What is the speed limit ?

The 'accepted' speed limit ? I drive a lot on 90/290/94 and the signs say 55 mph yet when i drive a little faster than that, i still get passed left and right but any and all (beaters, SUV, trucks, Luxury sedans..). So, what gives ?

 

I always try to be never the fastest out there. As long as somebody else is passing me, I'm fine.

 

Thats what i do as well but i almost feel like im a Chicane...

 

I guess it also depends in what car you're driving. My red Ferrari says "Cop bait" all over it. So does your Porsche probably. A stealthy Corolla is less likely to get targeted.

I always find it funny when a cop car rides in traffic on the highway. Suddenly he is the fastest car and nobody dares going by him. Once that Safety car exits, the full course yellow gets replaced by green ligths and around the bend they come...

 

Very true! People always say "Man, I wish I could drive your cop car when I have to get somewhere fast"! I always tell them that my squad is the WORST car for getting somewhere quick! I had to drive from my department out west to the Lake County Sheriff's Dept. to pick up a person on a warrant once..............longest drive of my life

 

I live in Seattle, and if you're doing 5 over, you're the guy passing everyone. This is because of a mix of our state patrol being compared to the gestapo, and the fact that no one here can drive anyway.

I have done quite a bit of traveling over the past year in my car, and in the mid-west, I really think that people tend to travel at what they feel is a safe speed for them. So you might find some driving slow- but since everyone thinks they're an above-average driver, they'll be driving at an above-average speed.

Los Angeles to San Francisco was one exception, where everyone went as fast as they could... period. (I had cruise control at 90mph for two hours straight, and was getting passed by everyone)

-Colin

 

Something I noticed is that IL drivers tend to drive a lot faster than other state drivers. Places like Arizona and Indian and Ohio were speed limits are 75, everyone goes 75 or 80 max. Here it's 55, no one goes under 65 and the usual speed is 70-85 mph.

 

I drive quite a bit around Chicagoland and elsewhere for my job and here's my assessment of average speeds FWIW:

I-294: South of O'Hare - about 68mph
I-294 and then becoming I-94 North of O'Hare: about 75mph (Seriously, once you get into Lake County this is just about the fastest average speed in IL)
I-88, about 68mph in the 55mph zones until it turns 65 mph after Sugar Grove, then about 70-72 mph
I-55 into the city: about 62 mph
I-290 into the city: about 65 mph
Dan Ryan: (also known as "The Ghetto 500") about 70 mph, and don't break down!
I-90 - About 68 mph
I-55 & I-57 South down state - about 62mph

So the $64k question is - how fast should you go? My personal preference is about 65mph on very low traffic highways, and about 67-68 mph on a tollway or expressway with a normal traffic load. And yes, these are on roads that have 55 mph posted speed limits. Yeah, I know it sounds stupid/crazy to folks that don't live around here, but unfortunately our posted speed limits in IL are sort of a "guidance" it seems.

You won't be the fastest guy by any means at these speeds, but you'll be able to keep a safe even pace with a modest amount of passing and/or getting over for faster drivers. At these speeds, you'll be able to stay in the middle lane most of the time.

In Illinois, the general rule of thumb seems to have grown to be acceptable to exceed the speed limit by about 5 mph on side streets, 7 mph on minor roads, 10 mph on "highways" and about 12 mph on expressways/interstates/tollways and you're not a target.

Now, this would only apply in a daily driver. Drop the top, put on a coat of Rosso Corsa, and slap on a Cavallino and all bets are off!

 

I drive all around for my job too. 94 south of the city is the fastest by far. Speed limit is 55 and if I drive 80...I'm still one of the slowest.

 

I typically drive around 80mph on the highways.

 

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Those are funny.

I wonder however why an American patrol car would stop a California registered in Europe?

 

You noticed that to

 

GAH you beat me to it.

 

Most of my driving is done in "invisible" cars. The roads you mention seem to require an easy 15 over to keep from being dogged, even in the right lane. 75 or better seems common in the left.
Me, I always observe the speed limit.

 

Have any of you seen the new speed detectors that have been going up beneath stop signs? Kind of cool, actually. They have a detector in the middle and it displays your speed--whole thing is smaller than the speed limit sign, like a smaller version of those trailer-mounted displays they use.

 

Yeah, I always spot those signs b/c I see a lashing light in my periphery as I am usually over and those numbers start blinking.

BTW, I like the 167 reading a few posts up....

Tony.....

 

We use those for a couple of reasons. One is, obviously, to make the motoring public aware of how slow the speed limit really is when you try to do it . The other is for gathering data about that particular stretch of roadway (average speed, amount of traffic, etc.). Also, Neil's Tip of the Day for today...........when you see a portable speed device, it's a sure sign a new radar fishing hole is being set up for the armed revenue enhancers in your neighborhood. They put those up when we get a lot of complaints of high speed, so the next step is increased patrol. The signs are our way of saying, "We're watching you.....................ew, I scared myself now!

PS: One of my sick pleasures is to run radar just beyond those things because everybody likes to play Helio Castro Neves and see if they can get the pole position for the day! "I know, I know. Kind of childish. But then, so is high school (insert police work).........Ferris Bueller"

 

None of what is going on in this country gets even close to how the Nazis run speed traps in Germany and Switzerland. You guys have no idea (and be thankful for it) how the Police there took speedtraps to an entire new level. It is a different ball game there. As are the penalties. And not just now, it was like that over 20 years ago.

I could write books (quite literally) about the techniques used there (in fact I once considered writing one, but abandoned the idea for fear of getting sued etc). I spent my twenties "fighting" those speed traps. After all the town I grew up in is the home town of all that radar equipment.

So whatever the US police does, rest assured it is a quantum leap more forgiving than what the Europeans can throw at you.

I love this country! Seriously.

 

+1!
I agree,you really do not want to be caught speeding in Helvetia.
Germans,where there are speed limits,are not very forgiving either.
On top of it,with a good lawyer,you can get out of the worst speeding ticket here in US relatively unharmed (how is a 6 mo supervision for a 130mph on I-294 while being already on supervision for 3 other speeding violations just a couple months back?).
No lawyer can help you in Europe.....

 

For that violation you'd probably be doing jail time in Switzerland.

The gumballers who cut through Switzerland ended up in a jail and had their cars confiscated. Eventually they were let go again, but without the cars.

 

Generally speaking, things are getting worse by the day here in Western Europe. They really started taking a turn of the worse less than ten years ago. If you think that things were bad 20 you should see now! It was a paradise back then! Governments just want to make money with speeding tickets here (and they make lots if it). I remember reading a couple years ago that the average Italian family paid 500 Euros in speeding tickets per year!! You don't want to know how many licenses are lost per day in Italy now...

However, from my experience, European traffic still moves significantly faster than American traffic on highways.

I bet you didn't see this one before
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True, but then again it doesn't shock me: 20 years ago the Germans started putting their speed guns into the front lights of parked cars while the Swiss planted artificial trees along the highway to hide their equipment.

Bottom line is: They can get you anywhere and since using a radar detector almost carries the death penalty, you're really left without options.

 

Those Germans actually abide by their rules, contrary to the "suggestions" many Americans take laws as. In Germany, they don't jay-walk.....ever.

 

That's not so true.

Many German highways have speed limits at 120km/h with the cars in the left lane going at 180 (just like in Italy).

The problem is that the number of people loosing their licenses across Europe is scary. Things were MUCH BETTER in Europe not so many years ago.

Switzerland takes things to a whole other level though. I would never cross Switzerland in a car unless I was forced to.