I have never said all police were bad....just that some really have a power thing going that needs to be adjusted.....I have told people before that some of the nicest police officers that I have ever met were when I was doing the stupidest stuff...for example..I once went past an officer in an unmarked Camaro and I was in my NSX going 110 mph+ on a straight highway stretch early in the morning on my way home from Indy....right after passing him my radar goes off pointing to the rear (V1) and eventhough I was about 1/2 mile ahead of him by that point I just pulled over and waited about 20 second for him to catch up...I expected to be beaten for going that fast but the officer was nice, asked what my hurry was, I told him, "No hurry, I just drive fast sometimes and want to get home," and he said, "Well, this thing must run as good as it looks because you flew past me". I smiled and nodded. I still received a ticket, but he knocked it down to 95mph instead of 110+. Funny how the guy pulling me over for 110+ was nice, and the guy nailing me for going 3 mph over was a jerk and acted like I was terror on the highway....oh well.

 

I think any import is singled out. My Silver OZ with just rims was pulled over a month or so ago for not signaling entering an empty road at 12 midnight on a friday. Sat in the car for about 40 mins as he basically treated me like a criminal and then sent me on my way with a bogus ticket. Being 18 on long island and owning a nice car is not a good combo when dealing with our overpaid, underutilized police dept. For the record I had a clean license and no prior record of any kind before this incident.

 

You often hear the expression "speed kills" when people or government agencies are discussing highway safety. In a manner of speaking this is true. At least one vehicle involved in a traffic accident needs to be moving in order to cause a fatal accident; therefore, speed does kill, however, there has never been a documented case of a fatal accident from two vehicles at rest. The real question is how much speed actually kills and is speed the real culprit at all?

A recent study by the Federal Highway Administration revealed some surprising statistics that weren't generally publicized. The study revealed that the slowest 5% of all drivers had the highest accident rates. In addition, the study also showed that the drivers who had speeds at 10-15 mph above the speed limit were the safest group of drivers with the lowest accident rate. The sole reason is that slower drivers are less attentive than faster drivers. Faster drivers realize that they are traveling faster than the speed limit legally allows and therefore they are significantly more attentive as they watch for any sign of a potential police car ready to present them with a speeding ticket. Furthermore, the same study also found that 70% of all drivers exceed the speed limit and that most current speed limits are set at least 10 mph slower than they should be. It should be noted that this study was before the change in the national 55 mph speed limit but more on the national speed limit later.

It is generally considered that the average speed of traffic, or the flow of traffic, is the speed that the majority of drivers consider to be prudent and safe for the existing conditions, regardless of the speed limit. This is the basis for what is referred to as the 85th Percentile Rule. This is a system that has been used by traffic engineers for over fifty years. Simply stated, the 85th Percentile Rule means that the safest speed for any particular road is the speed that 85% of all drivers travel at or below, under normal conditions. Remember that the Federal Highway Administration tests showed that 70% of the drivers were exceeding the posted speed limit by 10 mph. These drivers are the flow of traffic and are the majority of the drivers who make up the statistic for the 85th Percentile Rule.

The National Speed Limit was established at 55 mph in 1974 as an answer to the oil shortage. The theory was that slower speeds used less fuel and as a result, conserved energy. A noble theory at the time but why did it take over twenty-years to change this speed limit when the oil shortage ended only a few years after the 55 mph limit was established? The answer is due to the money train that was created for city and state governments as well as the insurance companies. Lower speed limits are a golden egg for some small municipalities.

In some rural areas, traffic ticket fines make up 90% of a small town government's operating budget for the entire year.

During the later period of the 55 mph speed limit, the majority of drivers on major highways usually traveled between 65-75 mph. As you can see the bottom end of this is the magic 10 mph that the Federal Highway Administration test referred to. In fact, the percentage of drivers traveling 70-75 mph would suggest that the 55 mph limit is really more like 15 mph lower than it should be. The original speeds on most of the major highways started at 70-75 mph before the national speed limit went into effect. These speeds were set years prior by traffic engineers who used the 85th percentile rule to determine what the speed should be for these particular roads.

Now that these speeds have been increased to 65-70 mph, you will still find the majority of drivers traveling at the 65 -75 mph speed. The speed limit increased but the driver's speeds did not. The reason goes back to the principle of the 85th percentile rule. Most drivers feel that the safe speed is contingent on several factors, including:


Road conditions - dry, wet, ice, etc.
Vehicle condition - good tires, engine in good shape, etc.
Driver's ability - do you feel comfortable traveling at 75 mph
Traffic conditions - is the road relatively clear or is it bumper to bumper
Visibility - Clear and sunny or rain with fog

Common sense is what the majority of the drivers use. The same drive who will do 75 mph down the interstate highway on a clear and dry day, is likely the same driver who will do 55 mph on a rainy night.

The final verdict is that speed doesn't kill. Speed generates revenue. A real example of this is the unmarked police car. If speed is so dangerous, why are there any unmarked police cars? We all know that everyone slows down when they see a police car. Wouldn't it make sense to have all police cars marked so that more drivers would see them and as a result, slow down? The unmarked police car is proof positive the governmental agencies are aware that the speed limits are too low and people are going to exceed them. The way to capitalize on these people is the unmarked car whose sole purpose is to essentially entrap drivers who are part of the 85th percentile rule. The governmental agencies aren't the only group responsible. In the next chapter we'll see how your auto insurance company is one of the biggest behind the scene's supporter of the lower speed limits to keep revenues up.

 

Funny you should mention that. A week after I got my Evo, a cop stopped me and said, "You don't have a plate on your car." I said "Yeah, cause it's new." Then he just looked over at the sticker on my windshield and said, "AH, ok. So... this is the new Evo huh? You know I went over to the dealership and they were asking for 10K over..." So anyway, we proceeded to have a conversation about where I got it and the specs, lalala. Long story short, he spent less than 30 seconds to get the "formalities" out of way, so he talk about the car with me. I thought it was hilarious.

 

I never wanted to start a thread about bashing cops.... Frankly, I think cops have a very tough job particularly when dealing with criminals, whacked out people or enraged/unbalanced individuals... My only ***** is that in traffic enforcement, many municipalities (and I suppose some individula cops) are really in a tear to get money and clamp down on hot-rodders in general and sports cars in particular.... All I know is that it's really tiring and stressfull to be always on edge and watching to make sure you are not even going 5 mph over the limit at the risk of getting singled out and ticketed...........

 

OK MR. cOnSeRvAtIvE .... I'll get right on that 4 ya.

 

BWA-HAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!