Strictest And Most Lenient States on Speeding and Reckless Driving

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VallAndMo

VallAndMo

Well-known member
Joined
May 6, 2011
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550
Howdy folks,

Just stumbled on this article, and thought that it might be of interest here:

http://wallethub.com/edu/strictest-and-most-lenient-states-on-speeding/14211/

The results are, at least to my experience, counter-intuitive: I thought California would be by far the strictest state, and it fares at 11th place... and Arizona (which I've been told was pretty lenient) is right on top at #2.

What are your experiences in this regard?

Cheers,
--
  Vall & Mo.

 
I am shocked to see Utah down near the bottom. The cops in Utah are hard core. But for myself I could care less. I drive 55 on the freeway and I haven't gotten a speeding ticket in over 40 years. Never had an accident either.
 
Surprised Georgia is not further down the list. At least around here, they don't really patrol much but then when they do stop someone, the penalty can be really stiff.

Georgia has a super speeder law, I think 20 over, and you really don't want to get into that category
 
It's truly sad that such a web site even exists.
 
Those ratings are based on a paper analysis of the laws of those states, not the enforcement practices or effectiveness. A state could have strict laws but very lenient enforcement. Or a low patrol budget so that few offenders actually get ticketed.
 
TRUE STORY

Massac County, IL, just across the river from here was having major budget issues.  They had planned to lay off one jailer to balance the budget.  INSTEAD, they approved adding one new Sheriff Deputy, who was assigned patrol duty on the interstate.  To avoid being called a "speed trap"  he was instructed to make no stops unless the vehicle was at least 15 mph over the posted limit. (85 MPH IN A 70 MPH ZONE) The income from these tickets paid his salary, the jailer salary and patrol car expenses.

SLOW DOWN.  DO NOT BE PART OF THE SOLUTION!
 
8) I shouldn't put in my two cents; but here goes if 70 MPH on an interstate; especially the rough riding ones is not fast enough then my suggestion is get an airplane! LOL Really; 85 in Texas; wow they must be trying to reduce the population!!!  ::) ::)
 
Have you driven across Texas?
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Motorists-begin-going-85-or-more-on-Texas-3977980.php
Now before cranking up your Motorhome remember your tiers may not be rated for 75 mph.
Bill
 
There are many folks who think it's OK to speed.. It's a Fine thing to do and.. Well the FINE is a voulentary tax they get to pay to help support law enforcement far as I'm concerned.

There are people who are in the Devil's own hurry to get where they are going... Selected Michigan State Police cars can hit 150 MPH in Pursuit mode (Think about this not many cars go that fast).

I still recall two days one week.. First they parked an aircraft, Do not recall if rotary or fixed wing ('Copter or Plane) over a section of the Interstate 696 International Speedway.. In the time before they had to return to base for re-fuel they wrote 85 ticktes.. Minimum speed to get tagged was 85 MPH,  Top speed was 105.  (I think it was a 60 zone at the time, might have been 55)... A few days later they parked the other type of aircraft over the same stretch.. anothe r85 tickets, and again the top speeder was doing 105..

The question: Why do I think it was the same guy at 105?
 
parttymer said:
If you drive a motorhome or fifth wheel TV at 85, you'll certainly have tiers (tears)!  ;D
Click to expand...
And some day they will have computers that don't change words because it can.  :p That will put the spelling polices outey buusenis.
Bill
 
The California Highway Patrol for years vehemently denied they had a citation quota system.  Earlier this year a judge declared they indeed have a de facto quota as officers get lower performance ratings if they do not keep up with their peers, and get rewards if they exceed the expected number of citations.  This was also confirmed by my CHP neighbor, after some hemming and hawing and saying he was not supposed to talk about it.

On I5 in CA central valley if you are not driving at least 75 you get rear ended.  Faster if it is raining or foggy.
 
dave54 said:
On I5 in CA central valley if you are not driving at least 75 you get rear ended.  Faster if it is raining or foggy.
Click to expand...
That road is downright scary when visibility is poor. We drove in thick fog from Grapevine to Sacramento, we were probably doing 50 which was as fast as I felt comfortable with and could not believe the number of vehicles including semis that overtook us. The big rigs didn't have a chance in H of stopping in time if anything went wrong and no CHP to be seen.
 
We are pretty lax here in Montana. On the interstate I never run less than 10mph over the speed limit when I'm not towing our trailer and it's been 10+ years since a highway patrolman has even looked twice at me.
Our speed limits on the interstate are 80mph.
Contrary to what many of you think, faster is not necessarily more dangerous.
Back in the 90's we had no speed limit in Montana and it worked wonderfully for our state. Our highway death numbers were lower than they had ever been and still dropping.
However you can thank the good old U.S. government for ruining a good thing. The NHTSA launched their "Speed Kills" safety campaign but the statistics in Montana did not support their propaganda. So they threatened to take away our federal highway funding if we didn't impose speed limits again.

As soon as we brought back speed limits our highway deaths started climbing and haven't gone back down since.
The statistics from those years have been studied pretty heavily. They even named it The Montana Speed Limit Safety Paradox.
http://hwysafety.com/hwy_montana.htm

Drive however you want, just stay the heck out of the hammer lane because I'm coming through.
 
Way back when I was learning to drive in Livingston MT, the speed limit was "reasonable and proper".  As long as you stayed in your lane or were not jumping from lane to lane or passing where you shouldn't, you were fine.  I believe we had low death rates in those days if they were even monitored.  We kids used to drive from Livingston to Bozeman, about 35 miles in those days on winding 2 lane mountain roads in about 25 or less minutes.  This was a typical for the time Montana road, no shoulders and nice drop offs too.
 
RoyM said:
Jim, you are reviving some memories here. ;D
Click to expand...

When I got out of the service in '57 they were just starting the Interstate from Livingston to Bozeman and that made for longer times due to the construction.  Now the interstate is there and it is no longer a fun drive although it is still a pretty one.  I commuted daily for 3 years while in college.  Never missed a day to construction or snow and you probably know that is over a 6000' pass!
.
 
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