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Virginia passes law to enforce maximum vehicle speeds for repeat speeders

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Re: Virginia passes law to enforce maximum vehicle speeds for repeat speeders

#41

Post by vel0city »

_bin_ wrote: post #16
mindslight wrote: post #5

Does anyone know why Virginia has always been so notoriously draconian about speeding? Is it DC-adjacent policy wonks outsized faith in the effectiveness of top-down prescriptions, lots of DC politicians flagrantly violating the law, culture clash between stuffy suburbanites and yokels (Virginia was the first place I ever saw a trans truck), or what?

The yankees' roads are all really bad. Old, narrow, sharp turns, and often crowded. I hate driving up there. By comparison, Texas we have long open stretches and up to eight lanes each way, so obviously it's less of an issue. I'd actually assume it's due to proximity to DC, which would tend to massively increase the population of "but the data say"-type technocrats.

Texas has an above average rate of road deaths per capita. Virginia is below average.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_road_...

Re: Virginia passes law to enforce maximum vehicle speeds for repeat speeders

#42

Post by alistairSH »

bearcobra wrote: post #28
_bin_ wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The yankees' roads are all really bad. Old, narrow, sharp turns, and often crowded. I hate driving up there. By comparison, Texas we have long open stretches and up to eight lanes each way, so obviously it's less of an issue. I'd actually assume it's due to proximity to DC, which would tend to massively increase the population of "but the data say"-type technocrats.

Is it common to refer to Virginians as being Yankees? Growing up in New England I would have assumed they’d avoid the term by being in the Confederacy

No. Outside DC metro, VA is the south (or Appalachian, which can be similar, but is distinct).

These days, it’s not really about the Confederacy, just culturally.

Re: Virginia passes law to enforce maximum vehicle speeds for repeat speeders

#43

Post by mbreese »

lokar wrote: post #23

I wonder if insurance would be a partial solution? Allow/encourage providers of liability insurance to raise rates on people with tickets, unless they are to the electronic limit.

If people still drive with a suspended or revoked license, what’s to say they won’t still drive without insurance?

Re: Virginia passes law to enforce maximum vehicle speeds for repeat speeders

#44

Post by dataflow »

But... so many people are practically forced to exceed the limit just to keep up with the rest of the traffic that's already blowing past the limit. If you force a few people to go at the limit, that's frustrating for everyone behind them in the best case at best... and I imagine possibly even more dangerous in the worst case, no? If they're going to enforce then shouldn't they try to enforce it as widely as they can?

Re: Virginia passes law to enforce maximum vehicle speeds for repeat speeders

#45

Post by alistairSH »

_bin_ wrote: post #17
wffurr wrote: post #6

Kinda begs the question why cars can go over 100mph in the first place. Also what the heck is with Newsom vetoing the passive ISA bill?

Because engines aren't designed to be run at max output. The fact that an engine can do 150 means it's a lot nicer to drive at 75. I've driven a car that has a top speed of 85 on a good day, with a tailwind and going downhill, and it sucked. Fine for city streets but in my state we have bits of highway that have posted speeds as high as 85 and realistically most people do 9-10 over on long roads outside cities.

Sure but electronically limiting that car to 80mph retains the “nice at highway speed” aspects while blocking the ability to go 120mph down I-95.

Re: Virginia passes law to enforce maximum vehicle speeds for repeat speeders

#46

Post by tokai »

tekla wrote: post #26
tokai wrote: post #24

Seems like an over engineered solution. Revoking drivers license and seizing the car would be cheaper and easier to implement. We don't tolerate repeat offenders in most other circumstances. So why is it that you can keep breaking traffic laws without ever really being stopped from driving?

Because revoking a license doesn't stop someone from driving, and seizing the car doesn't stop a person from driving someone elses car. Also, since we live in a card dependent world, you can argue that taking away someones car is destroying their ability to make a living (as much as I think this excuse is horseshit when dealing with dangerous driving)

>doesn't stop a person from driving someone elses car

Oh it does. Nobody will lend you a car that be lost to seizure. Denmark has car confiscation for speeding (not even repeated, just for single time 100% over the speed limit), and they will even take rental cars. It has definitely changed how easy it is to loan a car from friends, family, and businesses. Naturally consequences for driving without a license should also be increased.

I don't buy the car dependent argument. People are put in prison for minor victimless crimes. Something much much more life destroying than loosing your car and right to drive. If you need your car to live don't break the law repeatedly.

Re: Virginia passes law to enforce maximum vehicle speeds for repeat speeders

#47

Post by _bin_ »

lokar wrote: post #37
scottbez1 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In theory, yes. In practice typical insurance requirements are already far below realistic modern-day damages possible from vehicular collisions, and people still routinely drive without even that minimal insurance. Without better mechanisms to actually meaningfully enforce insurance requirements, changes to those requirements are unlikely to be effective. The elephant in the room in the US is that although driving i…

Yeah, required liability coverage needs to go way up.

No, draconian punishment of uninsured drivers should go way up. I am already paying a lot of money to compensate for them; I shouldn't pay more. Auto insurance is extremely expensive already.

Re: Virginia passes law to enforce maximum vehicle speeds for repeat speeders

#48

Post by alistairSH »

almosthere wrote: post #15
wffurr wrote: post #6

Kinda begs the question why cars can go over 100mph in the first place. Also what the heck is with Newsom vetoing the passive ISA bill?

From Newsome - "Federal law, as implemented by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), already regulates vehicle safety standards, and adding California-specific requirements would create a patchwork of regulations that undermines this longstanding federal framework. NHTSA is also actively evaluating intelligent speed assistance systems, and imposing state-level mandates at this time risks disrupt…

That arguement doesn’t make sense. We (VA) already require ignition interlocks on DUI’s cars. This isn’t much different.

Re: Virginia passes law to enforce maximum vehicle speeds for repeat speeders

#49

Post by DangitBobby »

_bin_ wrote: post #31
NBJack wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You seem to assume this particular demographic you speak of only does so in venues: https://komonews.com/news/local/teen-to-be-sentenced-for-hig... Would you be willing to say the same for firearms and their availability? It meets much of your criteria, sans perhaps the portability part and location of many enthusiasts.

My point is precisely that. How can you hope to encourage people to move to tracks if you require them to find a pickup that can tow cars there? If you keep closing down more and more tracks? I believe in high availability of firearms because I'm principally against prior restraint. The state doesn't get to take machineguns away from people who haven't demonstrated abuse of them to the standard of reasonable doubt. T…

> How can you hope to encourage people to move to tracks if you require them to find a pickup that can tow cars there? If you keep closing down more and more tracks?

I doubt most people speeding in the streets do track or street racing as a hobby, so I think track availability is pretty much irrelevant.

I think I should have the freedom not to get splattered by dumbasses going 100 in a 50MPH zone. Why don't I get that freedom?

Re: Virginia passes law to enforce maximum vehicle speeds for repeat speeders

#50

Post by ufmace »

The technical aspects of this seem concerning. I'm wondering exactly who has the authority to set a car to this mode and how the mechanism of doing so works. What happens if you sell the car or let somebody else borrow it? Or when you get another car, or rent one? What are the failure modes of it, like if the GPS glitches a little and decides you're on a feeder or surface road when you're actually on a freeway? I think we've all seen GPS guidance devices do that.

If this is actually being implemented as widely as the article suggests, I guess we'll all find out the answers to these questions pretty soon, the hard way!

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