> Eventually, common sense prevailed, and the speed limit on most US highways
> now has been raised to 70MPH, which is the speed almost everyone had been
> driving all along.
When Iowa changed the speed limit on the Interstate from 65 to 70 mph,
it changed nothing significantly, as most people tend to run 72 mph no
matter what the speed limit says. The biggest change is that the
truckers have slowed down and most of the trucks are electronically
limited by the fleet managers to 67 mph, give or take.
> As to manipulating speed limits in order to make a speed trap - that's a
> real thing.
In Iowa, we recently passed a law that made it illegal to place a
speed camera within a certain distance of a speed change. In Des
Moines, they ended up pulling out a couple of the traps, but in Cedar
Rapids, they just moved the signage back a few feet.
Now, don't get me started on Red Light Cameras. THOSE are the biggest
evil of all. Where the normal intersection has a five to seven second
yellow, the typical camera'd intersection has shortened the cycle down
to three to five seconds. There is absolutely no way to stop in time
with a three second yellow without causing accidents. There are even
some that have been shortened to two seconds! Of course, they do have
to delay-green to avoid t-bones.
In Littleton, Colorado, there is one intersection (Broadway and
Mineral) that the cameras' sole existence is to fund local government.
They have it configured where the last vehicle making a left turn will
ALWAYS get a ticket, no matter what. I've seen over and over again
where the car enters the intersection while the green arrow is still
lit and the moment it changes color it will photograph any car that is
in the intersection. No delay, nothing. I got tagged a couple of times
and challenged them both times. It gets worse! That particular
intersection is even tougher, because if you STOP in the intersection
for any reason, you'll get ticketed. Oh, and one other thing about
that corner. It's part of a flow-control network. So, based on traffic
congestion, within the zones, it will vary how long the light turns
green to limit how many cars can enter the next zone. So, your left
arrow might be for 30 seconds, or it might be for 5 seconds.
AG
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