Speeding Laws Survey 50 States
 

50 States of Speeding: know the law in every state - Road & Track

CT . . . no highway patrol markings on the sides of the cruisers? ;)

Failure to signal is reckless driving in Virginia? From what I've seen of drivers there, 95% of the state needs a license suspension, then :)

Love California!

Getting nailed for doing 152MPH will result in 2 points and approximately a $2300 fine.

(I've got experience here.)

Interesting article. The MA troopers are using a lot of Explorers at this point, so that part is a little outdated.

Also, in MA, with the exception of the Turnpike and roads owned by the DCR, all speed limits are Primae Facie, meaning that operating above the speed limit is not illegal, but just considered evidence that you are violating the Commonwealth's rule that all vehicles must operate at a "reasonable and prudent" speed. If you can show in court that the speed you were doing was, in fact, reasonable and prudent, you are considered acquitted. Now, how often does somebody actually win a ticket case based on that? Probably not that often. Still, it's an interesting trivia point.

Dash cam showing tailgating drivers operating at 10-15 mph over the limit. "Your honor, it would have been a greater risk to drive 10-15 mph under the prevailing traffic speed than at the same speed. Speed doesn't kill, speed differential does."

Or waste a couple hours recording the prevalent speed of traffic on the road that you were traveling on, at the same time of day on the same day.

The troopers in MA are actually pretty decent. I've done 70 in 55 past a speed trap and 72-73 in a 60 past a speed trap and not gotten pulled over.

The times I'm most concerned about are early morning drives, when keeping up with traffic = 75-80 MPH in 55 MPH zone. 75-80 is totally reasonable for the stretch of road (long, straight, wide three-lane highway), but I think that troopers would frown upon 20-25 MPH over the limit. Generally, I just make sure that I have lead car ahead of me to trigger any speed traps that may lie in wait for revenue. 75-80 is nice :D, but being 18 and getting a ticket for 25 over would really stink.

Last Sunday morning, I was doing 80 in 55 keeping up with traffic and had two Hondas blow my doors off doing 100+, one tailgating the other (maybe racing). I wouldn't weep if they got pulled over.

Also, the magistrates who hear speeding ticket cases here in MA are paid out of the ticket money. No conflict of interest there.

EDIT: take this with a grain of salt, I can't find my source for it now... I think it was an NMA publication, but I'm not sure.

for me Maine has the most invisible highway patrol cars.

geriatric light blue taurus without an external light bar, and only side markings. hard to spot in the mirror as a cop.

Hm, interesting. I've never seen a ME trooper car.

What does RI use? MA uses black-and-blue C. Vics with light stacks and black-and-blue Explorers with light stacks, along with the occasional unmarked Explorer or Crown Vic. NH seems to almost exclusively use brown-and-green Dodge Chargers.

light gray crown vics for RI. i think i saw 4 or 5 states with nearly identical cars in the database, gotta be a ford cop car stock color option

Run silent, run deep.

LOUISIANA

Max Highway Speed: 75 mph
Reckless Driving Threshold: none
Reckless Driving Mandatory Penalty: none; misdemeanor
Reckless Driving Maximum Penalty: 90 days imprisonment, $200 fine, 1-year license revocation
Careless-Driving Threshold: none
Careless-Driving Mandatory Penalty: none; misdemeanor
Careless-Driving Maximum Penalty: 30 days imprisonment, $175 fine, 1-year license revocation

Oookay, cool.
Amen, Brother.

(What?)

I did that once, about 5 years ago but got away with it.

I don't do it now anymore.

But somebody suggested building a special TOLL lane from Sacramento to Los Angeles.

Toll is $100.

But you can go as fast as you want, all the way.

I'd be ALL OVER that solution.

I like that idea.

First, you would need more than one lane to accommodate speed variations. Second, How many $100 bills would it take to make those four lanes?

Lots of these
http://cimg.carsforsale.com/327780/9...8C70B430_2.jpg

Lots of these
http://www.grafixshoppe.com/sites/gr...Stealth1_0.jpg

Lots of these
http://cdn.getauto.com/photos/4/1586...GA21528-2c.jpg

The Tauruses and old Crown Vics usually have lightbars on the roof.

Highway 160 going out after midnight is nice. SP and SF already had their shift chage. So I'm told :D

The low profile light bars, especially on the SUVs with roof rails, are pretty hard to see until they're lit up.

That's for sure. It's amazing how bright they are when lit up. And hypnotic.

http://www.government-fleet.com/fc_i...t-cel-pr-1.jpg

http://www.fordtaurus.net/photos/data/500/100_1419.jpg

I can still pick Crown Vic headlights out in traffic at night. They're just getting to be fewer are farther between so that skill is all but worthless. :)

Fortunately for me, I discovered (mostly*) responsible driving when I started having kids in the car with me.

*My goal is to go along with the majority of traffic to avoid getting run down from behind. Usually 73ish in a 65 zone. Still technically speeding but more swarm mentality.

Wow, CT is pretty sneaky.

I remember getting onto the highway a month ago or so. I was looking to merge into the middle lane, and I looked in my mirror, only to see an Explorer in it. My antenna went up immediately, but I then dismissed because it was tan with civilian plates (MA police plates are a medium-blue with white letters). I got in front of him and rode in the middle lane, going 70-75 in a 55. After a little bit, he got into the left lane and passed me. Soon after that, a white BMW rode up onto his tail (doing 20-25 over the limit), and tailgated him. After a couple miles, the tan Explorer turned his lights on, and the white BMW and a few other cars behind him had major heart attacks... and then the cop pulled into the median to run a speed trap on the other side of the road, leaving all of us alone :D.

I keep an eye on all Explorers now :rolleyes:.

Me too.

I'd even pay more, like $150!

Related:

Click through to see how the states stack up when it comes to... Photo-photo.91245 - SFGate

License revocation. Is it transferable? IIRC, my traffic class said something about people who get their license yanked in one state are used to be able to go to another state and get a license but not any more? :confused::confused:

Agenda forcing BS

Perhaps to someone unable to see the association with how people choose to ignore the law. Quite typical for the willfully ignorant to admit it with an inane accusation.

Have a nice day.

By all means, elaborate, if you can. If you are going to drag in texting while driving, already know that. DUI? Ditto. General inattentiveness? Got it. So, just stick with relevance, if you can.

Quite typical of you to toss a barely related item and some feigned indignant response that is equally cryptic.

Thank you. I'd wish you the same but I hate to lie.

Show me someone without an agenda and I'll show you an expert liar.

All he has is his agendas that he is trying to shoehorn into any topic he can and try to make the unrelated look somewhat related. Not sure how pot has to do with speeding as the topic is. I suppose the relation is that it happened in the universe, in the solar system, on the planet earth and humans are involved.

I have a strong agenda to have no agenda.

In AZ speed limits are more like suggestions. Guidelines. Even the cops routinely speed. Tailgate too. As wipes.

Cool. I definitely got to take a drive thru there

I was amused by the speed cameras they used to have in AZ. They'd post signs "WARNING, Speed Camera Ahead" at 1 mile and 1/2 mile distance. Plenty of time to slow down. Maybe the goal was to catch inattentive tourists and cell-phone texters?

I wonder if they really have the cameras or want you to THINK they do so you slow down.

Oh elchivito, say it ain't so!

I have no tolerance for tailgaters. I always leave 2-3 seconds between me and the next car and 4 seconds between me and a motorcycle.

Cops here tailgate, too, which frustrates me.

That's funny :D. Last time we were in Finland, they had the same thing going.

My diesel truck has a setting I can go to that will make it toss smoke.

I had an old 78 I think Subaru wagon years ago that had an early rear window washer wiper system. The sprayer consisted of a half inch piece of copper tubing that stuck out and was aimed at the window. It had a real powerful sprayer. I bent it pointing away from the window and directly backwards. Worked like a charm on tailgating buttholes.

I need that in the Corolla!

The only time I've had zero trouble with tailgaters was when I had two 1' x 12' planks of wood on the roof of the Corolla (13' long car). Even though I was going below the speed of traffic on the highway and was taking off slowly from stops, nobody ever got too close :D.

On second thought, THAT's what I need!

How does that work? You wipe it off or it gets blown off. Try steel ball bearings.

Not sure how that works for a gas car. I have different settings but I had that tune specifically programmed for tailgaters and pedestrians that are jerks, which most of them are anyways.

I didn't think it would work in a gasser, I was just daydreaming. I could probably install something to inject fuel into the exhaust system post-cat, but that'd be too much trouble.

Surprisingly, I've found that if I flash my brake lights at a tailgater, he/she will back off about 50% of the time. It seems like the average tailgater is not tailgating to tick you off, they are just tailgating because they're stupid or something and don't realize what they are doing.

No, they were actual cameras (or really good replicas thereof).

They were real cameras. I think AZ repealed them a few years back, though.

I think it's a regional thing. I keep hearing about the tailgating in the northeast and it seems to be a different animal than what we have here. Around here you aren't very likely to get tailgated unless you are left lane camping or otherwise holding up traffic.

Interesting. It is very common around here even if you are doing the speed of traffic.

Drivers are entitled anywhere you go. Get push bumpers for the little darlings.

I just lift off the gas, let them close the gap a bit, then speed up, repeat. The changing distance is generally disconcerting enough to them that they either detach or pass.

Drive OVER the speed of traffic and problem is solved.

The definition of either a tailgater or one who passes inappropriately or more likely both. Rude, either way.