Those were the speeds I saw on the autobahn. Very few people were driving over 80mph.
Raising Speed Limits Cost Lives
- Thread starter barometriclow
- Start date
The only reason cars are the "economic" choice is because we subsidize the hell out of fuel and car-centric infrastructure to lighten the load on consumers. Not to mention less noticeable things like parking being subsidized by businesses and taxes. And the cost of police, fire, paramedics who respond to millions of accidents every year. Not to mention the ways that cars owners cover the cost of the vehicle itself + maintenance + insurance...
Doesn't sound economic to me.
Also, it's possible to shift priorities a bit if we're talking about a "balanced budget" and there's only a certain wedge of the budget pie available for these subsidies.
One thing that people never talk about are the speeds Iowa has in towns. We were in Palm Springs a couple years back and they had 50mph speed limits where ours would have been 35. I saw this all over California and Arizona. I'm not talking about 25mph zone in residential areas.
A perfect example: This stretch of Meredith in Urbandale is 35 mph, which is idiotic. There is literally nothing there to hit. While a couple miles over in Waukee on 6 or whatever it's called, it's 50mph even though there are tons of buildings/traffic. I actually emailed the person at Urbandale and his repsonse "It's because of future developement". You don't set speed based on the future. Also, it's a great place for the Urbandale police to hang out.
A perfect example: This stretch of Meredith in Urbandale is 35 mph, which is idiotic. There is literally nothing there to hit. While a couple miles over in Waukee on 6 or whatever it's called, it's 50mph even though there are tons of buildings/traffic. I actually emailed the person at Urbandale and his repsonse "It's because of future developement". You don't set speed based on the future. Also, it's a great place for the Urbandale police to hang out.
Yep. Same for douglas headed west from 35/80. Most traffic is going 50 there on a normal day, would be easy pickings for police, but there's no reason it can't be what people are already traveling.
Iowa is one of the most ticketed states in the country, and it's not because we have worse drivers. We have low speed limits and a lot of bored cops.
Cyclonepride
Thought Police
That's because that is what the people want (unless you want to force behavior).
When I hear people talk about how bad traffic is in Iowa I always laugh and think of the 16 lane section of I-95 in Ft Lauderdale.
You sure about that? Lotta people in this thread complaining about spending too much time in cars.
Cyclonepride
Thought Police
It's a stretch to go from "I hate traffic" to "I want to ride public transport".
yeah there are quite a few between here and the electric vehicle thread who would be better off on the bus.
