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How is it even possible/practical to obey traffic laws? (lemmies.world)

submitted 1 year ago by Ocelot@lemmies.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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I'm talking specifically about obeying the speed limit, doing a full stop at stop signs, etc. After receiving a speeding ticket for doing 53 in a 50, As an experiment I went a full day obeying all traffic laws 100% and it caused so much road rage. For example, there is a 2 lane road near me with a speed limit of 50 (where I got the ticket), traffic usually moves at about 60/65. There was a huge line of cars behind me and nowhere to pull over. As soon as an opening came up on the shoulder I was about to pull over and one of the cars behind me blew past me on the on the right blaring their horn. Then another truck passed me at the next opportunity and brake checked me. Both of these cars proceeded to run a red light about 1/4 mile ahead of me endangering others. By far the worst part of driving on this 2 lane road was the 25 mph work zone which is completely ignored by everyone else. It effectively resulted in me doing 25 mph in a "60" which is very dangerous.

Having needed to spend the entire day pulling over at every opportunity to let people pass I inevitably picked up a drill bit and got a flat tire.

Even matters as simple as stopping completely at a stop sign for 1 second cause immediate anger and dangerous behavior from other drivers.

What on earth are we expected to do? All I want is to avoid speeding tickets and drive safely.

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[–] Ocelot@lemmies.world 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

The point is even doing 1mph over the speed limit is breaking the law, and there's no excuse for it. If you were doing 51 in a 50 and all of the other traffic was doing 65 mph it makes absolutely no legal difference and there is no argument to what everyone else was doing, because the fact is that you are actually exceeding the speed limit in that scenario. Your driving is dangerous because you were driving too slow, but your ticket would be because you were driving too fast. Its the whole point of my original post, what are you supposed to do exactly?

[–] ZeroEcks@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I'm confused why America has such strict rules on it. I'm pretty sure Australia has 5-10% leniency for inaccuracies in measurement.

[–] dan1101@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

You generally won't get a ticket for a few over the speed limit. You can do it hundreds of times without getting a ticket, but an officer can at their discretion pull you over for 1MPH over if they want to. I've heard of people successfully arguing in court that infractions like 53 in a 50 are within the margin of error, and others put into question the calibration of the speed detection equipment.

[–] AnarchoYeasty@beehaw.org 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

They do if you're white. This kind of enforcement usually is reserved for the most heinous of criminals. Those who committed the dangerous crimes of dwb. Driving while black. /S

[–] dan1101@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

But why would police look at a line of 100 cars going 65MPH and pull you out of the middle for going 51? Unless it's for impeding traffic, which is a thing.

It's not technically right, but you go with the flow of traffic and try not to stand out. Everyone technically breaks traffic laws, including the police. Unless you have exceptionally bad luck or you are traveling past the same speed trap or really strict cop, you likely will not receive any more tickets for 3MPH over. Stop signs though, I always come to a 100% complete stop, if the people behind me don't like it too bad.

[–] DeadDjembe@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago

There are excuses that are perfectly reasonable to go over by 1 mph. Speedometers are not perfect, and neither are radar detectors. All my cop friends have told me they are trained to give 10% of the speed to normal variation, so at 50mph you would be within the limit to go 55. This has been my personal experience while driving too.