Doing the Speed Limit and Being Abused For It!

[Dirthawking]

Here is a jab for you. Try out your google-fu

Where in the Texas laws does it say that speeding is illegal?

[Chris]

Here is a jab for you. Try out your google-fu

Where in the Texas laws does it say that speeding is illegal?

TRC 545.352. Speeding over a specified limit is unlawful.

The problem with speed that most people don't realize is the roads are not designed for the speeds most people want to go, despite the fact that most cars are more than capable of higher speeds. Getting into triple digit speeds down a highway is scary as hell. The little grooves from the cracks sealer turn subtle movements into violent maneuvers. I watched a car hit a love seat in the highway, where going a little slower would have given the reaction time needed to avoid it. The other side is the cars that have no business going even close to the speed limit. Red lights, speed limits, all have to account for cars at the bottom of the performance spectrum.

[chasfm11]

Slow traffic in the left hand lane is much more dangerous than a speeder on an open road. 97 year old ladies are often more dangerous than teens.

I think it is degrees of the same risk. Personally, I'll take being around old lady drivers over teens just about any time. I find old lady dumb moves to be much more predictable. Teens, especially a bunch of young girls in a car is about as unpredictable as it gets.

It is assumed that someone who is speeding on an open road is paying more attention. That hasn't been my experience. Many speeders are clearly driving faster their recognition zone which means that they are 100% at risk to whatever is just beyond it. They lack the means to respond in time to anything. While driving the RV, I have to open my recognition zone up a lot because it just won't stop or maneuver as fast as a passenger car. I've see a lot of near misses with speeders as they came up on completely legal situations and didn't have time to react. Crashes at those speeds always seem to be worse.

[03Lightningrocks]

Any driver,(be it speeder, slow poker, teenager, old person), who takes it upon themselves to regulate the speed of others in any manner, becomes the most dangerous driver on the road. If we can move over enough to allow a driver who is driving faster to go around, we should. If we drive up on a person who is going slower than us, we should not try to "push" them down the road. It is not our job to "teach other drivers a lesson". If you are guilty of this, you know it. If you are playing teacher on the road and someone yanks you out of your car and beats you with that concealed handgun that makes you so brave, you deserve it.

How about we all use the same courtesy while driving that we always preach to each other about using in everyday life?

People will do stuff in their cars they would not have the guts or ignorance to do face to face. If you were walking through the grocery store and you saw a person behind you trying to go around you, would you intentionally make them walk at your pace? Would any of us come up behind another shopper with our grocery cart and see how close we can get without hitting them?

I suppose it is natural to feel safe and protected in a big metal box, but it is definitely a false sense of security.

[jmra]

...Abraham....
If you are playing teacher on the road and someone yanks you out of your car and beats you with that concealed handgun that makes you so brave, you deserve it.

[Chris]

What irritates me are the people sailing by traffic in the left lane, phone rings, and they drop to 20 below the speed limit.


I will say this though.... Because everyone of us chooses to carry a firearm, we have a greater responsibility to avoid situations with idiot drivers because we all know that no matter what happens, we know deadly force is on the table.

[Oldgringo]

Slower traffic failed to keep right used to be one of my favorite tickets. That's where road rage starts. I'd sit in the center median and laser cars. Speeding or not going fast enough, didn't matter to me, a ticket is still a ticket.

You have a quota to meet or is motorist safety your concern?

Ticket quotas are illegal. My last department I was strictly traffic, and I had a stop quota, but no department can tell me I'm required to write even one ticket. Here is the thing though, people know what they are and are not supposed to do. Why bust my hump trying to chase someone down only to sternly tell them not to do what they already knew was wrong in the first place? If you're in the left lane blocking up traffic making people mad, how is that any less of a violation than speeding? I wrote a 97 year old lady her very first traffic ticket for blowing right through a stop sign. I caught flak for it, but what's the difference between her doing it, or a teenager in his Mustang? The danger is the same.

Thanks for the clarification...sic 'em. (FWIW, I did get a speeding ticket on U.S. 27 in Florida in 1986.)

[03Lightningrocks]

Slower traffic failed to keep right used to be one of my favorite tickets. That's where road rage starts. I'd sit in the center median and laser cars. Speeding or not going fast enough, didn't matter to me, a ticket is still a ticket.

You have a quota to meet or is motorist safety your concern?

Ticket quotas are illegal. My last department I was strictly traffic, and I had a stop quota, but no department can tell me I'm required to write even one ticket. Here is the thing though, people know what they are and are not supposed to do. Why bust my hump trying to chase someone down only to sternly tell them not to do what they already knew was wrong in the first place? If you're in the left lane blocking up traffic making people mad, how is that any less of a violation than speeding? I wrote a 97 year old lady her very first traffic ticket for blowing right through a stop sign. I caught flak for it, but what's the difference between her doing it, or a teenager in his Mustang? The danger is the same.

Thanks for the clarification...sic 'em. (FWIW, I did get a speeding ticket on U.S. 27 in Florida in 1986.)

Since we are talking tickets. Last night I was bored and decided to go pick up some red box movies around 12:30. I have a f250 diesel and it runs like crud until it gets warmed up. I either have to sit in my driveway while it warms or go ahead and leave with it stuttering along down the alley. A few years ago I figured out I could put the pedal on the floor for the first few minutes and she would run without stuttering along. Well, low and behold I get pulled over for speeding down the only stretch of road leading to red box. He asks if I have an emergency or some other reason for speeding. I tell him the story of how my truck only runs properly if I speed. Until it gets warm. I hand him my license and CHL. He asks if I am armed and I say yes. Here is where it gets funny. He said, where is your weapon. I point to my right side and tell him one is right there and one in my left coat pocket. He then says, " Two guns. Are you expecting trouble?". Thanks to reading posts on this forum, I say the first thing that pops in my mind. "No sir, if I was expecting trouble I would be carrying my shotgun". The guy about wets himself laughing and tells me, good point. He hands me back my stuff without even running my license. He tells me, "slow it down, warming up your engine is not considered and emergency. Have a nice evening". Off he goes. Just like that. I guess I am lucky he didn't take my response as being a wise guy.

[jbarn]

Here is a jab for you. Try out your google-fu

Where in the Texas laws does it say that speeding is illegal?

Texas Transportation Code
Subtitle C. Rules of the Road

Sec. 545.352. PRIMA FACIE SPEED LIMITS. (a) A speed in excess of the limits established by Subsection (b) or under another provision of this subchapter is prima facie evidence that the speed is not reasonable and prudent and that the speed is unlawful.

Sec. 542.301. GENERAL OFFENSE. (a) A person commits an offense if the person performs an act prohibited or fails to perform an act required by this subtitle.
(b) Except as otherwise provided, an offense under this subtitle is a misdemeanor.

[chocolate bayou]

i've lived in Texas all my life. Ihave always tried to pull over to shoulder on 2 lane roads, AS A COURTESY. Now that I am in my sixties, I have found my reactions aren't as quick as when I was younger. Now if it's a wide shoulder or broad daylight I will still pull over, but if I am not comfortable in a situation then the guy behind me is either going to have to go the speed limit or have a car with enough punch to pull around. Let him be the one taking the chances.

JMO

[03Lightningrocks]

i've lived in Texas all my life. Ihave always tried to pull over to shoulder on 2 lane roads, AS A COURTESY. Now that I am in my sixties, I have found my reactions aren't as quick as when I was younger. Now if it's a wide shoulder or broad daylight I will still pull over, but if I am not comfortable in a situation then the guy behind me is either going to have to go the speed limit or have a car with enough punch to pull around. Let him be the one taking the chances.

JMO

Actually, it isn't just him at risk. If a driver is trying to pass and hits a vehicle coming from the other direction with you right beside or even behind them, you are almost certainly going to be a part of the wreckage the emergency rescue crew, has to cut apart. Even if the driver simply looses control on gravel, you are at extreme risk of being swerved into.

[nightmare]

People will do stuff in their cars they would not have the guts or ignorance to do face to face. If you were walking through the grocery store and you saw a person behind you trying to go around you, would you intentionally make them walk at your pace? Would any of us come up behind another shopper with our grocery cart and see how close we can get without hitting them?

Would any of us get in the express lane at the grocery store because it's shorter, and then think that entitles us to cut into the regular checkout lane at the front instead of waiting behind the people we cut off?

[nyj]

Don't block the passing the lane. One of my biggest gripes. If there's a car behind you, MOVE!

[tomtexan]

Don't block the passing the lane. One of my biggest gripes. If there's a car behind you, MOVE!

A big 10-4 on that!