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I'm not sure if y'all have heard, but the police services on the lower part of Vancouver Island are cracking down on speeding and dangerous driving on the Malahat....between Mill Bay and Victoria. This road is NOT a dangerous road, yet there are many "stupid" accidents and sadly...deaths.
So, they've started extra enforcement on the "Hat" this summer and there are posted signs every 3 or 4 kilometers stating such a fact. Even the large LED signs over the beginning of the Hat, from both the south and north end, state this. I have, in the past week, driven twice to Victoria and you know what? The "speed traps" are FULL of cars pulled over for speeding!!! How "daft" can people be? You are being warned about the extra enforcement....yet they still speed. The Malahat is a drive that takes about 15 minutes to drive if you do the speed limit. Does speeding actually save you that much time? Is the violation ticket you get worth the time you save? I think many of the speeders just don't like to be behind someone.......and yes...some just like to go fast.
The "hat" is 20 kilometers long
If you do the speed limit of 80kmh, it will take you 15 minutes.
If you do 100kmh, it will take you 13 minutes.
If you do 120kmh, it will take you 10 minutes.
Is it worth doing 40 k OVER the speed limit to save 5 minutes? What is 5 minutes if you're dead....what is 5 minutes if you kill someone else? What is 5 minutes if you're in a wheel chair? Just leave 5 minutes earlier!!!!
An old trucker once told me..."If your truck is mechanically sound, your load is legal...and you do the speed limit...you NEVER have to look out for the police". How many of us have to drive and look out for the police? If you do have too......you are driving illegally!
As someone who worked the area for 3 years and went to most of the crashes there, I agree. Fault of the idiot drivers, very little wrong with the road if driven in a responsible way. When you crash into a rock wall at 200 kmh, while a learner, while racing with your "supervisor", or roll a tanker truck because you are drunk, you can't blame the road. If it is foggy, rainy, snowy, icy, slippery or traffic is extra heavy, then slow down, driver sober, respect other drivers and drive responsibly. The "Hat ain't the problem, the "Mad 'Hatters" are.
Thanks for the heads up. I think I'll just stay off the Malahat if it is such a death trap that requires such aggressive enforcement.
It's easy pickings. The speed limit on most sections of the Malahat are too low. Most attentive drivers who are driving according to conditions will do 100km/hr in some of those 80 zones. I actually find it more mentally taxing to be concentrating primarily on my speed than to concentrate on what is going on around me.
I have yet to see a tailgater get nicked at a speed trap. I was almost rear-ended today as I slowed down in the 90-80-60 transition zone heading to the airport this morning.
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Consider reading the research before commenting on photo enforcement: http://thenewspaper.com/
I have a friend who had several thousand dollars worth of tools stolen from a work van. With the tools was a cell phone. The phone was tracked to a house which was occupied by a known thief.
Since the vehicle was parked in one municipality and the thief lived in another, the police didn't want to deal with the case.
It is so nice to know that the road safety squad can ignore these boundaries and officers from multiple jurisdictions can work in perfect harmony when it is financially benificial to the government, ICBC, safety squad funding, etc.. I'm so happy the IRSU has my best interests at heart.
You wonder why people come on here and use the language they do to describe the police.
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Consider reading the research before commenting on photo enforcement: http://thenewspaper.com/
Thanks for the heads up. I think I'll just stay off the Malahat if it is such a death trap that requires such aggressive enforcement.
It's easy pickings. The speed limit on most sections of the Malahat are too low. Most attentive drivers who are driving according to conditions will do 100km/hr in some of those 80 zones. I actually find it more mentally taxing to be concentrating primarily on my speed than to concentrate on what is going on around me.
I have yet to see a tailgater get nicked at a speed trap. I was almost rear-ended today as I slowed down in the 90-80-60 transition zone heading to the airport this morning.
I'll tell you why the speed limits are what they are. MOST of the Malahat involves corners and merging lanes. During the mornings and the afternoon there is a lot of traffic going between Vic and Shawnigan/Duncan area, after all, it is the only way to go up island from Vic. Consequently, there can be "back ups" or almost "stand stills" that you can't see until coming around the corner. Slowing down in a corner is MUCH easier to do at 80kmh than at 100kmh. This is one good reason for the speed limit. It's only 18.8 kilometers of highway that you have to do 80....no big deal.
I'll tell you why the speed limits are what they are. MOST of the Malahat involves corners and merging lanes. During the mornings and the afternoon there is a lot of traffic going between Vic and Shawnigan/Duncan area, after all, it is the only way to go up island from Vic. Consequently, there can be "back ups" or almost "stand stills" that you can't see until coming around the corner. Slowing down in a corner is MUCH easier to do at 80kmh than at 100kmh. This is one good reason for the speed limit. It's only 18.8 kilometers of highway that you have to do 80....no big deal.
So you slow down as you approach the curves. When I see the speed traps they're usually at the long straight stretches where unless you're tailgating you're not going to slam into the back of another car.
I think I'll drive up and down the Malahat a few times this weekend doing 10km/hr under the limit with my hazards on.
__________________
Consider reading the research before commenting on photo enforcement: http://thenewspaper.com/
@1:14.. I just love how cocky that cop is. Mr. Cool, spinning the laser gun around to show the driver the reading, "Yeh, I got you, you horrible driver. Care to explain why you were trying to kill everyone else on the road this morning?".
All highly accurate measurements taken using a tripod mounted gun I see..
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Consider reading the research before commenting on photo enforcement: http://thenewspaper.com/
I think someone needs to do a ride along with BOTH the police and the ambulance service. We all know who would benefit from this and whom I am talking about. Physically walk up to a wrecked car as a result of speeding and check if the driver is alive or not, or remove a body from that car.....no matter how callous you are...it's a VERY difficult thing to do. You would be handling a person that was alive a few minutes ago, but is now dead. Worse yet....deal with a fatality that is the result of SOMEONE ELSE'S need for speed. Death is pretty final! Or pick up pieces off the road from a person that was thrown from their vehicle because of not wearing a seat belt AND speeding. You will soon understand why a person will stand there and think..."was speeding worth it"?
Perhaps you think you're invincible......but you're not and neither am I, the driver that shares the road with you. Accidents can have a great way of "equalizing" everyone.
5 minutes can add up. If i go 80km/h on a 60km trip itll take 45 min compared to 120km/h = 30mins.
Drive 4 times like his and save an hour !!!
Very true, but if, on the 3 time you drive at 120km/h...and you have an accident..kill yourself.....you don't get that last 15 minutes do you? Not sure about you...but I wouldn't mind that 15 minutes...even if it was just driving!
I think someone needs to do a ride along with BOTH the police and the ambulance service. We all know who would benefit from this and whom I am talking about. Physically walk up to a wrecked car as a result of speeding and check if the driver is alive or not, or remove a body from that car.....no matter how callous you are...it's a VERY difficult thing to do. You would be handling a person that was alive a few minutes ago, but is now dead. Worse yet....deal with a fatality that is the result of SOMEONE ELSE'S need for speed. Death is pretty final! Or pick up pieces off the road from a person that was thrown from their vehicle because of not wearing a seat belt AND speeding. You will soon understand why a person will stand there and think..."was speeding worth it"?
Perhaps you think you're invincible......but you're not and neither am I, the driver that shares the road with you. Accidents can have a great way of "equalizing" everyone.
Before I do that, why don't you show me some some collisions caused solely by someone going 10-20km/hr over the limit on a straight piece of freeway - no other factors, not tailgating, not blowing a red light.
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Consider reading the research before commenting on photo enforcement: http://thenewspaper.com/
Before I do that, why don't you show me some some collisions caused solely by someone going 10-20km/hr over the limit on a straight piece of freeway - no other factors, not tailgating, not blowing a red light.
YOUR ability to drive the "hat" at 20k over may be just fine. I can drive it at that speed also. Hell, the "hat" could handle a speed of 120 through it's entire length, IF you were a good driver and have a capable vehicle. But what about those , and there are many, that don't feel comfortable at that speed, or are not a "good" driver capable of those speeds....what if their vehicle, although safe, won't handle it? I'm sure they would put the speed limit up to 100km/h if ALL the drivers are like you....confident in their speed and have a vehicle that can handle it. But that isn't the case. We have motorhomes, older people driving, big rigs, timid drivers, work vehicles, DEER that cross.....add all those factors in and the 80km/h makes sense.
As far as showing you collisions that occur because of just going over 20k the speed limit...sorry I can't....I don't have the records or don't work the highway in an "official" capacity.
You know.....if the speed limit was 100km/h, there will still be people that will complain that it is too slow and will still do 20km/h over. Ask the detachments how many violators they catch doing 40km/h over? There has to be a speed limit, and many factors have to be taken into account, not just YOUR supposed driving skills and your hotrod!
But, all "hassling" aside, do a ride a long with an officer....see how their job looks from their end. Do a ride along with an ambulance crew and "get" involved with a situation that will make you shake your head. Do you know which driver on the road will make the mistake or cause an accident? Nope, nobody can tell the future. THIS is why police agencies do what they are doing. The violator they catch now MAY have been the driver that caused a terrible accident 5 minutes later, and that is why a majority of the officers do what they do.....oh...and it's their job!
Another question....would you rather hit something at 80km/h or 100km/h? What if ANOTHER driver makes a mistake and crosses over to your side of the road? You stop quicker when doing 80km/h than 100km/h AND it might not hurt as bad!
Don't make me dig up the BC speed limit study that showed a reduction in collisions at test sites where they raised the posted limit. And where they showed that a more reasonable speed limit resulted in a higher level of voluntary compliance with the limits.
If you want to set the Malahat speed limits to accommodate the "lowest common denominator" set it at 50, that's the speed the tanker trucks go.
If you want to talk about other slower drivers.. fine. I slow down when traffic slows down. I don't weave in and out of slower cars (nobody would feel the need to do that if the "keep right" law was enforced). But when there aren't other cars around for me to crash into, there's no sense in confining me to 80km/hr when that road section is capable of supporting 120km/hr.
If it truly is about other drivers getting in the way of a "speeding" car then why are you just as, if not more likely to get a ticket when speeding alone? Do the police honestly feel that just because I am speeding alone it means that I will drive aggressively when more cars are present? If so, that's just insulting.
The bottom line here is if you drive according to traffic and weather conditions and with regard for the road design (straight, curvy, sight lines, etc..) you don't need a speed limit to tell you what to do.
There's nothing wrong with 120km/hr on some of those straight sections in light traffic. Just drive according to the conditions when you approach the curvy bits - i.e: slow down to a reasonable speed for the road design.
__________________
Consider reading the research before commenting on photo enforcement: http://thenewspaper.com/
Let's say the driver was going the speed limit and the kid ran out 15 feet closer to the car. He'd still have been hit.
The problem with propaganda like that video is it assumes that the kid/dog/whatever will always be running out from the same location. Or it assumes that I'm too stupid to think that the kid/dog/whatever could run out in front of me at any location.
If I'm doing 50 in a 50 zone and a kid falls backwards off a curb at a bus stop 10 feet in front of my car, he's probably going to end up a hood ornament.
__________________
Consider reading the research before commenting on photo enforcement: http://thenewspaper.com/
Don't make me dig up the BC speed limit study that showed a reduction in collisions at test sites where they raised the posted limit. And where they showed that a more reasonable speed limit resulted in a higher level of voluntary compliance with the limits.
If you want to set the Malahat speed limits to accommodate the "lowest common denominator" set it at 50, that's the speed the tanker trucks go.
If you want to talk about other slower drivers.. fine. I slow down when traffic slows down. I don't weave in and out of slower cars (nobody would feel the need to do that if the "keep right" law was enforced). But when there aren't other cars around for me to crash into, there's no sense in confining me to 80km/hr when that road section is capable of supporting 120km/hr.
If it truly is about other drivers getting in the way of a "speeding" car then why are you just as, if not more likely to get a ticket when speeding alone? Do the police honestly feel that just because I am speeding alone it means that I will drive aggressively when more cars are present? If so, that's just insulting.
The bottom line here is if you drive according to traffic and weather conditions and with regard for the road design (straight, curvy, sight lines, etc..) you don't need a speed limit to tell you what to do.
There's nothing wrong with 120km/hr on some of those straight sections in light traffic. Just drive according to the conditions when you approach the curvy bits - i.e: slow down to a reasonable speed for the road design.
"Obliviousness and self-delusion, thy names are sebberry."...I am starting to agree with that now!
Hey, can you do some of us a favor? Can you post when you plan on driving and where? I'll make sure I'm not in the same area. It's your type of attitude that could get me killed....and I'm not interested in that. Oh, maybe you better not......might give the police a hint as to where to "make some money"!
You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today!
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Oh, maybe you better not......might give the police a hint as to where to "make some money"!
