increased?
Already answered. See reply above.
============================================================
What do you think would happen if the speed limit was increased.
I think that many (if not most) people would prefer to get to where they are driving as safely and as quickly as possible.
M1THRAND1R you said above that if the limit was increased to 80 mph you would not drive that fast. You did not admit that you may not increase your speed. How about others here? Do you think that George would not increase his speed to close to 90 or higher? You may have forgotten that George and others here say safety is not dependent on speed. They say increasing speed does nothing to decreasing safety. So what it amounts to is that increasing speeds would cause more variance of speeds on the highway. That is a bad thing according to all reports.
"So what it amounts to is that increasing speeds would cause more variance of speeds on the highway."
Do you have any data/studies to support your position?
Just because the speed limit is raised does not automatically mean that there will be an increase in the variance of speeds on the interstate highways.
M1THRAND1R if you say that you are not going to drive at 80 mph as in our example and I am not going to drive at 80 mph and many trucks are not going to drive at 80 mph and others like George and friends are going to drive welll over the 80 mph what does that mean to you? Use your brain. There have been studies according to NMA that speeds would actually be more consistent. They are always studies right after a small speed limit increase and when there is a lot of increase enforcment keeping the speeds of the faster drivers down . Once these faster drivers feel the enforcment has let up they will go over the limit.
On easter sunday, I was going 90mph (only for a short while) on I-355.
Other than that, traffic was flowing 70-80mph.
New air filter, and took off the winter tires.
Safety is dependent upon paying attention, and using your brain.
There's no law saying we have to use our brains. How else does anyone know that this is a requirement?
Maybe we need a law requiring it!
George I have seen it where when there was a cop parked the traffic flow was a lot better. The speed may not have been as high but there were far more people driivng closer to the same speed so little braking was needed or passing. That is not driving to you though.
George do you feel more like a man driiving all the way up to 90 mph? Does that show your superior driving skills? Was that cool or what? Should old people be driving that fast?
there are places in the west where the average speed is 85-90 today . The cops allow it and only pull over drivers sitting/blocking in the left lane , for failing to signal or following too .
There are two states in the west with 80 the posted limit on some freeways . On the 80 zones I've driven in traffic is no faster or slower than it was before the limit was posted above the original 75 , UDOT has the data to back that fact up . In Montana when there was no numeric limit during the day 85-90 was the fastest anyone drove on the freeway . No different than today with the limit posted @ 75 .
I drive these roads in the west at least twice a year and can vouch for the fact that over at least 60 % of the US freeways the real limit today is already 80-85 with no regard to what is painted on the speed limit sign .
And drivers would not speed up 1 mph if 80 were to suddenly be the posted limit . Evidence has shown that average speed always drops when the real limit is posted . I would expect similar if the 13 states in the west if all posted 80 or 85 as the limit .
binderme you must be new here but I have said that the speed limit is what the police let you drive at without getting a ticket. People know what that limit is. If there is a 75 mph limit in the west and the police just wave at you if you are going 90 then the actual speed limit is something over 90 mph. People know that if there is a good chance of getting a ticket at 10 mph over the limit then they drive slightly slower than that. If they know there is a serious ticket if they are 15 mph over the limit they drive under that speed. That is not rocket science. I drove during an era where tickets were given at 5 mph over the limit. Guess what? The signs meant something., Many areas of the west are wide open and you can see for miles and the roads are straight and the traffic very light. Yes that is a lot safer drving faster on those type of roads rather than in more congested areas throughout the country. That is why they often have 55 mph limits.
"That is not rocket science. I drove during an era where tickets were given at 5 mph over the limit. Guess what? The signs meant something."
IMO:
I do not think reasonable people would have problems with a properly set PSL and enfocement of these limits.
If the PSL is set too low for ideal conditions and you have random levels of enforcement, then this will contribute to a wider variance of speeds. (Those that will never travel above PSL, those that will travel near the ideal (safest) speed for a given rode and those that travel at higher rates of speed.)
M1THRAND1R there are very few reasonable people on this site. They want speeds of 100 mph or more on all highways even the densly populated areas.
You need to be more specific on what road you say is under what it should be posted. I know of many that are already set at the proper level. I drive mostly 2 lane interstates and to have people driving 90 mph on such roads is stupid. There are vehicles that travel 60 mph no matter what the speed limit. We live in a time where there will be more and more elderly on our highways and you add them with the teenage drivers that means we do not want high speeds on our highways.
I am reasonable, you are not.
A reasonable person does not drive 100 mph near Chicago at any time. Why is it needed in the first place? Why do you need a race course in a highly populated area on our highways?
Where were you going that you had to be driving 90 mph last weekend? Old people should not be driving that fast.
The speed at which you can utilize the public way is based upon contention for said resource.
There was light contention, and I was only going 90 for a short period of time to get around potential 'bad drivers'. I deemed that because of far to close following distance for their speed.
I then utilized the open left/fast lane (of three) and put sufficient distance and proceeded to roll out of the throttle and resume the fast flow rate of 80mph.
Are you an 'age-ist'? What do you have against old people?
What is your point, you said that twice already.
George this article states that some of the elderly can be amoung some of the safest drivers because they tend not to speed or take chances and are more likely to wear seatbelts. Many of these type of things you do not follow.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_age_and_driving
If the old people know they are going to crash, they are reducing their kinetic energy, as you like to point out.
I always wear my seat belt.
I do not take chances.
and passing/no passing zones are sacrosanct.
M1THRAND1R read this article. It has facts in it but NMA members do not like reports like this because they do not like facts.
http://www.iihs.org/research/qanda/speed_limits.h…
The IHS has a vested interest in Speed Limits. First they claimed 25% of all accidents were caused by Speed. Next it was 30%. Now it's edging toward 35%.
Running a Stop Sign while drunk and driving over the Speed Limit does not mean speed was the culprit if a crash occurs – except when someone who is representing an industry's financial interest is compiling the statistics.
Studies in Canada, Florida and California have shown that accidents causes by driving too fast for conditions (not necessarily over a given Limit) were from 1,5-6% of all crashes. I remember the report done in California, which was released after the US National Speed Limit was repealed, saying that, even though 6% of accidents were the result of driving too fast, 76% (I think it was 76% but not positive) of all tickets written by the Highway Patrol were for driving over a Speed Limit. Of course, the State also has a monetary interest in Speed Limits.
Guadalautern as I say you and others here do not like the facts. If they are in fact off a couple of percent you say hte figures do not count. In fact more accidents may be caused by excesive speed. Are you saying that no accidents are caused by excessive speed? Are you saying that increased speed does not make the injuries worse? Too fast for conditions in my mind is speeding also it is just not a violation of what is on the sign. It is a good example of why the speed limit should not always be set for ideal perfect conditions because few slow down from their high speed driving unless they start slipping off the road. An example is that one of the idiots says he drives 110 mph in light rain and brags about it. It has been shown through statistics that some of the best drivers cause more accidents because they take more chances.
The California Stop is a result of a Stop Sign installed where a Yield Sign would work. In no other Country have I seen Stop Signs used to such needless excess as in the US. And the streets I have driven in Europe, I have NEVER seen an intersection with a 4-Way Stop Sign system. There, they either have Traffic Circles or Traffic Lights with Stop or Yield Signs. The Signs take precedence when the Lights are not needed and turned off.
My Mother lives in Las Vegas which has a ridiculous amount of Stop Signs (as well asTraffic Lights burning 24 hrs a day). Because of this, her 100PS Diesel Golf uses more fuel than my 115PS Gasoline Audi in Germany.
Guadalautern nice to see you are an expert at traffic control devices. What do you care living out of the USA? 4 way stops are at intersections where two major roads come together with almost equal traffic volume. Otherwise there are just stop signs on one of the streets or yield signs. I have been in round-a-bouts, and they take up a lot more space than a normal intersection.
When are you going to turn off the traffic lights in Las Vegas, a city that never sleeps? There are streets in the US where they turn off the stop lights but I have never seen such a thing in major cities.
I may not be an expert but I know more than you or most "Traffic Engineers" in the US who are in their jobs because of seniority or people they know.
As M1THRAND1R and schwinn would say, show us your reports and data and studies on your last statement. I know, they are XXXXX.
I agree with the first 4.
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Speeding
There’s a big difference between driving faster than the posted limit — and driving too fast for conditions, your skill set, and so on.
I think it would be very rare for someone to be ticket driving too fast for conditions.
If PSL are set appropriately by sound engineering principles it would, IMO, reduce the amount of speeders to those that are at the high end of traffic speeds (ie top 10 percentile).
This would imo make it easier for LEO to enforce PSL. Properly set PSL would also generate more respect by the general public imo.
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The “California stop”
I think that one should come to a complete stop at a stop sign.
The example cited are in my opinion extreme cases. Hopefully if observed by an officer, during the situations cited, the worse that would happen would be a warning.
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Right on red
Although annoying at times, I think that one should not turn at lights where right on red is not permitted.
Some lights are no turn on red during certain hours and/or certain times of the year. This may be appropriate in some locations.
Tickets are given out for too fast for conditions. It usually is after an accident. It is pretty dangerous to try to catch someone to give them a ticket if the vehicle you are trying to catch is already driving too fast for conditions.
It has been proven that when speed limits are increased the traffice speeds also increase. Sometimes not always go up a lot for a month or two but after a few months the speeds increase. That is a fact unless traffic is so crowded no one can drive faster or there is increase police patrols which almost always happens after speeds are increased except out in the middle of nowhere.
To raise your driving IQ a few points above my dead Uncle, let me give you two examples of what Nevada does regarding citations for Driving Too Fast For Conditions (DTFFC).
A former co-worker was ticketed for DTFFC when he banged into the car in front of him during Stop & Go Traffic. He should have been stopped.
A woman driving her huge SUV ran a Stop Sign while talking on her cellular phone, hit a car and killed both occupants. Among other things, she was cited for DTFFC because she should have stopped.
These bogus violations were added to the accidents caused by DTFFC statistics which are used to justify the increasing use of Speed Traps everywhere in the State BUT Intersections.
Of course, this was a few years ago. I'm sure Nevada is more honest now.
Guadalautern you need to leave because you do not drive here every day to see people DTFFC. I have seen probably a couple of hundred that were DTFFC over the past few months and I am sure non of them probably got a ticket for it. I saw probably at least a hundred in the ditch and with others driving way way too fast in fog and in heavy rain the number ticketed for DTFFC is only a very small fraction of the number there actually are. YOu can not see that in any report though. That is something you see in day to day driving.