Speeding Ticket

[sclitheroe]

I think its funny that people can't control their vehicles well enough to keep them going the posted speed and not over, regardless of whether there is a cop around or not.

[GGG]

The real problem with playground and school zones is road design. The roads are designed so that traveling faster than the 30km limit feels safe. On a normal residential street you don't usually speed because with cars parked on both sides and relatively narrow roads somewhere between 40 an 50 feels safe. As in this case the driver was driving 41 not knowing/realizing it was a playground zone. So rather than continue to ticket people and put signs up asking them to slow down some fundamental design changes need to be put in.

One effective solution is to put median's down the center of the road to narrow the lanes. The narrower a lane is the slower people drives. another effective method is at all of the intersections you have concrete boulavards extend out from the curbs narrowing the crosswalks. Speed humps also work but they are not ideal as they make drivers unhappy and encourage drivers making up the time between the bumps.

In general if people are speeding it is because they feel safe. In order to reduce speeds permantly you need them to feel less safe.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

I think its funny that people can't control their vehicles well enough to keep them going the posted speed and not over, regardless of whether there is a cop around or not.

You have got to be kidding me.

Originally Posted by GGG

The real problem with playground and school zones is road design. The roads are designed so that traveling faster than the 30km limit feels safe. On a normal residential street you don't usually speed because with cars parked on both sides and relatively narrow roads somewhere between 40 an 50 feels safe. As in this case the driver was driving 41 not knowing/realizing it was a playground zone. So rather than continue to ticket people and put signs up asking them to slow down some fundamental design changes need to be put in.

One effective solution is to put median's down the center of the road to narrow the lanes. The narrower a lane is the slower people drives. another effective method is at all of the intersections you have concrete boulavards extend out from the curbs narrowing the crosswalks. Speed humps also work but they are not ideal as they make drivers unhappy and encourage drivers making up the time between the bumps.

In general if people are speeding it is because they feel safe. In order to reduce speeds permantly you need them to feel less safe.

The issue is two fold though. The speed limit is also to limit injury not just to afford the driver better reaction time.

The speed dampening devices (bumps, etc) are effective. But as with everything, it all costs money.

[Swarly]

Originally Posted by jar_e

FWIW, most of these speed traps are usually set up either after a)there's been a fatality or serious injury accident in the area of the trap, or b)there have been numerous complaints from people in the community about the area.

note to self. start calling in tons of complaints for areas I never drive in.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Bent Wookie

The issue is two fold though. The speed limit is also to limit injury not just to afford the driver better reaction time.

The speed dampening devices (bumps, etc) are effective. But as with everything, it all costs money.

I agree fully with the speed limits my position is that better road design and comunitiy design would eliminate the need for speed limits as the roads would be designed such that the natural safe speed of the road would appropriate for the surroundings. there is an excellent book called Traffic by Tom Vanderbelt which has an excellent section on how to make community roads safer by better design with simple things as placing trees close to the road side.

[4X4]

Totally agree, triple G. That is one of my biggest pet peeves about driving and speed traps. 95% of the time, I just drive the road. I go whatever speed feels right. I don't stare at my speedometer, I watch the sides of the roads and my rearview. In residential areas, I'm not watching my speed, I'm watching the parked cars for kids that might step out or for people inside the cars that might open their door. And in those areas, 40 feels right. I don't need a 50kph speed limit sign to tell me that going 60 is dangerous.

When I'm on a bigger road, I go with the flow. Well, truthfully, usually a bit faster than most of the cars, but safely. When it's winter, I pretty much never look at my speedometer because I know I'm probably under the speed limit.

It drives me crazy that cops hang out in places that feel naturally faster. Like at the top of 16th ave going west, just after deerfoot. FFS, the limit is 60, but it's a 3 lane road with a good couple hundred meters to stop for the light ahead. There's no reason why you can't do 75 there, and most people would do it except that the cops have trained us that there's always a biker cop hiding behind that damn trailer park sign.

The one that absolutely slays me is when you're coming off anderson and joining the NB deerfoot traffic. It's 80 there, but it's a full on freeway. The last light was way the F back at Acadia dr. But there's always a punk ass cop waiting just around the bend to nail you in the last 100 meters before it switches to 100. Total bullcrap. Total absolute crap.

[Rhettzky]

Originally Posted by 4X4

The one that absolutely slays me is when you're coming off anderson and joining the NB deerfoot traffic. It's 80 there, but it's a full on freeway. The last light was way the F back at Acadia dr. But there's always a punk ass cop waiting just around the bend to nail you in the last 100 meters before it switches to 100. Total bullcrap. Total absolute crap.

That is a crazy stretch of road, at one point there are four lanes (maybe five) that merge into a single one onto Deerfoot. With my experience most people have problems carrying out one merge successfully at 100km/hr much less four or five.

Another reason that one is so painful is because the left lane is the one everyone ends up having to merge into. So it becomes the slow lane and you always get some D-bag that does 70km/hr in it and no one wants to pass him on the right so it makes the merge a total pain in the arse. Trying to get into mid-lane deerfoot traffic doing 70-80 is great fun. Anyway, as a default I now stay right on that merge unless it's clear sailing.