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[wierd]

Take into consideration if they are driving a clunker or not;

If they have fender damage, or have shitty tires, (or even just a beat up, used up engine), they might not be able to attain top highway speed safely. (Experience frame vibration, extreme engine knocking or poor acceleration curves, etc..)

Don't hate on people for driving slower than the speed limit, especially if they are being courteous, and live exclusively in the slow lane.

[Iduno]

Over time I've learned to deal with people driving the speed limit, and concomitantly, I speed less.

But the people I can't fucking stand are the ones that drive 5 mph under the speed limit for no reason. That shit still makes my blood boil. I know how fast I'm going intuitively. I feel the my vehicle and how fast it's going, so I can often know that I'm not driving the speed limit just by feel and I correct it. And I suspect that people who drive under the speed limit habitually are intuitively going a speed that feels comfortable to them. The speed that doesn't require their attention to maintain. The speed that allows them to read text messages, or think about what they're going to do with their garden, or what they'll do this weekend, or w/e.

Put another way, when people drive like they're the only one on the road it makes me go fucking crazy. If everyone on the road was mindful, we'd all get where we're going faster. But because some fucking jackass is just staring ahead in to the distance and not actually thinking about driving traffic jams up. Every action someone takes on the road affects everyone behind them, in a giant chain of causality. People that don't get that and are like "screw you, I'm in my little bubble!" are the reason driving sucks ass.

Be glad you don't have to drive here then. I can always tell when I'm approaching a luxury car, because they're the only ones (unless traffic is backed up because someone is holding up traffic in front of them) who drive significantly less than half the speed limit in the fast lane. It's great having IBS and being stuck in the car because someone else has decided that the speed limit is too fast for them, and they're going to decide what everyone else gets to do.

[nenjin]

To note, I'm not talking on the interstate. At those speeds I can forgive a lot.

I'm talking in town driving. There is no excuse other than weather for driving 30 in a 35. Anything else is just having your head firmly lodged up your own ass.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

One fun thing is that a very large number of commercial vehicles have tracking software on them that requires the user to go at or even a certain amount below the posted speed limit, and better yet, computer records and speed limit signs don't always match. Expect that to only become more common.

[Naturegirl1999]

Question, does going slower save gas? If so then there is a reason other than weather to go slow, also in towns with barely any sidewalks, drivers need to go slow to avoid pedestrians and bike riders

[Telgin]

There's going to be an optimal speed for every vehicle, and based on a cursory search it looks like most cars are at their most efficient in the 55-65 MPH range.  Apparently efficiently drops off a lot after that, so speeding wastes fuel.

I'm pretty sure cars are pretty inefficient at, say, 35 MPH though, so poking around on back roads below the speed limit is probably not helping that.

[Iduno]

Question, does going slower save gas? If so then there is a reason other than weather to go slow, also in towns with barely any sidewalks, drivers need to go slow to avoid pedestrians and bike riders

It's something like a bell curve. There's a most efficient speed, and your efficiency drops when you get much below or above that. The problem is, that point varies quite a bit with different vehicles and fuel types. Edit: and with temperature. Engines need to be a particular temperature to work efficiently, and not much hotter or pretty much any amount cooler.

One fun thing is that a very large number of commercial vehicles have tracking software on them that requires the user to go at or even a certain amount below the posted speed limit, and better yet, computer records and speed limit signs don't always match. Expect that to only become more common.

Yeah, I've been to Michigan, where semis have a lower speed limit, which means everyone is stuck going to lower speed limit. As we've seen here Weird's "no fuck you, I can go as slow as I want, nobody should be able to go faster than me, I'm the only one who gets to decide things" is the normal mode of thinking, so you don't really have the option to have people going different speeds.

[Devastator]

Yeah, there's an optimal speed.  It's usually not particularly slow, and it does vary.  But in general it's highway speed, because that's the only time you're travelling for a long time at a fixed speed.

That said, it isn't like lower speed efficiency is ignored by automakers, so it usually isn't too harsh of a drop off.

[nenjin]

Question, does going slower save gas? If so then there is a reason other than weather to go slow, also in towns with barely any sidewalks, drivers need to go slow to avoid pedestrians and bike riders

This is solved by being aware and being mindful. Scanning the road ahead at all times. Simply driving under the speed limit in case you may need to avoid something is basically being willfully blind until something is right in front of you, AND being disrespectful of everyone else on the road who a) is driving the speed limit and b) is paying attention. Speed limits are in theory calculated based on where you're driving. Residential speed limits are that way because it's determined that's the fastest maintainable speed you can hold while still having adequate time to react to things around you. Commercial street speed limits are likewise calculated the same. If someone on a bike is cutting across 4 lanes of traffic, that is their bad, the normal conditions do not predict that kind of behavior. We have crosswalks and stop lights for them.

Driving under the posted speed limit is like waiting at a stop sign 3x as long as you need to, just to be EXTRA sure nothing is coming, despite the fact you can clearly see nothing is coming. That is nervous driving, not prudence. Prudence is driving the posted speed limit and staying aware of your surroundings at all times.

I think the reality is that, as a country that drives everywhere, we like to put our brains on autopilot when we get in our cars, especially for daily routines like going to work and coming home. We naturally drive a speed that our brains feel equipped to handle, that is completely divorced from the actual speed limit. That is what happens when you're not being mindful when you drive: automatic processes take over.

It makes me wish for the fully automated driving of the future. I used to rebel against the idea of giving up control behind the wheel. But when so many motherfuckers drive "their style" instead of the actual way you're supposed to drive, fuck it. Let's absolve anyone of having to do any real thinking or pay attention behind the wheel, as long as everyone ends up driving the same way. I'm just so sick of that one special snowflake, whether they're distracted driving or WORSE, a frightened driver, completely jamming up the works and then belligerently telling others its their right to fuck up everyone's commute. It's enough to make a body say "if you're that scared of driving then take the bus. Otherwise L2DRIVE."

[McTraveller]

I think we should consider environmental impact fines for speeding on top of the speed limit violation itself.  I also think we should force construction companies to give drivers compensation for increased fuel use and increased commute times; that is an interesting externality that is not paid by either construction companies or municipalities which have approved the construction.

Going 75 instead of 65 dissipates 54% more power to drag (and requires 33% more energy per unit distance traveled).  A car tuned for optimal operation at 65 mph traveling at 65mph will consume far less energy than a car tuned for 75mph traveling at 75mph.

[Lord Shonus]

The other important thing here, as McTraveller hits at, is that the most fuel efficient speed is based on gearing. There's hard physical limits, but there's a fairly wide band that an automaker can decide what to set the peak point at. That's one of the reasons that the 55 MPH speed limit was less effective that intended - a ton of vehicles were tuned for optimum efficiency at 65

[Devastator]

* Devastator grumbles about getting stuck on ice because my automatic gearbox can't rock the car to escape properly.

[Frumple]

It's enough to make a body say "if you're that scared of driving then take the bus. Otherwise L2DRIVE."

Man, I'll take the bus when it's a fucking option. This is the goddamn US, unless you in some rich shit area there probably ain't no bus to take, or if there is there's other problems involved that means yo ass is in a car or yo ass is jobless.

Until then Imma respect physics, go fairly close to the speed limit, and not ride up on people asses. Good basic rules, really.

[hector13]

I think we should consider environmental impact fines for speeding on top of the speed limit violation itself.  I also think we should force construction companies to give drivers compensation for increased fuel use and increased commute times; that is an interesting externality that is not paid by either construction companies or municipalities which have approved the construction.

But the drivers are paying the construction companies through taxes to do the construction work, and I’m pretty certain that they’ll pass any cost of compensation on to their clients ‘cause there ain’t no private company in the world that’s going to absorb a cost they can pass on to their clients.

[McTraveller]

But the drivers are paying the construction companies through taxes to do the construction work, and I’m pretty certain that they’ll pass any cost of compensation on to their clients ‘cause there ain’t no private company in the world that’s going to absorb a cost they can pass on to their clients.

This is construction that is turning an empty field into a residental+retail center.  This is not something being paid for by my taxes.  The city council in question is basically looking at the sweet property tax revenue, completely ignoring the fact that they are adding 300 residential units plus a hotel and a bunch of retail to an already notoriously crowded set of intersections.

This is the same zoning council that has already somehow managed to industrialize probably 160 acres of wetland on the other corner of the intersection, which has already added a ton of traffic since they added quite a few office buildings.