I don't blame you. I find myself driving my soccer mom SUV more than anything. So many bad drivers in my area and rear end collisions I see I don't want to deal with that headache either. Especially more now with me driving the limit and others behind me continuing to speed...
Altered slightly, but I arrived at that same theory - it just didn't really connect with me until I was about 55 years old. The PROBLEM is some Interstates are so damned smooth, and cars ride so nice today, it's hard NOT to be in the middle-of-nowhere on I-70 or I-80 and NOT be going 90-95. What's hilarious is to be going 85-90 for a couple hours, then drop down to 55 - and then realize 55 was the NATIONAL speed limit in the mid-late 70's with the 'gas crisis'. 55 is like crawling... and if you were caught going 59 you DID get a ticket.
I helped win a trivia contest in the 70's because I knew that. It was a dorm vs. dorm call in contest to WFNM, the college's radio station, back in the day. Boy did I ever catch hell from my stoner roommate for knowing that. Image Unavailable, Please Login D
The problem, IMHO, is that speed limits have become completely unreasonable (due to advances in car handling and safety). To the point that no one outside of grandmothers, judges, and learners permits actually drive under the limit. The 55mph limit is an anachronism. Everyone drives 5-10mph over on normal roads (25-50 limit) and 10-15mph over on highways (55-70 limit). And I am not including people who are really moving in that assessment, I’m talking about flow of traffic. The reality is that speeding fines are a revenue source for municipalities (some go to great lengths to maximize this), which is why there has been very little changes to these laws. I would humbly propose that all speed limits <55 be raised by 5mph (with the exception of residential neighborhoods, school zones, etc for obvious reasons) and all limits 55+ be raised by 10mph. This would allow the vast majority of people to drive at a sensible speed without breaking the law. If someone is doing 55 in a 35, they are gonna be speeding regardless of whether the limit is 35 or 40. Same if someone is doing 100+ in a 70. These people are not looking at a speed limit and doing math in their head to arrive at their speed (which is what you do, when you do 40mph in a 35 zone). They are just stepping on it or trying to hit a number (ie triple digits).
Um, no. Raise it from 75 to 80, and folks will go 90. NOW, if cell phones/texting were never invented, I MIGHT agree with you. But when it was 55, folks went 65. When 65, folks go 75. 75, folks go 85. 80, folks go 90... BUT soon all cars will have a black box to monitor your speed either with the car's computer, or that in combination with GPS, and if you 'speed', you will get a ticket in the mail in about 2 weeks... It IS coming, it WILL happen...
ABSOLUTELY!! I-75 drive a couple days ago, maybe on it for 30 minutes, heading south of Fort Myers, and passed through 4 or 5 spots where they were sitting. I've noticed it all along that particular highway, but didn't really put it together until I saw your post. D
And it's things like this that, when asked 'If you could go back in time, would you?', that I say yes, I would. Sooo many things we did 40-50 years ago that you can't do today, not that you would 'just' get a ticket, but you might get arrested, or sent for a psych evaluation, or car impounded, at almost $200 a day for 'storage', no matter what it was that you did. Sometimes we'd sit in a park pavilion and just BS, you can't even do that anymore, as parks 'close' at 10 or 11pm, or if you have more than 6 people that is considered a 'public gathering' and you can't do that (without a city permit). Here, if your car is seen cruising the same area of streets 3 times in one hour you can be ticketed for 'cruising'. (UBER drivers are then 'technically' cruising...) And they wonder why kids don't go out much anymore, and stay home glued to their electronic devices...
Just got back from driving to and from Ocala today. FHP everywhere on 75 and saw 3-4 totally unmarked SUV that would have never thought were cops. Looked like regular black suburbans and they light up like Xmas trees when they were pulling people over.
As someone who drives a lot here I think it’s a good thing IF they enforce it. IMO it’s targeting all these idiots in Kia’s and normal cars who insist at going 100+ while cutting in and out of traffic nonstop. That’s who is causing all these pile ups. I don’t think it’s meant to go after exotic owners although it certainly might be a by product. We just had some kid in a BMW kill a car full of seniors in Boca because he was doing 100+ on Lyon’s Road. That’s not even a highway! Where I’m at off 441 the speed limit is 50 and most do 90+. We have fatalities almost every week. Either way something needs to be done. It’s complete insanity on our roads. Besides, track events are really where every exotic owner should have fun if they want to go 100+ Anywhere else is dangerous and a massive liability.
We should consider all meeting up at one of the many Sebring track days. https://chintrackdays.com/sebring.aspx Not real pricey, plenty of places to stay overnight if you're traveling distance to get there. We used to do them up north at Thunderbolt (NJ Motorsports Park) in Medford NJ D
Plenty of people going to jail in Florida, even soccer moms in mini-vans! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
These are the people I was talking about. Unfortunately it is very common here. I hope they jail as many as they can and they lose their cars.
Law only allows for jail and license revocation. I don't see any seizure of vehicle in the law. (Except, of course, for temporarily impounding the vehicle if the speeder is actually handcuffed and removed from the scene.) That appears to be at the discretion of the arresting officer who can give you a criminal citation and let you go, or they can cuff you and jail you, requiring a preliminary court appearance and bail. https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2025/351/BillText/er/PDF D
