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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

#231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm from Atlanta. On 285 the speed limit is 55. Traffic moves at 80.

Having driven extensively in nearly every city in this country, the drivers in Atlanta are absolutely the most dangerous. It is the only city I refuse to drive in, and I try to limit my physical presence in the Atlanta Metro (aside from transiting the airport) to reduce the risk of being in an accident. I have seen a mid-90s Nissan pickup truck literally on two wheels it was weaving through traffic so recklessly on I…

> Having driven extensively in nearly every city in this country, the drivers in Atlanta are absolutely the most dangerous

Worse than Phoenix and D.C.?

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

#232
post #50

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 thi…

Also: Maybe your family has two or three cars, but only one of the people in your family needs this "enforcement". Which car do they nerf?

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

#233
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, required liability coverage needs to go way up.

Just put it in yearly registration fee, like most modern countries do. The profits stay within the government, fees can be easily adjusted to inflation and is enforced onto everyone thus reducing the headache for drivers and cops.

Then you'll have people not registering their cars. Which already happens a lot. They steal a plate or renewal sticker from another car or just drive with it expired.

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

#234

Another half-measure that will be disabled by aftermarket kits. If people want to go fast, they will.

> will be disabled by aftermarket kits

The presence of which demonstrates wilful intent, turning another ticket into jail time and a criminal record.

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

#235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. No one is 'forced' to exceed the limit, not remotely, and there are plenty of drivers who, for a variety of reasons, drive at or under the speed limit (many large trucks, for example). On a highway, driving slow in the left lane is not good, but doing 65 in a 70 in the right lane is perfectly fine.

> No. No one is 'forced' to exceed the limit, not remotely, You never get tailgated when you go too slow? People do it all the time and it's dangerous as heck.

If you're in the left lane and being tailgated, then it's your fault, if there is no one in front of you.

If you're in the right lane and being tailgated, it's the fault of the tailgater.

There's a reason why some states have traffic signs that state "left lane for passing only".

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

#236
post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is... a regressive tax on... Reckless drivers who, after multiple convictions keep putting the lives on the public in deadly danger ? Do people stumble into that kind of criminal history by accident, or something? How many times do they have to be hauled before a judge before they knock it off? Are these Jean Valjean crimes of necessity, or something? Look, what those people need to do is never be allowed to dri…

Again, slippery slope. As use of this tool expands to _any_ driving related offense. As it applies only to those who must themselves drive. The dangers? I think I covered that just fine with the end of my previous post. People who aren't operating as adults require different solutions. You could have the death penalty as a punishment for this and it would not change their behavior. EDIT: Replying within this post sin…

Last I checked, breathalysers have found solid purchase on this slippery slope.

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

#237
post #225

From the article : "Americans worried about their country’s sky-high rate of crash deaths haven’t had much to cheer lately. " This is untrue. America's motor vehicle fatality rate per billion vehicle miles has gone from 3.35 in 1980 to 1.27 in 2023. It's a dramatic reduction. In 1980 there were 51K fatalities in the US, in 2023 there were 40K. In 1980 there were 226M Americans, in 2020 there were 331M. https://en.wik…

Over the 15 years from 2008-2023, fatality rate per 100 million VMT has largely been stable, maybe increased some. I think that qualifies as not having recent wins.

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

#238
post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is... a regressive tax on... Reckless drivers who, after multiple convictions keep putting the lives on the public in deadly danger ? Do people stumble into that kind of criminal history by accident, or something? How many times do they have to be hauled before a judge before they knock it off? Are these Jean Valjean crimes of necessity, or something? Look, what those people need to do is never be allowed to dri…

Again, slippery slope. As use of this tool expands to _any_ driving related offense. As it applies only to those who must themselves drive. The dangers? I think I covered that just fine with the end of my previous post. People who aren't operating as adults require different solutions. You could have the death penalty as a punishment for this and it would not change their behavior. EDIT: Replying within this post sin…

> Again, slippery slope. As use of this tool expands to _any_ driving related offense.

So, again, please tell me - how do you want to censure reckless drivers in a way that does not run afoul of slippery slope problems?

You complain that this is a slippery slope. Okay. What's the non-slippery slope solution?

> You could have the death penalty as a punishment for this and it would not change their behavior.

You don't seem to be endorsing the death penalty for speeding, so I ask again. What is your solution, that meets your standards?

(And a bonus question: Does any criminal censure for anything meet your standards and desire to avoid a slippery slope?)

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

#239
post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is this different from actual criminals that we lock up behind bars? Sometimes till the remainder of their lives. These aren't children, and the quicker we start treating them as adults, the quicker they'll learn to obey the laws before the real and life-changing consequences kick in.

Speed limits in the US have a particular problem. The speed limits are set too close to the speed people are expected to drive. If the typical traffic speed on some highway is 65 MPH and someone is driving 76 MPH, that... isn't much different. It's not some night and day distinction where you can objectively say that 65 is perfectly safe and 76 is recklessly dangerous. The variation in stopping distance between those…

> You maximize revenue when everyone is "speeding" all the time and all you have to do is post a patrol car there once in a while and rake in the dough.

This is the major problem with speed limits in the USA. The speed limits are set to ensure easy revenue collection, not for safety. Nearly every single person on a given road is speeding, so they just send out officers and collect fines, regardless of whether or not the people fined are actually driving dangerously.

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

#240

Speed limiters built into cars. Anti-infringement technology built into general-purpose computers. And yet, guns and ammo freely available and unrestricted outside of automatic weapons and the like? Yeah. Can’t wait to move off-grid someday. (Yes, obviously American) I’ve got enough sense to keep it slow and safe in populated areas, yet occasionally open it up elsewhere when conditions are right. Guess that’s another…

I'm all for stronger enforcement of speed limits to save lives (e.g. ticket everyone over the speed limit with cameras automatically, no cops needed), but requiring shit to be installed into someone's car doesn't seem effective. They could just disconnect it.
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