A Return to 55 MPH In Conn?

[Recchia]

Speed limits are utterly useless except as a revenue source. They do nothing to lower accident rates or anything. People will almost always drive the speed for which the road is designed for. If you want to slow people down you have to narrow lanes, create more curves or add in other traffic calming measures.

[JimSawhill]

It's the same way of thinking as putting up tolls... why not let out of staters contribute towards paying for our system?

IIRC, if you put tolls on an Interstate, you'll lose federal funds. I am against tolls, but here in Florida some expressways are toll roads. I might have to get a prepaid plate -- and I hate that fact -- since you can be tracked by police.

[JimSawhill]

well, it's not something that people will adapt to easily, but if enforced, i'm sure they will after a couple $200 tickets. it might be slower than what is safe on those roads, but it still saves a ton of gas.

RunawayJim:

It won't save gas! I don't want to argue but today's engines are fuel efficent when cars are going 65... 55 MPH will USE more fuel. Besides, we can drill our own oil if we had the FREEDOM to drill OFFSHORE!

Jim

[Carter711]

My experience has been that the Conn. State Police are extremely aggressive in pulling over speeders. I used to take I-84 to school, and it seemed like as soon as I crossed from Mass into Conn. I would start to notice cops pulling people over everywhere.

Also, can they please do something with the State Police cruisers... This has got to be the most boring State Police car in America.

[runawayjim]

RunawayJim:

It won't save gas! I don't want to argue but today's engines are fuel efficent when cars are going 65... 55 MPH will USE more fuel. Besides, we can drill our own oil if we had the FREEDOM to drill OFFSHORE!

Jim

this i can prove you wrong on. my car is only 2 years old and i get better gas mileage at 55 than at 65. take into account that people never do the speed limit and generally do 5-10 mph over, that puts them between 60 and 75. those doing 60 get much better mileage than those doing 75. do a simple internet search. i'm friends with a lot of car people and have been active on some car-related forums (there's actually some car-related threads here on UP). it's a well-known fact that no matter the age of the car, 55 gets better mileage than faster speeds. 65 might not be much worse (and in fact is not), but it's still worse.

if i drop my speed from 70 mph to 60 mph, i can increase my mileage by 5 mpg.

[drc72]

My experience has been that the Conn. State Police are extremely aggressive in pulling over speeders. I used to take I-84 to school, and it seemed like as soon as I crossed from Mass into Conn. I would start to notice cops pulling people over everywhere.

Also, can they please do something with the State Police cruisers... This has got to be the most boring State Police car in America.

The state police sometimes use Cameros around here. and also Chevy Impalas. State police cars are not here to win beauty contests,. I don't think are state police are all that bad. Like I said in my earlier posts, I have exceeded the speed limit by over 10MPH many times and have not been stopped when passing staties.

[runawayjim]

The state police sometimes use Cameros around here. and also Chevy Impalas. State police cars are not here to win beauty contests,. I don't think are state police are all that bad. Like I said in my earlier posts, I have exceeded the speed limit by over 10MPH many times and have not been stopped when passing staties.

i think most state cops in all states allow up to 10 mph over. that's generally the case in this area. but do 11 over and you're in trouble. CT state police are stricter than their counterparts in RI and MA.

and no, state police cars should not be attractive, otherwise they stick out like a sore thumb and people realize they're there. the camero ones are hard to notice until you see the guy with his head out the window pointing a radar gun.

[SOCOM]

RunawayJim:

It won't save gas! I don't want to argue but today's engines are fuel efficent when cars are going 65... 55 MPH will USE more fuel. Besides, we can drill our own oil if we had the FREEDOM to drill OFFSHORE!

Jim

runawayjim is correct, slowing down to 55mph does in fact save gas. I don't even think that's debatable for the simple fact that your car's RPM's are lower at a speed of 55mph (aka your engine isn't working as hard to keep up to speed). What is debatable, however, is how much one saves by reducing their speed by 10 or 15 mph. I've seen studies that claim anywhere from saving as little as 2mpg to as much as 10mpg.

[runawayjim]

runawayjim is correct, slowing down to 55mph does in fact save gas. I don't even think that's debatable for the simple fact that your car's RPM's are lower at a speed of 55mph (aka your engine isn't working as hard to keep up to speed). What is debatable, however, is how much one saves by reducing their speed by 10 or 15 mph. I've seen studies that claim anywhere from saving as little as 2mpg to as much as 10mpg.

it depends on how fast you're going. slowing down from 35 to 25 or 45 to 35 doesn't usually save a noticeable amount of gas. those speeds are generally on back roads or city roads and not highways. in those cases, in order to save gas, you need to maintain speed and start slowly and evenly from a stop.

gas mileage is maximized at speeds between 55 and 60 for most cars as long as you're maintaining speed for an extended period of time. in those cases, most cars are in the top gear and at about 2200-2500 rpm. if you maintain those speeds regularly, you will notice a fairly decent increase in your gas mileage. like i said, i kept my car at 65 from branford, ct to providence, about a 100 mile trip, and the needle barely moved. while the gas guage is generally not a good indicator, usually at speeds between 70 and 75, it uses a quarter tank of gas for the same trip. on a 300 mile trip (from providence to philly), i did the same thing where i could (as in where i wasn't slowing and stopping while driving through the NYC metro area). during that trip, i noticed an increase in mileage of 5 mpg, which is a fairly decent increase considering i have a 16 gallon tank in my car.

[ctman987]

I just got back from a trip to Philly, Baltimore & Ocean City, Maryland and so ill make a few observations.

New Jersey is an intresting state. I have family that lives in New Jersey about 1 hour outside of Manhattan and when they drive on certain roads they do not go 1 mile over the speed limit for fear of getting pulled over. These roads include I-78 in the western section of the state which is a little more rural ( a Glastonbury type town). On my way home from my trip though I drove the Garden State Parkway from south to north and there were people easily going 80-90 on this road with no worries about cops. I even saw cops pull up right behing speeding motorists and noone got scared...amazing. The tolls on the Garden State are annoying as hell though because there are toll plazas every certain amount of miles each asking for a differant amount of $ forcing all the traffic to slow down. It is not like the tolls on the Mass Pike for example where you take a ticket and pay a certain amount when you get off the highway.

New York: I do not see NYC area drivers as being that aggressive. They are aggressive...more so then New England drivers but not an LA type driver. I travel to NYC for many things and you can though see the increase in traffic and aggression as you approach the city...even the differance as you exit the Merritt Parkway.

CT: I have never gotten pulled over. I am 18 and so am one of the drivers a cop would probably like to pull over. What I do see is more cops waiting for speeding violations in rural open areas of road like I-84 from Tolland to the Mass border. I reguaraly drive I-91 and I-84 in Hartford, Wethersfield, West Hartford, Windsor, Rocky Hill, etc and do not see cops waiting for speeders...there are other things to worry about in this area. There is more traffic in this area and so it is easier to hide from these cops so to speak. But when I travel to Boston or Cape Cod via I-84 to the Mass Pike i regualary see cops on 84 in eastern CT

[runawayjim]

I just got back from a trip to Philly, Baltimore & Ocean City, Maryland and so ill make a few observations.

New Jersey is an intresting state. I have family that lives in New Jersey about 1 hour outside of Manhattan and when they drive on certain roads they do not go 1 mile over the speed limit for fear of getting pulled over. These roads include I-78 in the western section of the state which is a little more rural ( a Glastonbury type town). On my way home from my trip though I drove the Garden State Parkway from south to north and there were people easily going 80-90 on this road with no worries about cops. I even saw cops pull up right behing speeding motorists and noone got scared...amazing. The tolls on the Garden State are annoying as hell though because there are toll plazas every certain amount of miles each asking for a differant amount of $ forcing all the traffic to slow down. It is not like the tolls on the Mass Pike for example where you take a ticket and pay a certain amount when you get off the highway.

New York: I do not see NYC area drivers as being that aggressive. They are aggressive...more so then New England drivers but not an LA type driver. I travel to NYC for many things and you can though see the increase in traffic and aggression as you approach the city...even the differance as you exit the Merritt Parkway.

CT: I have never gotten pulled over. I am 18 and so am one of the drivers a cop would probably like to pull over. What I do see is more cops waiting for speeding violations in rural open areas of road like I-84 from Tolland to the Mass border. I reguaraly drive I-91 and I-84 in Hartford, Wethersfield, West Hartford, Windsor, Rocky Hill, etc and do not see cops waiting for speeders...there are other things to worry about in this area. There is more traffic in this area and so it is easier to hide from these cops so to speak. But when I travel to Boston or Cape Cod via I-84 to the Mass Pike i regualary see cops on 84 in eastern CT

jersey cops are everywhere. i have yet to drive to philly and not see several cops either taking radar or pulling someone over. that's one state i will not drive more than 10 mph over the speed limit...ever. even when i left providence at 10 pm, driving through jersey after midnight, there were still cops on the turnpike. the tolls on the jersey turnpike are similar to the mass pike. if you do a lot of travelling down that way, get an ez-pass, you almost never get stuck in traffic (except during rush hour) at tolls. and there are some ez-pass lanes that you don't even have to slow down for. these are becoming more common in jersey. it's great. as for cops on the garden state, i have seen them, but i can imagine there are parts of it that are difficult to pull people over (5 lanes of traffic in one direction, speeders are in the far left lane, cop is on the right, traffic in every lane... that's the norm).

new york drivers are very aggressive. however, it's not quite as bad if you take the tappan zee rather than the GW. 95 is a pain in the behind driving through NYC and the drivers are very aggressive.

the 2 times i got pulled over in CT were on 84 on the manchester/vernon line (got a ticket for that one) and on 320 in willington or something like that north of 195. if you're not familiar with that road, it's in the middle of nowhere. and it was summer, so fewer students. i came around a curve, speed limit was 30, i was doing 45. a state cop was on the other side facing the other way. he jumped out of the car into the middle of the road and waved me over. he's lucky i saw him or i would've hit him.... idiot. gave me a warning and said "you were going a little fast there, but i saw you slow down". no kidding... i came around a sharp curve to see a crazy cop waving in the middle of the road, what else was i gonna do? he didn't see anything either. the warning said "driving too fast" or something stupid like that.

[drc72]

runawayjim is correct, slowing down to 55mph does in fact save gas. I don't even think that's debatable for the simple fact that your car's RPM's are lower at a speed of 55mph (aka your engine isn't working as hard to keep up to speed). What is debatable, however, is how much one saves by reducing their speed by 10 or 15 mph. I've seen studies that claim anywhere from saving as little as 2mpg to as much as 10mpg.

Also a lot has to do with your driving habits, like hardbraking, speeding up and then braking hard, etc. You get the point...

[runawayjim]

Also a lot has to do with your driving habits, like hardbraking, speeding up and then braking hard, etc. You get the point...

when i say maintain a speed, i mean not braking often. it's not hard braking that lowers your mileage, it's "stepping on it" that does. this can answer a lot more problems than just gas mileage... if people simply left enough space and let off the gas a bit when in traffic rather than braking, there wouldn't be as many traffic jams or hold ups. people see brake lights and rather than slow down, brake. if they simply slowed down without using the brake, there wouldn't be a domino effect.

[Carter711]

Connecticut is actually only the tenth worst state for speeding tickets, which isn't so bad, though the fines are pretty high. Massachusetts actually ranks worse. But once you get stopped the chances are you'll have a tough time talking your way out of it. In Conn. police give tickets to 63% of cars they stop, while in NH 61% of drivers manage to talk their way into a warning.

The need for $peed -- it will cost you!

http://money.cnn.com/2002/05/22/news/q_speed_cost/

[drc72]

Connecticut is actually only the tenth worst state for speeding tickets, which isn't so bad, though the fines are pretty high. Massachusetts actually ranks worse. But once you get stopped the chances are you'll have a tough time talking your way out of it. In Conn. police give tickets to 63% of cars they stop, while in NH 61% of drivers manage to talk their way into a warning.

The need for $peed -- it will cost you!

http://money.cnn.com/2002/05/22/news/q_speed_cost/

"Some States will allow you to pay on th spot with a credit card" What does the police officer have? A charge card machine on his belt buckle? Unbelievable!!! I bet the state or municapilty also makes you pay the processing fee, that usually a merchant pays when you use your credit card.

[MadVlad]

I got pulled over in Michigan once on the UP (Upper Peninsula), the guy had a radar gun and was driving the OTHER WAY (which is illegal to my knowledge) whipped around and pulled me over. He told me the price of the ticket and told me I had to pay on the spot. I didn't have enough dough, so he asked about a credit card. 5 seconds later he came back with one of the little swipe card deals and I was off. In CT I would have faught that ticket like no tomorrow, but what am I gonna do, go to Michigan to have a traffic court date?

[runawayjim]

I got pulled over in Michigan once on the UP (Upper Peninsula), the guy had a radar gun and was driving the OTHER WAY (which is illegal to my knowledge) whipped around and pulled me over. He told me the price of the ticket and told me I had to pay on the spot. I didn't have enough dough, so he asked about a credit card. 5 seconds later he came back with one of the little swipe card deals and I was off. In CT I would have faught that ticket like no tomorrow, but what am I gonna do, go to Michigan to have a traffic court date?

that's how i got pulled over in maine... at 4 am... on a road that would've been a 35 mph zone anywhere else. i was doing 44. the minute i saw the 25 mph sign and started to slow down, i saw a cop coming towards me. and i then watched him turn around in my rear view mirror...

[MadVlad]

That crap is unreal. It really isn't a legitimate way to gauge speed, too many variables. But, they know you are not from the state, so they screw you knowing you won't come back to fight it...

[uconn99]

The speed of the road should be different for the type of road, time of day, congestion and car. Does Germany have problems with speed? The United States interstate system was molded after the autobahn. There is no reason why certain areas of the country shouldn't have speeds of 100+mph.

The main reasons for all the crashes we have is stupidity, and conditions of the vehicles people drive in. In a country like Germany, you would get a ticket for low air pressure, a light out, condition of tires and overall condition of a vehicle. The conditions people drive their cars here in America is ridiculous. I have seen so many people driving cars with tires so bald you can see the metal.

Speed in the cities should be lower, but there is no reason parts of 84 shouldn

[Yankee.Peddler]

Do any of you know if the Connecticut State Police still maintain a speed trap in Cromwell on Route 9 southbound just past the I-91 interchange? When I was going to high school in Middletown in the early 1990s, two state cops used to park often on the shoulder on Route 9 just past where all the exit ramps from I-91 merge. One cop would sit with the radar gun; the other cop would sit further down the shoulder and direct alleged speeders off the road (I assume the first cop communicated with the second cop via radio). Sometimes I'd see up to six cars parked in the shoulder. I remember a friend of mine getting pulled over once for going 63 (this was before the speed limit increased)! I always thought the whole setup was a low blow.

[somad]

Speed in the cities should be lower, but there is no reason parts of 84 shouldn

[drc72]

Do any of you know if the Connecticut State Police still maintain a speed trap in Cromwell on Route 9 southbound just past the I-91 interchange? When I was going to high school in Middletown in the early 1990s, two state cops used to park often on the shoulder on Route 9 just past where all the exit ramps from I-91 merge. One cop would sit with the radar gun; the other cop would sit further down the shoulder and direct alleged speeders off the road (I assume the first cop communicated with the second cop via radio). Sometimes I'd see up to six cars parked in the shoulder. I remember a friend of mine getting pulled over once for going 63 (this was before the speed limit increased)! I always thought the whole setup was a low blow.

I live in Cromwell and I pass that area practically everyday. I haven't seen cops there in a long time.

That crap is unreal. It really isn't a legitimate way to gauge speed, too many variables. But, they know you are not from the state, so they screw you knowing you won't come back to fight it...

It's all about revenue my friend. They want you to speed!!!!

[MadVlad]

Everyone seems to not follow the rules. Most people don't signal. People travelling in the passing lane is bad, too. Whenever I'm passing someone (going 75ish) and someone tailgates me I forget passing the other person and immediately slow down. When they go and try to pass me on the right I speed up and don't let them. It really pisses them off. Sure what I'm doing is dangerous... but most people give me my space when I slow down and then (if I'm on a 2 lane or wider road) I immediately pull over to the other lane. The idiots that don't get it sometimes continue just tailgating me but usually do something like flash their headlights, which just makes me laugh. Yes, I'm that guy everyone hates... but tailgating is a huge peeve of mine. I give more than the required distance between cars and everyone else seems to like to come right up your ass and tailgate you, which is sooo dangerous.

You would never survive in Fairfield County traffic. If you don't tailgate, the whole highway gets in front of you. It's the people that don't know this little secret that practically get run off the road....

[runawayjim]

You would never survive in Fairfield County traffic. If you don't tailgate, the whole highway gets in front of you. It's the people that don't know this little secret that practically get run off the road....

which is why they need more cops enforcing the laws in fairfield county. people in SUV's think they own the road... which is funny when i usually see more SUV's spun out on the side of the highway during snow storms.

[MadVlad]

heh, dude, there aren't enough cops in the world to police that. If you leave just enough space for a car, there will be one there, it's just the way it is. Doesn't make it right, but whatever, cops pulling people over won't do crap....