Because politicians love to say "speed kills" and generate more revenue off speeding tickets.

Autobahn is a good example where people can drive at like 250-300+km/h range and still have less accidents than BC.
Their argument is 140km/h is extremely dangerous regardless of what highway you're on, what vehicles you drive, what kind of driver you are, etc.
I understand that Autobahn has racing asphalt for extra safety, but still, it's just a good example of "speed kills" argument. Because it's definitely not the case in Germany.

The most dangerous thing you can do on the road is DUI, followed by texting.

Only one person brought up the autobahn.

As far as increases, most people shit themselves when they hear of one because they (incorrectly) assume that everyone going over the limit is picking their speed based on the limit + x, not based on the conditions, so they freak out at anyone proposing the increase. Politically this would probably be a poor move so I doubt anyone has the interest or balls to raise the limits.

There's a road here in Kelowna that was 60km/h for years, and everyone drove 70-75. They bumped up the limit to 70 without telling anyone, and everyone still drives 70-75. To me that proves fairly well that people are decently capable of just driving at a reasonable speed on their own (at least in a straight ass line).

Do you have any stats to back up this autobahn vs BC claim? And in what way is the landscape of Germanys autobahn comparable to BC?

People seem to be worked up over the fact that they were CAUGHT at 140 km/h and not the fact that they were weaving and zig zagging through traffic.

I'm pretty sure there are other vehicles that have been impounded for excessive speed, but the media picks and chooses which ones to report, skewing peoples perceptions that only exotics are impounded.

yes Autobahn does use much better asphalt, if I remember correctly, they use the racing asphalt,the density or thickness was twice as much

watch whole video...or 5:15 for safety stats

also this
Autobahn - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I couldn't find the stats for some reason, but last time I checked, thousands of excessive speeding tickets are issued in BC every year.

Guess how many of them are Ferraris and Lambos. Obviously the media is trying to pick on exotic cars to make this whole news interesting. That's their job.
At least in this case.

Having said that, there are news like this too...as you can see, average people with average cars still go 40km/h over the 80km/h speed limit.

Click here for more info: Canada?s low speed limits are contributing to accidents: B.C. activist | National Post

Brian Hutchinson: Canada’s low speed limits are contributing to accidents, B.C. activist argues

http://wpmedia.fullcomment.nationalp...otorcycle1.jpg

although I kind of think that 140km/h might deserve a regular speeding ticket, the article above says the 130-140km/h is a good speed limit.

just like the article says, because people will feel 140km/h is fast enough, they won't try to go much faster.

There was a video posted not too long ago, how BMW was cruising at 160km/h at night. There was a police helicopter and multiple police cars involved in the pursuit.
Although 160km/h seems fast, it is possible that the driver may not have realized that he was going that fast.

For example if you drive those V12 Mercedes with 550+hp, they're super smooth and quiet, and it will give you very little sense of speed.
You can go 140km/h or whatever only by very gently putting your foot on the gas pedal. You won't have to floor it or anything.

They should just put speed camera's and cops on every single road and see the traffic reacts. Even better just put black boxes in cars that automatically fine the driver if he goes 1 km over the speed limit. Have the box play a cha ching sound every time it fines you.

^
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XDGrW4WjG-...wissTicket.jpg

speeding is speeding, but driver have right to dispute

When I first started driving many years ago, I once got ticketed for going 2km/hr over the speed limit, as I was reaching the bottom of a long hill.

I was young and didn't know the appeals system, so I paid it. Still annoys me to this day, though.

After living in two completely different areas (one being the GVRD with the majority of roads being city based, and the other being the Interior, where the most common route of travelling is one of the many highways), the conclusion I've seen pretty much echos your comments. Sure, there are always idiots that drive as fast as possible regardless of existing traffic, weather conditions, and other factors, but the huge majority tends to do one speed -- or at least +/-10km/hr of said speed. Occasionally that might be the speed limit, especially on routes like the Canyon or Hwy 97 around Pritchard where it's narrow and windy, but other times it's above the limit. When I was driving the Pathfinder, I'd find myself going the limit all the time on curvy roads, mainly because that vehicle wasn't capable of going any faster due to the OE high centre of gravity and the larger tires I had installed. However, in one of my cars, I feel completely comfortable going much faster on the same route. It doesn't mean I'm going to blast down the Coquihalla at 170km/hr simply because I can; rather, I'm possibly going to go 130km/hr instead simply because it's a long ass stretch with perfect visibility to keep an eye out for wildlife and fellow vehicles sharing the road. Yeah, it's speeding and I'll accept the ticket if I get one, but that's the speed I may feel comfortable driving at.

That said, there are still some shitboxes on the road that are definitely not capable of exceeding the speed limit (watching an old 70's Ford Custom truck attempting to crest the Snow Shed is painful). Hell, even my Pathfinder would drop about 20km/hr by the time I reached the top. :lol

OK, we know speed limit is way too low.

Who doesn't speed? With rare exception of random granny driving 30-40km/h on 50 zone, 100% of population speed every single day.
If you're un-lucky enough, in theory every driver in BC could loose their license in less than a week.

I'm not saying 80km/h highway should be raised to 250km/h.
But if current speed limit is too low not only for fast drivers, but for everyone, obviously it is too low.
As someone mentioned, people will still drive at the same speed even if speed limit gets raised.
What I'm saying is that speed limit should be raised to average flow of traffic.

This is why BC Premier Gordon Campbell dropped speeding camera several years ago.
Because it was catching pretty much every driver on the road.

I don't care if you guys think that Ferrari and Maserati were zig-zagging in between the traffic.
If I do that at 50km/h at 50 zone, during very heavy traffic where everyone is going significantly slower, police officers can still write me a ticket for "speed relative to conditions" or "driving without due care"
So yeah, people who drive dangerously will still be ticketed depending on officer's discretion.

I do feel bad for some cars that get caught on the slope before the snow shed (RCMP from Hope love to camp there at night).. for cars without much torque eg Hondas you do need to build up speed there in order to survive the ascent!

When I owned my sport bike I drove like a Grandma in my car. Since i've sold it, I swear i'm a teenager again. Haha. Idiot.

Speed on it's own does not kill. And I don't advocate going retarded speeds on public roadways.

Dry sunny day, great conditions on the highway, you're the only one on the highway, doing 200km/h across the port mann bridge. Will you crash? Maybe. But it won't be because of your speed.

Weather conditions, driver experience, inattentiveness, distractions and differential speeds are what determine if your speed will be fatal. I trust an experienced driver doing 200km/h on the sea to sky in a high-performance vehicle over an indecisive, inattentive driver going 100km/h in a civic on the sea to sky any day of the week. Unless you're drunk, the faster you go, the more focused you are on the road.

Speed limits are necessary. The amount of terrible drivers on the road in BC is staggering and these seemingly low speed limits assist us in staying alive when an inevitable collision occurs whenever someone decides to change lanes without shoulder checking or runs a stop sign.

Honestly 1-3 sound fantastic to me, especially number two, i'm so sick of seeing people with tires that are so bald they look like slicks, and brakes that are metal on metal...

Number one would solve a shit ton of problems, most notably the people who squeek past a driving test and then endanger everyone around them for the rest of their driving lives.

Number three; more infrastructure is always good...

Infrastructure would refer to the roads and actual buildings.

I think what he meant we need more of is emergency services. By no means is that ever a bad thing, but you have to weigh the cost vs. benefits of that. Tax dollars could possibly be spent on better things.

Especially if 1 and 2 make as large of an impact as I think they do, I think the stress on our current emergency services system would be greatly relieved.

You do need to allow for surprises in the road ahead though, what you can't see can hurt you when you catch up to it at 200km/h