Does it seem the average speed limit these days is around or at 80 mph?  I go with whatever the flow of traffic is but there are times when folks speed up right on my ass or blow by me as if I'm standing still.  I'm no slow poke and I don't hover in the left hand lane.  Just wondering if I'm the only one who's noticed this trend.

In addition, what is with the Oregon drivers?  I know Oregon's speed limits are oppressive but that does't mean they need to go ripping through my state.

If only the posted limit was 80... Then we could drive 90....

i must have blown by you at 100 in my plum crazy challenger. Where you the one in the bmw that couldnt keep up.. LOL just kidding.

this is what happens with kalifornicators infect your state.

Black Audi

Edit:  Love that plum crazy color!!  Hell, love MOPARS!!!!

Get a vehicle that only does 65?

You say you don't hover in the left lane, now I need you to quit hogging the center lane.

My observations of NW traffic (I'm an Atlanta traffic badass by birth) is that on 3-lane sections of I-5 ... no one likes the right lane, where the fuqn slow pokes belong. As a result, slowass Northwesterners just clog up the center lane, which is almost as bad as clogging up the left lane. I go faster farther in the right lane, especially through Oregon.

I run 80-90 avg, truck just seems to cruise better around that range. I still move over after a pass and still get passed often enough to know im not the fastest on the road. However I have noticed a funny pattern when passing left lane campers on the right, they seem to speed up to match or exceed my speed to not allow me to pass. Which results in a 3/4 ton lifted truck with a honda catcher bumper behind them....always got a kick out of the smart cars break cheaking a vehicle that can turn them into a pancake. They usually move over once they realize I never hit the breaks when they break cheaked....probably because I was never riding there ass to begin with. Had one dude break check me 12 times (I counted) until I was finally on him and when he moved over I was laughing and he was giving the bird. People are crazy. Enough of the thread derailment....

Do 10 15mph over the limit is normal east of the wetlands.

I don't care how fast people drive. I only care that everyone gets their slow asses out of the passing lane!!!

your opinion will change the nano-second before impact.

Speed kills, so while jerkwads are hauling ass so they can get home 30 seconds faster than they would otherwise, they are literally killing people. Would you play russian roulette in exchange for a commute that was 2 minutes shorter?  Yeah yeah, it won't happen to you. That's what 30,000 corpses say every year. They were just as sure.

I've drove longhaul all over the country and it's not a northwesterner thing, people drive like that all over.  Plenty of places are much worse than here.

He's right. Many assholes have thought of the same idea and end up being carried away in a body bag.

Naw..you bring up a good secondary point.  I have noticed that as well.  I go to pass...but then the vehicle I'm passing steps on it and won't let me pass.  Pissing on his ego I guess.  I don't know.  Maybe it's the culture of the road these days.

Where are these MOregon drivers that are going 80-90? Did you mean 80-90km/h? Most that I encounter are going 5-10 under and left lane camping. Usually being very self-righteous about it. Multiple cars passing them on the right and they will not move over.

My biggest peeve is drivers that forget that freeway on-ramps are for accelerating and merging to the flow of traffic. It's not the job of the person already doing 60-70 to slow down and let you on.
I'll move over if I can, but it's not required.

I travel a lot through the NW, mostly because I like to drive and living in the dry side means you do a lot of it

I think most people have an internal limit of about 70. Seems like in Oregon, where the limits in the middle of fucking no where is 65 the majority of traffic does 70, maybe 75. Idaho, where the interstate limit is 75 most people still do 70-75 and setting the cruise at 75 will mean passing a lot of people. Washington seems to follow this trend even with the 70mph limit. The exception to this I've noticed is in the metro areas surrounding Portland and Seattle. Seems like everyone is in a huge hurry to get 1 car ahead of someone else to the point that a close call is acceptable.

I see a lot of people talking about going 10-15 over and never camping in the fast lane....... yet here I am still stuck going 45-50mph whenever there is a hill, or an exit coming, or a cloud, or a tree..................


I have driven all over this country and I only deal with stupid arrogant self righteous drivers here.
This trend of people picking up the pace is a welcome change.

if you stay in the right lane you pass more people during rush hour,

This has been my observation as well. Most people's comfort level seems to be in the 70-75mph range.

That being said, there is no reason that the speed limit can't be 80 or even 90mph in many areas, especially the wide open west. Nothing says anybody HAS to drive that fast. Just stay out the way of those that do. In fact, yielding to overtaking traffic is the ONE law that should be most enforced.

It's not always about being in a hurry. Oftentimes it's about having a more engaging driving experience.

It's boring as hell puttering through Oregon at 65-70mph. Why does the speed limit on I84 drop 10mph just because you cross an arbitrary state boundary line? It sucks. And it doesn't make you any safer.

There is a considerable disparity in vehicle capability. A new Audi S5 versus say an '87 Dodge Caravan are going to be very different experiences at 80-90mph.

I don't care if anyone wants to drive a little slower. Just be considerate about it and let faster traffic pass. I do not understand why so many people have such a problem with being passed.

Yes, an engaging driving experience is certainly worth more than human life. sounds great when it's someone else's life.

I get passed all the time. I tend to drive about 5 over. Others can drive as fast as they dare, but let's call it like it is, dangerous as hell. And yes, speed does matter. So long as e = mv^2 and we haven't invented inertial dampers or something, it always will. Some cars withstand impact better than others, but I don't really care what the speeding maniac is driving, I'm more concerned about their innocent victims... who may be on a bike, or in a tin can econo box because they are poor, or whatever. The fact of the matter is, the vast majority of drivers completely suck. Compound that with speed and people die. If everyone was driving 10mph, car fatalities would be near zero. The faster you go, the more people die. It's really that simple. I'm not advocating a low speed limit, I'm just talking about the reality of the situation on the road. At 90 you, and others, are more likely to die in a crash then at 65.

The only thing missing is an "It's for the kids" refrain. And "Drive 55, stay alive".

How many kids on bikes are hit on Interstate highways? Because that's what we are really talking about here. Not doing 100mph by the elementary school while kids are going home. Yeah, I think we can all understand and even appreciate arbitrarily low speed limits in residential, retail, educational, commercial and industrial areas.

I say we can have both an engaging experience and reasonable safety. Why is 80-90 safe in rural Utah but not rural Washington or rural Oregon? Why is it such a big deal to just move out of the way and let others drive faster? Why do you hate freedom, bro?

Your arguments don't sound much different than those in support of gun control.

Montana had it right when they had no speed limit.

Probably my biggest pet peeve on the freeway.

I presume you are talking about bicycles...I was talking about motorcycles...



On flat dry surfaces, there's nothing inherently unsafe about driving 80-90 in rural areas. On my daily commute in/out of Portland, I'm never in a flat, dry, or rural area...and I see jerkwads driving 80-90 every single day.  



I never said I didn't, for one thing. For another, speedsters are literally KILLING PEOPLE...and your big problem with the entire situation is the insufficient road etiquette of some drivers? How in the world are those two things even comparable? How are they linked in any way? I don't do it, as I said, but those who do congest traffic probably save lives.



You seem confused about what freedom is. In gun terms, I'm saying that you should be able to own/carry whatever guns you want, but you shouldn't be able to shoot your rifle over your neighbors head for no reason just because you feel like it'd be entertaining. You're saying that shooting hats off of people's heads is "engaging" and should be a-ok, even if 30,000 heads get blown off every year in the process. There's a difference between freedom and reckless endangerment for no other reason than entertainment.



We're talking about 2 separate issues here, really. One is what, if any, limit the state should/shouldn't set....I haven't discussed that at all really. Speed limits on public roads are up to the reps to decide. Two is the inherent danger of high speed auto collisions, which the twisted metal and dead bodies have done a pretty good job of demonstrating, and yet some people like to create a dream world for themselves in which everything is hunky-dorry and there's no danger at all. So, as I said earlier, drive 8974589477470472340892378234720389 miles per hour if you want, just recognize that you'll likely kill yourself and/or others in the process. I'm sure you're Mario Andretti behind the wheel, and good for you, but unless you control all the other cars also you really don't control much. Collisions happen, and will happen so long as humans are behind the wheel. At high speeds, they are exceptionally lethal. Our collective failure and refusal to recognize that fact kills more Americans every year than WAR does. That should be eye opening, but it isn't, and tomorrow 100 more people will die....and the next day another 100. It isn't until it's your wife, son, parent, or what have you that people get a damn clue. As a society we shouldn't have to hit our thumb with a hammer to understand that it will hurt, but we clearly do.

Unless you are in king county -then it is important to never drive beyond 40 mph and slam on your breaks for stalled vehicles and shiny objects...seriously I have never seen such slow moving scared stoned drivers. Out side of King county it is different, not sure if it is the legalization of weed, anti depressants or everyone is locked in battle with autocorrect. I know it is not NPR because I listen to it sometimes to see if there is a story good enough for everyone to slow down and fuck up simple tasks.
and yeah I probably blew past you as well, nothing personal just driving...trying to get somewhere

I have often wondered with my tin foil hat if the extra long lights in Seattle and Lynnwood is not to hold drivers captive long enough to send invisble conditioning rays:
" drive slow, leave the turn signal on, slow down, slam on the breaks....now! come to a complete stop before turning, slower slower slower, space out for the 5 second green light, make a point of fucking everyone behind you"

It has to be something in the water, the weed or collective psycology

I learned how to drive in the failed city state of Detroit, I 94 was like thunderdome, you had to be fast or die...so I share the frustration. The reason to avoid the right lane is because the exit and on ramps all spill into that lane. The original desingers of WA infrastructure were obviously not drug tested or had never driven a car. The other reason is that ( as posted above) the Colonists from Kalifornia have brought the "all about me" ethos, the young and very weak were infected.....this is also why we have hipsters and racoons overrunning the citites

The reason why people are driving fast is because the speed limit has been set to an artificially low limit.

Speed limits should be set to the 85th percentile of drivers.
That means that if 85% of the drivers drive at 80mph then the speed limit should be set at 80mph.

In LA County on some great motorcycle backroads the county removed passing lanes and lowered the speed limit by as much as 20mph.

The residents and people who like to drive the roads complained and threatened to sue LA County over those issues.

LA County relented and raised the speed limits and replaced the passing lanes.

There's no reason why the speed limit between Everett and Mt. Vernon on I-5 should not be 80mph.
In all reality when the mobile tax collectors are not there that's how fast everyone is going.
Highway 20 from I-5 to Sharps Corner should be 70mph, not 55.

This makes absolutely no sense. ok, you set the limit at 80. Next day, everyone is driving 90. Do you change the law again or...?  In my experience, roughly 85% of people are completely incapable of driving period, at any speed, maybe we should just issue licenses based on the 85% rule too.

It makes perfect sense. The speed limit would be set at a level where traffic is naturally flowing.

Some people should not have the opportunity to operate a motor vehicle as we all know.

If they put in nice big onramps like the memorial hwy/hwy 20 interchange, then yeah.  I'd rather not be doing 70 past the casino with no lane for the mergers.

 

Motorcyclists are more likely to be hit by an inattentive or distracted driver or kill themselves with their own antics rather than being hit by someone driving a little faster than the speed limit. One of the benefits of driving a little faster is that your attention and situational awareness are increased, too. Versus a driver's thoughts drifting and zoning out while plodding along slowly. It is actually safer to drive at a higher level of engagement.

Utah has rain, snow and some some pretty darn big mountains. And an 80mph speed limit. What's the problem?

People who prefer to drive faster are not KILLING PEOPLE any more than people who like to shoot faster are. Traffic fatalities are due to a range of causitive factors. Not just speeding. Attributing all 30,000 traffic fatalities to speeding is intellectually dishonest. That's gun control logic. We are better than that. I could just as easily say that people who refuse to yield to faster traffic actually cause more accidents by inciting anger and frustration in other drivers and forcing them to take chances to pass. If so many people weren't afflicted with lobster syndrome this would hardly be an issue.

How do other states manage high speed limits? Where is all the predicted death, mayhem and carnage?  

The "shooting hats off of peoples' heads" has to be one of the worst analogies I have heard in a while. Really? Doing something that is perfectly legal a couple of states away is now tantamount to reckless endargerment here? Come on.

Yup, speed limits are for our reps to decide. Just like gun laws. If no one ever challenged them, we would still be stuck with suppressors not being legal to use and SBRs not being legal to own in this state. And a 55mph speed limit.

Life entails risk. From what I have seen, states with higher speed limits are not seeing radically higher fatality rates. Heck, Montana even saw a DECREASE in fatilities when they had NO speed limit.

A lot of people are already driving at a speed where their comfort level is. Why not just legalize that?

WA drivers can't even handle anything short of a sunny day or a clear road without slamming their fucking breaks... And you want 80mph speed limit?

 

Driving here is little different than driving anywhere else. Give the "people do _______ better where I came from" thing a rest.

I am from the midwest, where ice and snow is a serious problem. Even there, people drive better than drivers here do.
It amazes me how bad it really is here, you will notice it when you drive in other states and than come here.
Its like night and day to me.
I'd like to try and be a State Patrol some day, I am sure it is nothing short of a nightmare for the officers out there.
I will be leaving Wa. state someday and right now I am exactly one day closer.

99% of the people driving 2 ton barely guided missiles can't drive worth a shit...all the while bragging up their "driveing skills"   ....aggressive driving does not necessarily  equal good driving

My peeve as well.....that and idiots that cannot tell the difference between "merge" and "yield"

I have driven in a lot of other states in just this year alone and I haven't noticed it.

i also love the 100 car pileups that happen in the mid-west just about every winter.

Like I told my last wife, I says, "Honey, I never drive faster than I can see. Besides that, it's all in the reflexes."
- Jack Burton

Love that movie

I've had to share the road In Multiple foreign countries, to include Japan... Don't get pissy just because the drivers in WA actually do fucking suck.


That said, I still absolutely love the state.

LOL.

One guy says everyone here drives too fast.

You say they drive to slow.

Whatever.

Driving here is little different than driving anywhere else in CONUS.

Same with the complaining.

Give it a rest already.

if this is true, then a) there would be no speed limit signs on brand new roads and b) all the speed limits in Cali would be 90 mph.



I have serious doubts about the sanity of anyone who would trust the "perceptions of the roadway". Between the teenage girl who's driving 80 while texting and who hadn't looked up in the last 30 seconds, to the guy eating a bowl of cereal during his morning commute and holding the wheel with his knees, to the 90 year old who can't remember why they left the house, I have very little faith in the perceptions of these people. If you hand them a rifle, body armor, and a pack and put them in Mosul in 2005, they'd be PAYING ATTENTION like a mofo. While driving, where they are more likely to die? No need to look up from the phone, nothing is going to... BOOM. You're ***" ing dead.

 

So you openly admit to breaking the law and when you get caught let me guess you blame the cop and he is lying right? Yea

from wiki...



which does not explain how a brand new road gets speed limits...and it also introduces information not previously mentioned, namely that they don't just use the 85th percentile number, they start with that then reduce it 8-12mph. That is little more than legal acknowledgement that drivers have poor judgement in estimating what is safe. It's a bit mind-boggling that this is how this is done, primarily because it seems to be failing miserably from a practical stand point. Perhaps our 'speed limiters' are just as screwed up as our drivers.    If the idea is that people are just going to drive however fast they are going to drive, is the singular purpose of posted limits to take money from people via tickets?  And how come those loooong flat/dry rural stretches of the boonies don't have speed limits of 100mph? Surely 85% of the maniacs that drive in this country would feel 'safe' travelling at that speed on such roads? I'm not sure how driver's perception of safety can be separated from their fear/concern of getting pulled over by the cops. If I'm in the boonies I have absolute confidence that I could drive 90 on a flat/dry road and be fine....but I don't because the posted limit is 70 and I don't want a ticket. In such a scenario, the posted limit is the prime determinant, not what I perceive as being safe. If I drive 5 under, or 5 over, that variance might be based on my spidey-sense of safety, but not much else. I guess a lot of people out there REALLY must not care if they get pulled over / get tickets!

The most useful information in the wiki comes later though....





If you've been reading carefully, almost everything I have said in this thread isn't related to posted speed limits at all. All I've really said is, 1. drivers generally suck, especially those who THINK they can drive, 2. speed kills in auto collisions, and 3. people should recognize the danger, because if they did, they would drive more carefully and less people would die.

Feel free to refute any of those general themes.