“People Are Driving Faster”

Hey guys i just wanted to know what speeds you see others do on the roads on a regular basis. As we all know no body drives 100 km. It seems they only hit that speed twice once on the way up and once on the way down.

it seems the De Facto limit on the 401 is about 120-130. But lately i dont know if its me but i see people going well over 130 all the time. I have been passed by many vehicles even on short trips going well over 140 km/h.

I am also noticing people are getting very aggressive and as usual not following common traffic laws. It seems everytime i drive i witness near death as a result of some guy going to slow in the left lane along with an army of cars that all wants to go 130-140 behind him. As a result aggressive tailgating results. If the slow turtle refuses to move someof them will just race through the other lanes to pass this person causing the traffic jam.

Anyways what do the rest of you notice. If i go anything less than 125 in the left lane while over taking i get tailgated or have a long line of cars that wants to pass. In the past few months i am noticing more and more cars with this behavior and more people are driving approaching the 140 range.

I really think its time we set a realistic speed limit, especially outside toronto on the less crowded highways.

Disagree completely.

Said it many times before....hwys improved, cars improved.....driver abilities have not.

The human body can also not withstand the sudden change of speed from anything over 130km/hr. I have yet to see a crash at that speed that someone has "walked away" without injury.

I work west of London on the carnage alley. Yesterday, I was using lidar (so 99% of motorists don't see me when I'm getting their speed) and took me over 1hr to get someone over 120km. It was not until just after 2pm I stopped someone over 130km (8hrs into shift).

Certainly this area is not the area you speak of! All 11 of us yesterday would have been more than glad to meet and greet these drivers if they were travelling those speeds

Me thinks that 130 is average for the GTA.....It all depends on the time of day. Coming home from work is slower then going to...but there's always exceptions. I have noticed it's slower out there......carnage alley...... but when you get used to 130 it doesn't seem that fast. And I'll throw this one to you 'Bear, if you look further ahead for 130 then you do for 120 wouldn't you have time to slow down?????

Well i have to remember people change their behavior with police around.

And some areas are way more patrolled then others and people know this. It also depends where your driving some people are in a hurry and it shows.

Anytime i am on the 401 it isnt hard to spot the police with 3-4 lanes u will see a sea of red brake lights where the cops are.

When i find u drive in more crowded areas all it takes is a few to speed and rest will follow and it isnt long before more start going.

I don't know what areas you guys drive but i know some 400 series roads drivers drive much different.

I would like to hear what other drives say. And i agree with hwybear that most drivers dont see cops. BUt the ones that speed on a regular basis dont seem to care the only thing to stop them is a officer. They are usually much more aware and "on the ball" then the rest driving slower.

I agree with Reflections. For the GTA, yeah 130 is about right. From personal experience, some roads at certain times will move faster than that. QEW going over the Skyway during the early morning has the fast lane going well over 140. 407 is still fairly fast. The 401 varies, some stretches are very fast. There's still a number of people who whip through traffic at 140+ on the 401, but what else is new. I take the DVP/Gardiner to work (changed jobs... now commuting to downtown Toronto), when it's moving speeds are anywhere from 90-120. When it's not... they don't call it the Don Valley Parking Lot for nothing. I think the two fastest are the 400 and 407. I still see people rocketing down the 400 going 150 and higher. Of course... all of this is outside of rush hour periods.

The 417 between Ottawa and Montreal moves pretty quickly. Through Ottawa it varies, it's not as fast as any GTA highway.

The 401 through Carnage Alley is slower. Just about everyone who drives, or drove, regularly between Toronto and Windsor knows that the OPP detachment that hwybear works out of has a heavy presence on the 401. Usually they're right near Highgate and Ridgetown but sometimes the officers are closer to Chatham itself. Everyone who's familiar with the road slows down going through Chatham/Kent, even I do. I don't think I'd get much of a break from hwybear if he pulled me over, especially since I KNOW how often they're on the road there. Same thing with the 401 near Prescott and Napanee. Usually most people aren't much faster than 115 in those areas. Go 130+ and you'll stick out like a sore thumb.

So why can I do 130 in toronto without worry, but it'll get me yanked elsewhere in the province??

Reflections wrote:So why can I do 130 in toronto without worry, but it'll get me yanked elsewhere in the province??

4 lanes + 3 collectors VS 2 lanes...

407 is 2 lanes for a portion......

racer wrote:

Reflections wrote:So why can I do 130 in toronto without worry, but it'll get me yanked elsewhere in the province??

4 lanes + 3 collectors VS 2 lanes...

Simply enough.....more vehicles in GTR vicinity as compared to police ratio. Less vehicles on the highway allow the police to be more visible. Such as you have 4 lanes (2 each direction) or have 14 lanes (7 each direction). Which one will you pick out a cruiser easier...amongst the traffic, concrete barriers etc. A lot more compliance through visibility in the 4 lane area, traffic is overall less congested, slower as people don't have the urge to cut others off to gain that 1 foot farther down the road attitude, and the ones that don't slow accordingly are much easier to see.

I simply did not have anyone over 130 all day today (almost 12hrs patrol).

Reflections wrote:407 is 2 lanes for a portion......

I've never seen a quarter of traffic the Cambridge-Mississauga stretch of 401 gets on 407...

I've still cruised, cruise control on, past officers at 130 on the 403 multiple times and they don't even bat an eyelash, while they are doing speed enforcement..... Just for giggles bear how many of those high milers that you do get are from the GTA or out of area?

Methinks that the OPP in the GTA are targeting people going over 130 because if they stop someone for going 128 or whatever they'll miss the guy going 140-150. Just way more people driving faster in the Toronto area, percentage-wise than their counterparts in rural Ontario.

There may be more lanes but they're a lot more crowded, and you can't see as far ahead as on the 401 through Carnage Alley, for example.

Reflections wrote:. Just for giggles bear how many of those high milers that you do get are from the GTA or out of area?

I can guess at it relative to all vehicles stopped

5% within 50km radius

20% within 100km radius

other 75% outside that....

further guesses...

40-50% less than 10yrs driving experience

75% already have a conviction on their history

Hey i had another question it may be a bit off topic.

It seems all the highway safety divisions have 3 vehicles. Marked crown vics, unmarked crown vics, and marked tahoes. I was wondering why they use tahoes for highway patrol?

I usually see the vics are doing radar enforcement and i have only really seen the tahoe's at scenes of accidents. In the event a driver is going very fast and unwilling to stop and an officer would have to chase him down wouldnt it make more sense and be safer to chase the speeder in a car or the crown vic as opposed to the tahoe? The tahoe would be slower, harder to move, and has a higher chance of rolling and in the event would be more dangerous if it crashed into another driver.

or what common sense would tell me is the tahoes they bring to scenes of accidents incase they need to bring back someone who is hurt or injured? And the tahoe they could store more first aid type stuff?

Anyways i was wondering why the OPP highway detachments use tahoes. On a second note they look really good and tough. Haha if a Tahoe was in an emergency i sure as hell wouldn't want to mess with that thing. Maybe hwybear uses the tahoe with his HID lights on to get to tim hortons to do a massive Tim's Run for his fellow officers.