1. people want road safety
2. most people want to drive safely
3. setting speed limits that work is an impossibility
4. collecting revenue from speeders is an accepted method of filling the city coffers.
5. most speed limits are set artificially low. The accepted practice is to set the speed limit at the 85th percentile of the average speed traveled on that roadway. (Why not set it at 100% ??? This gives the law enforcement a guaranteed 15% level of speeders to “trap” for $$$)

The goal of a real safety system would be to allow the drivers to go at the maximum safe speed to get to thier destination. This would reduce the number of cars on the road at any given time, thus reducing wasted gas from congestion.

The problem is that with drivers driving an average speed of 70 – 80 MPH on I75 and with a speed limit of 55 on most of the road through the Atlanta area, you have a system designed to frustrate most of the drivers, cause improper lane changes and maximize speeding ticket revenues. Causing accidents is a self fufulling prophecy with the current method of setting speed limits.

Not satisfied with being able to just “shoot fish in a barrel”, something Sonny loves to do, he has now simply raised the amount of the revenues collected by raping the driving public with his superspeeder law.

If Sonny truely cared about the safety of the drivers, he would perform a real study on the true causes of accidents. I doubt simply speeding would be the primary reason for most accidents. I am guessing improperly changing lanes, inexperienced drivers, poorly marked signage (something Georgia truely sucks at) would rank high on the list. I would guess that speed makes an accident worse, but if the accident never happens, than that is the best outcome possible. (Maybe having driving schools that actually teach people how to drive on a highway!!)

But no, getting revenues seems to be the only thing our legislature cares about. So we end up with people driving at 75 and people driving at 55 on the same road. With this differential, there is bound to be accidents…. and lots of collected revenue.

Unless of course Sonny made the pain threshhold high enough so that nobody breaks the superspeeder laws and he collects no revenue….

Nahhhh, never happen, people dumb enough to vote for this legislature are dumb enough to contribute to the coffers…They get what they deserve…

I don’t think I am above the law. In fact I am a law abiding citizen. The only two tickets I ever received were right out of high school when I was young and immature. I don’t condone reckless driving. However I consider reckless driving anything above 90MPH on the interstate and the 75 mph on state roads and streets. Which by my calculations would be 20 mph over the average speed limit of those types of roads.

In your scenario you state that once I pass you in the right lane you would call the state patrol on me for breaking the law. Again you miss the point that it is YOU who is breaking the law there by “riding” in the left lane which is against the law in the State of GA. Your attitude of policing drivers yourself is what causes accidents, not my attitude of move over if you are not going faster than the person behind you. Speed in and by itself does not kill. Overdriving, not paying attention, and improper handling of the car causes accidents and kill. I have seen people get killed in auto accidents at 70 MPH and at 35 MPH. 80 mph is only acceptable on the interstate when the posted speed limit is 70 mph. Anywhere else and you are right, it is not acceptable. And do you actually think someone is going to pull a car over doing 80 in a 70 zone? Nope, done that plenty of times and passed both local cops and state troopers and neither pulled me or the cars who were doing faster than me over. They just kept right on going. So yes, I, you and others too, can drive 80 MPH on the interstates where it is posted 70. Yes the rule was made so that speed traps would go away. School and Constructions zone are exempt, but really those two are a big DUH as you expect that for safety reasons.

TBone, I know the state troopers aren’t going to a call because they end up pulling into a McDonalds, Burger King, or right back into their stations. Come on man, everyone knows that the state patrol has never followed the speed limit laws and no one really holds them accountable, yet those who right their checks expect everyone else to adhere to the speed limit laws. All I ask is practice what you preach. Especially if you are going to stiff those who super speed with an extra $200 fine. And yes my friend going slower in the left lane, which happens to be illegal in this state, is dangerous and does cause accidents. When you do that, you impede the natural flow of traffic. As a result traffic backs up and someone down the road is not paying too close attention and WHAM right into your bumper. I would say it is more dangerous than someone driving 80 in a 70 mph zone. If anyone has their head so far up a certain place it is you.

Geneva, Its funny how you say move back where you came from. Well I am already here. My home is GA and no I don’t think this state is stupid….I think it’s brain dead political leaders are stupid.

This law is nothing more than a revenue generator. If it really were about safety, then here is what I would recommend: First take out the ridiculous fines and implement a 2 strikes policy for so called Super Speeders. If someone is 21 MPH over the posted limit on a state or local road or highway or if a driver is 90 MPH or above on the interstate then after 2 written citations yank their license for a whole year. Add years to the suspension each additional time they commit this offense. That will show that the state is committed to safety and not revenue generation. Right now, each time you are given a ticket you have points added to your license. How about setting a standard point that when you reach this, your license is suspended indefinitely. And again, if Trauma care is so important, then help the trauma facilities go after the patients who don’t pay up.