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Three states raise speed limits, up to 80 mph (Texas)



 
 
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  #11  
Old July 19th 05, 01:04 PM
Ted B.
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>
> Is there a wording for the law that's an improvement
> on "reasonable and prudent" ?
>


Well there could be. How about "85th percentile speed of FREE FLOWING (ie
no speed limit posted, and no visible enforcement activity) traffic". -Dave


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  #12  
Old July 19th 05, 01:10 PM
Ted B.
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>
> The guy who challenged the ticket was driving at an unreasonable
> speed. He was also convicted of the similarly vague "reckless
> driving" crime several times and went to jail for it. The courts
> didn't overturn the reckless driving law because doing that would
> impede punishment of unsafe drivers. But they could and did
> decide they wanted to change how speeding tickets were handled.
> The supreme court wanted speeding tickets. The Attorney General
> wanted speeding tickets. Both knew if the state lost this case
> the legislature would pass a law making everybody subject to speeding
> tickets and the police and courts could forget about safety and
> just process the paperwork. So they arranged to strike down the
> law just before the biennial legislative session.
>
> --


Serious question . . . how did you determine that a skilled driver in a
brand new sports car in the middle of nowhere in perfect driving conditions
with NO TRAFFIC on the road was driving at an "unreasonable" speed of 85MPH?
I'm frankly amazed that he never took his car out of second gear. (why was
he going so damned slow???) -Dave


  #13  
Old July 19th 05, 01:16 PM
John F. Carr
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In article ws.net>,
Ted B. > wrote:
>Serious question . . . how did you determine that a skilled driver in a
>brand new sports car in the middle of nowhere in perfect driving conditions
>with NO TRAFFIC on the road was driving at an "unreasonable" speed of 85MPH?


I checked the court decision and it looks like he only appealed the
charge that looked more sympathetic, not the ticket for 100+ MPH
in heavy winds. In the case considered by the Supreme Court, he
was, in the words of the dissenting judge, "operating a vehicle
at 85 miles per hour on a two-lane highway with frost heaves, steep
hills, and curves, where farm vehicles may unexpectedly appear."
--
John Carr )
  #14  
Old July 19th 05, 01:46 PM
Ted B.
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"John F. Carr" > wrote in message
...
> In article ws.net>,
> Ted B. > wrote:
>>Serious question . . . how did you determine that a skilled driver in a
>>brand new sports car in the middle of nowhere in perfect driving
>>conditions
>>with NO TRAFFIC on the road was driving at an "unreasonable" speed of
>>85MPH?

>
> I checked the court decision and it looks like he only appealed the
> charge that looked more sympathetic, not the ticket for 100+ MPH
> in heavy winds. In the case considered by the Supreme Court, he
> was, in the words of the dissenting judge, "operating a vehicle
> at 85 miles per hour on a two-lane highway with frost heaves, steep
> hills, and curves, where farm vehicles may unexpectedly appear."



Did you catch the part where even the cop who wrote the ticket testified FOR
the defendant? I don't doubt some judge had a problem with the "85 miles
per hour" part. That just goes to show that what is "reasonable" to most
people isn't necessarily "reasonable" to any particular judge.

I get the feeling that he got the 85MPH ticket only because he was all alone
on the road with the cop who wrote the ticket. I've BEEN in that situation
before. A couple of decades ago, I was driving a '76 Cutlass Cruiser (350
rocket, quadra-flusher, ha ha) through South Dakota in perfect driving
conditions. The car itself was in perfect mechanical condition. I drove
for hours without seeing another vehicle on a 4-lane (2 each way) divided
highway. I honestly wasn't paying attention AT ALL to how fast I was going
at any particular moment, I just knew my approximate average velocity, about
80. The car was comfortable cruising 75-80, sometimes a bit more. That
seemed to be the "sweet spot" of that particular engine, so I just let it
run. I wasn't in a hurry at all. I started to notice that I was ALL ALONE,
and wondered how long I'd have to go before seeing a single other vehicle on
the road. I know it had been at least a half hour before I'd seen another
vehicle on EITHER SIDE of the highway. Then I noticed a vehicle WAY behind
me (a couple of miles, as far as I could see). I noticed it, as it was
(OHMYGOD) another vehicle!!! But I didn't give it much thought beyond that.
I noticed he was gaining on me pretty quick. Unfortunately, I didn't notice
the light bar soon enough. Not sure how I missed that. I got ticketed for
76 in a 65. I know without a doubt that I got the ticket as the cop
literally had NOTHING better to do. While we were on the side of the
highway for several minutes, not a single vehicle passed us in either
direction.

Though my speed at the time was unlawful, NOBODY could claim with a straight
face that my speed was not reasonable and prudent. I'm lucky I wasn't in a
hurry at the time. 80MPH (my average speed that day) was rather SLOW for
that particular vehicle. -Dave


  #15  
Old July 20th 05, 05:30 AM
Alexander Rogge
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How fast was the other car going to catch up to you? That 80 MPH is a
common speed for normal traffic conditions. I've been on similar
roadways where traffic was passing me at twice that speed.
  #16  
Old July 21st 05, 10:03 PM
Dave
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"Alexander Rogge" > wrote in message
news
> How fast was the other car going to catch up to you? That 80 MPH is a
> common speed for normal traffic conditions. I've been on similar roadways
> where traffic was passing me at twice that speed.


I'm guessing at least 110, as it didn't take long for him to close the gap
at all. -Dave


 




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