$3550 Speeding Ticket

[LeeEJ]

Why can't there be a go fast sticker affixed to the bumper of someone with a high performance car who has gone through racing school and has demonstrated the competency to drive safely at speeds of (for example) 100 mph along rural interstates like I-15 from Southern California to Las Vegas?

Better yet -- why isn't that level of driver training available to everyone?

Oh yeah, because it costs money, and us Yanks will raise hell if the poorest of the poor can't afford such classes if the licensing process requires them.

The result, of course, is that we have millions of inept drivers who were "taught" by poorly-constructed half-assed classes in school parking lots and in Uncle Jeb's farm truck.

 

[dong20]

Look above. ^^^

Don't be so obtuse, I meant the right as in the right to drive safely and legally as one sees that, not the right to drive per se.

If the given conditions deem it safest that you drive 80 mph along with everyone else, then yes, you'd better damn well drive as fast as everyone else -- otherwise you're posing a danger to those around you.

Deemed safest by whom? When I drive I make my own decisions about what's safe, I find taking decisions about my safety myself tends to work better, especially with so many idiot sheep playing follow my leader because that's all they're capable of. You may choose to delegate that decision making process, that's your choice.

You wonder what I don't get; I don't get why you can't understand "go with the flow". Holy fuck.

I understand it, and I have agreed with you at least three times! Subject to personal judgement. I really can't be bothered to go back and cite where because clearly you're unable to recognise when someone is, for the most part agreeing with you.

I'm not really willing to waste any more time on someone who either clearly can't read, or understand the concept of personal decision making, or both.

 

[LeeEJ]

"Safest" = going with the flow. I don't care how illegal it is, but you have to go with what's safer at the time.

The first priority is to minimize accidents. Like I said earlier, accidents are worse than tickets (and some cops need to learn that point, too). A messed-up car, driver, or passenger is a bigger problem than a piece of paper.

If you have to -- oh my gosh -- go 80 in a 60 because every other living being is also going at least 80, then, well, you're going to have to go 80, too. The safest traffic condition is when everyone is experiencing the lowest speed differential. With everyone traveling at nearly the same speed, the vehicle-to-vehicle difference is only a few mph, and nobody needs to react very quickly to the traffic around them.

Throw in a lump that's trundling along 20 mph slower, though, and that's when problems arise.

SAFETY FIRST. If the posted speed limit encourages you to drive dangerously, safety still comes first.

 

[theunsimplelife]

I don't know if this was already mentioned but I did a quick internet search and apparently the guy who proposed the new law has a traffic law firm. So they're saying he did it so more people will fight their speeding tickets and his firm will get more business. Sounds dirty to me.
The other thing the article said is the $3550 speeding ticket only applies to Virginia residents, not out of staters.

 

[arliss]

it may had an adverse effect and scare away some tourists....

 

[theunsimplelife]

it may had an adverse effect and scare away some tourists....

The new law doesn't apply to tourists, only Virginia residents.

 

[arliss]

The new law doesn't apply to tourists, only Virginia residents.

oh ok

 

[earllogjam]

I know, some of the stupid shit I did behind the wheel when I was younger and never got caught for....

Dong, did you do doughnuts with your mom's station wagon in the WalMart parking lot when you were a kid too? Oh - no WalMarts in Britan. Boy you missed out. :smile:

This thread is replete with a heady aroma of sour grapes mixed with a tinge of righteous indignation.

Haha -Yes. Sour grapes. Not a tinge but full blown righteous indignation.

I think the driving cultures are different here in the colonies than in mother England. We are more like the frontier where the lawmen are not much different from the gangsters so we have a different view of them - at least I do. They are just 2 sides of the same coin. Also if you don't have a car around these parts you can't live. Being car deprived is like cutting off both your big toes especially in places like Phoenix or Los Angeles.

So we view our cars as necessities not luxuries as do most Europeans. So fines here are like slaps in the wrists. You probably can get by OK without a car in Britan where the public transport is excellent and old towns were set up around walking - here everything is pretty much designed around the car. Because it is a necessity getting a $3500 speeding ticket that may end your driving days is like a death sentence for us Americans. Because it is a necessity everything surrounding cars is generally cheaper here in the States compared to Europe - gas prices are lower, car prices are certainly cheaper, insurance, parking, maintenance, traffic fines....etc. There is a fundamental difference in our attitudes towards cars it seems. Necessity vs. Convenience.

Sour grapes. Yeah everyone hates to be singled out among the throngs of speed offenders for a ticket by some asshole cop. That would make anyone indignant. Did you see the movie "Crash"?

 

[B_Hickboy]

Maybe people will slow down...