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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

#501

Post by op00to »

beardicus wrote: post #495

lots of "freedom"-loving pushback on this law here. sorry y'all, we live in a society and your actions affect others. you choosing to endanger my life on the road does not make me more free. i think these speeders should just lose their license to drive forever, so maybe choose to view this law as a compassionate compromise.

I do not believe the US or VA constitutions guarantee a right to exceed speed limits. No idea what freedom they’re talking about!

They should go further than license removal. Owning a car that can drive on public roads should be illegal for habitual, feloniously dangerous speeders. Selling or renting a car to someone who is not allowed to own a car any longer should also be punishable.

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

#502

Post by op00to »

gregoriol wrote: post #498
beardicus wrote: post #495

lots of "freedom"-loving pushback on this law here. sorry y'all, we live in a society and your actions affect others. you choosing to endanger my life on the road does not make me more free. i think these speeders should just lose their license to drive forever, so maybe choose to view this law as a compassionate compromise.

A lot of things are more dangerous than going over speed limits, and it will not be possible to prevent everything with technical gadgets.

So let’s just do nothing! Why bother doing anything!

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

#503

Post by brailsafe »

AnthonyMouse wrote: post #174
brailsafe wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What happens if the thing thinks the speed limit on a 65 MPH highway is 30 MPH? I'd presume the state would need to update its GIS record, in the meantime you'd put your hazard lights on and move over to the right lane. > Or you have some emergency situation where a higher travel speed is a matter of life and death? Suddenly while driving, or something that you'd need to use the car for in order to travel fast? In…

> I'd presume the state would need to update its GIS record, in the meantime you'd put your hazard lights on and move over to the right lane. The problem isn't the GIS record, it's that the highway is directly adjacent to a mountain and the GPS isn't accurate enough there to distinguish between the highway and the lower speed roads near it, so they can't fix it. Or maybe they just don't care to because it's a bureauc…

> Why isn't the issue. The hurricane comes and the phones are down and you need to get the kid to the hospital before they bleed out. You're the on-call service tech for something which is going to result in human tragedy if you don't get there first. You're not even involved but a firefighter had to commandeer your vehicle.

Why is definitely the issue, it's one of the first questions you might be asked when pulled over, and in this case if you don't have a good enough answer quick enough, it seems you could lose the freedom to make a determination about whether it's an issue or not.

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

#504

Post by skeltoac »

davemp wrote: post #493

The US has really poor highway policy that encourages speeding. Many highways have a speed limit of 55mph (89kmh) left over from some ancient oil rationing law. [0] So folks are conditioned to think that speed limits are stupid, because frankly many of them are here. I regularly drive on highways that would be 120kmh (75mph) in Europe but are instead 89kmh. Most traffic ends up going 70-75mph (including traffic enfor…

Virginia has built a reputation for tighter highway speed enforcement than most other places. There are officers out there enforcing as hard as the judges will let them. Now Virginia will put speed control devices in the cars of repeat offenders. Like breath testing ignition control devices, these will save lives and the offenders will pay the cost. Just another step toward better road safety for Virginia. They’re a good example for other states to follow.

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

#505

Post by aqme28 »

solatic wrote: post #453

Cities can replace smooth asphalt with rough brick and cobblestone, and replace traffic lights with traffic circles / roundabouts. If they really want to force cars to slow down, they could, in a way that doesn't take anyone's rights away and doesn't require any vehicle manufacturer to play ball. Freedom isn't free. It's always cheaper to take away people's freedom instead of doing the hard work of building infrastru…

If you also want to encourage biking, don't replace your asphalt with cobblestone. Maybe more speed bumbs and traffic slowing curves.

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

#506

Post by bakies »

aqme28 wrote: post #505
solatic wrote: post #453

Cities can replace smooth asphalt with rough brick and cobblestone, and replace traffic lights with traffic circles / roundabouts. If they really want to force cars to slow down, they could, in a way that doesn't take anyone's rights away and doesn't require any vehicle manufacturer to play ball. Freedom isn't free. It's always cheaper to take away people's freedom instead of doing the hard work of building infrastru…

If you also want to encourage biking, don't replace your asphalt with cobblestone. Maybe more speed bumbs and traffic slowing curves.

just pave the bike lane

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

#507

Post by ysavir »

mschuster91 wrote: post #489
ysavir wrote: post #488

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So if most people keep speeding past the elementary school and kindergarten, we should raise the speed limit on that street?

These are objectively endangered places. A highway in the middle of nowhere, with reasonably well maintained roads and even terrain however?

Sure, but the parent comment didn't leave any room for nuance or considerations, instead broadly stating:

> Laws should reflect the values of the democratic consensus, speed limits included.

Maybe they considered the nuance to be something obvious, but their statement is still flawed. The funny thing about nuance is that most nuance isn't visible to the naked eye and requires some degree of familiarity or expertise to observe. And that degree is why we shouldn't be assigning speed limits based on what the average driver thinks is appropriate for a given road, as more likely than not (much more likely than not) they don't have the necessary context to make an appropriate judgement.

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

#508

Post by op00to »

twobitshifter wrote: post #482
smeej wrote: post #472

Why are typical passenger vehicles even sold with the ability to go so fast? Or perhaps more pertinently, why aren't any typical passenger vehicles I've ever heard of sold without the ability to go so fast? I think the overwhelming majority (like 90%+) of people would happily buy a car that couldn't go more than 100mph. Many who only rarely leave their cities and would be happy to use alternate transportation if they…

There is always the autobahn. If systems like that existed endangered there could be incredible time savings. A related question of mine is ‘If cars can go so fast why do we not find ways to raise speed limits while keeping roads safe?’

Why are assault weapons so difficult to own in Europe? They make them in the US and you can own them there.

As to your question - I’d like to refer you to physics. 2000 pounds of metal moving at any speed can kill pedestrians easily. More speed means more energy.

Increasing speed limits consumes more fuel, wears roads more, pollutes more tire and brake dust, and of course kills more. We should not make things more convenient for motorists just because motorists exist.

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

#509

Post by op00to »

blendo wrote: post #152

I’ve seen cars improve a lot over that last 10-20 years. Faster, smoother, quieter, and safer, they can cruise all day at 80-90 mph. Sadly, this is completely incompatible with 25 mph city speed limits. Thus, the need for engineering kludges like automotive speed limiters. I’d really like a new vehicle classification, perhaps along the lines of Medium Speed Electric Vehicles. Designed with a top speed of 40 to 45 mph…

We have “neighborhood electric vehicles” in my state, basically overgrown golf carts. I want one so badly!

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

#510

Post by UncleMeat »

AnthonyMouse wrote: post #130
rightbyte wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess it would work as a breath alcohol ignition interlock device when reselling. I.e. you just remove it.

That's what happens if you sell the car. What happens if the thing thinks the speed limit on a 65 MPH highway is 30 MPH? Or you have some emergency situation where a higher travel speed is a matter of life and death? Machines should never enforce laws because they don't have the ability to know when doing so would be unreasonable.

Almost all decisions have downsides. This is not by itself a reason to avoid the decision. We compare the costs against the benefits.

Where are these emergency situations you describe? Not only have I never needed to speed for some emergency situation, I don't even think I know a single person who has had to do this. How often is "this person would have died if they got to the hospital five minutes later but the highway was clear and somebody drove them there 30mph over the limit and got there in time?"

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