“Interesting Article About Court Appearances. Opinions?”

Here's a link to the Saskatchewan study if you want it:

Interesting study...but they have a one liner in their summary:

"Further studies need to be conducted to analyze the overall effects of speed limit changes on accidents"

Has that further study happened yet? Maybe you can dig that out from where you got the above. Said it would take about 3yrs, study was in 2004.

IIHS! Okay, I'll have to erase that study from my memory banks.

Overall, raising the posted speed limit has had a lesser effect on driver speeds than anticipated.

I like the sound of that. Has Ontario done any similar studies or pilot projects?

Squishy wrote:IIHS! Okay, I'll have to erase that study from my memory banks.

Overall, raising the posted speed limit has had a lesser effect on driver speeds than anticipated.

I like the sound of that. Has Ontario done any similar studies or pilot projects?

Sounds good.....until they throw in that collision stats were not considered

If the average vehicle speed increases by very little, then shouldn't the collision stats be affected by an equally small amount?

It sounds as if going to a 110 km/h had little effect on driving speeds; it just brought more drivers into compliance with the law.

hwybear wrote:Sounds good.....until they throw in that collision stats were not considered

We were talking average speeds only..........Brainwashed ticket tosser

_____________________________________/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

_____________________________________I bet that gets erased.....!

Radar Identified wrote:In West Virginia, they raised the limit to 70 MPH and their 85th percentile speed is now 70.2 MPH, whereas before it was just under 68 MPH with a 55 MPH limit. Shocked

Those damn engineering numbers keep getting in the way of some good ole' fashioned ticket tossing......YooooHooooo, Fantino, McGuinty....yep you 2 over here now, I wanna talk to you.

hwybear wrote:Has that further study happened yet? Maybe you can dig that out from where you got the above.

Not to my knowledge, BUT here's a report showing the collision trends in Saskatchewan, including the period before and after they raised the limits to 110.

The key one to look at is figure 1.3 on page 4. Around 2000, before they raised the limits, it seems as though there was a steep upward trend in fatal collisions on Saskatchewan's provincial and rural roads. The limit was raised in 2003. It was trending upwards both before and after the limit was raised. The "rural roads" did not have any speed limit change, so if the speed limit change had an effect, it should've showed the provincial highways with either a spike or a drop versus "rural roads." So I would say that, looking at the trend graph, the speed limit change on the provincial highways did not have any marked effect on fatalities, because there was no change in the year-over-year trend. That's just my opinion though... Overall collisions in Saskatchewan appear to be rising, partly due to the fact that there is an influx of population to the province, and also Saskatchewan has the highest rate of drunk driving in Canada.

Squishy wrote:I like the sound of that. Has Ontario done any similar studies or pilot projects?

None that I'm aware of. I wish they would, though. Many US states that raised their Interstate speed limits saw a reduction in statewide fatalities, a few stayed the same, some saw an increase (North and South Dakota).

Radar Identified wrote: Overall collisions in Saskatchewan appear to be rising, partly due to the fact that there is an influx of population to the province,

Influx from GTA drivers moving there

Why are some so worried about raising the limit.

Lots of other countries drive 120-130 on old shitty roads.

Infact the MTO can go put the limit to 180 if they want to.

I wont drive that fast though.

Ill keep it under 140.

So even if they raise the limit to 120 and the flow of traffic in the left lane is 120-130.

Well same again ill just pull over to the right if it doesn't work.

They pay for their gas just like we do.

I wonder if they put the limit to 140 or removed it how fast people would actually drive.

Anyways our low speed limit is making lane discipline hell.

If you crash at 110 or 130 your not anymore or less dead.

The speed isnt the big issue its the large difference's in the speed and the lane discipline.

hwybear wrote:

Radar Identified wrote: Overall collisions in Saskatchewan appear to be rising, partly due to the fact that there is an influx of population to the province,

Influx from GTA drivers moving there

GTA drivers don't move to Saskatchewan. They just visit for many years!

You can take the driver out of the GTA, but you can't take the GTA out of the driver.

tdrive2 wrote:Anyways our low speed limit is making lane discipline hell.

Lane discipline has little to do with our speed limit - it's the lack of laws and lack of enforcement, along with a general selfish driving attitude from major urban areas like Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, etc., that is spreading like a cancer. When I first learned to drive (admittedly earlier than 16 ), changing lanes without signalling was an insult meant to tell the driver behind you that they are doing something wrong. Now it's just lazyness. Back then, when you saw a driver after sundown with no taillights on, you flash your highbeams at them and they understood what that meant! Now they slam on the brakes and give you a "How dare you!" look as you pass them. I once followed a Matrix across Toronto (from Greenwood all the way to Islington on Bloor-Danforth) at 4 am, flashing my lights at him at every red light. At least he gave me a wave of apology after it took him driving across an entire city to realise that he had no lights on (and no, he wasn't flipping me off ). Bookm is absolutely right - we don't need more laws, we need to change people's attitudes and their education. If people don't want the government to nanny the heck out of us, stop being douchebags.

tdrive2 wrote:If you crash at 110 or 130 your not anymore or less dead.

The speed isnt the big issue its the large difference's in the speed and the lane discipline.

The key word is 'if'. As you drive faster, the distance you travel while you react increases, and the rate of information you need to process increases. You make it sound as if there are no disadvantages to an increased speed limit; however, there are both benefits and disadvantages, and that is why a study specific to Ontario is needed.

It's not about a lack of enforcement. It's more about the wrong focus on enforcement. Speeding is easy to prove, "speed kills" brainwashing campaigns have been successful and the revenue generation has been solid. Even big municipalities can make some cash after all the expenses and most of it is from speeding tickets. That's why unsafe drivers these days justify everything with "i'm not a speeding street-racer."

A little bit o/t but have you guys noticed that fewer people turn on their headlights now that just about every car has drl's?

FiReSTaRT wrote:

A little bit o/t but have you guys noticed that fewer people turn on their headlights now that just about every car has drl's?

You would be shocked, maybe not, how many people I stop for not having their headlights on, but parking lights and DRL at the same time. Begin to wonder how these people get their licence when they do not know how to turn on their lights.

Classic example: stop vehicle with daytime running lights. (DRL)

DR - see they are on, point to road in front of car

ME - using flashlight, see my little flashlight on the road which is brighter than your headlights

DR - my lights are not that good

ME - no your lights are not on

DR - no, see, I turn the switch and my brights come on

**walk around to driver side**

ME - ok, turn your lights on

DR - ok, they are on

ME - this symbol here, it is "parking lights"

DR - well if I turn it to here (light symbol), these are my highbeam, see the blue light

ME - yes, now just put your low beams on (they turn the switch back to parking.... ), OK, turn the switch back to the lights

DR - but that's my highbeams

ME - ok watch this (as I move the signal indicator and the highbeams turn off and now with low beams)

DR - how did you do that

I don't find that shocking.. All sorts of "interesting" people are on the roads.. Here are a few examples from my life experience..

1) Old lady, just short of being legally blind, afraid of her own shadow. When she detects a car heading in her direction, she pulls over to the right, waits for the car to pass, merges back onto the road and keeps going at half the speed limit.

2) A "lady" doesn't look while shooting across 2 lanes and side-swipes me badly. Her response was: "How can it be my fault? I signalled!"

3) Ask any random 10 people about what they should do when it starts raining or gets foggy and 7 of them won't mention anything about lighting.

Of course, all of these people will tell you that speed kills.