Quote:
Originally Posted by 99metro
Listening to the guys at work, you MUST drive 5 mph over the speed limit or you are driving too slow. The speed limit sign actually posts the minimum speed.
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I hope this is your work colleagues' opinion and not yours. In the US, a minimum speed sign exists:
(found it on the Web, credits to who they are due.)
But if there is only a speed limit sign, and other laws do not state a minimum, then the posted speed is a maximum. From
Wikipedia:
Quote:
In addition to the legally defined maximum speed, minimum speed limits may be applicable. Occasionally there are default minimum speed limits for certain types of roads, generally freeways.
Comparable to the common basic speed rule, most jurisdictions also have laws prohibiting speeds so low they are dangerous or obstruct the normal flow of traffic.
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"Speeds so low they are dangerous or obstruct the normal flow of traffic" is a general statement and can be interpretted in two ways:
- Someone who is driving at or just below the speed limit is driving at the maximum safe speed,
- Someone who is speeding is part of the "normal flow of traffic" and has a hard time sitting behind a slow moving car. This makes him nervous and on top of speeding, often passes in no-passing zones, decreasing safety.
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but from the discussion in this thread I understand that the problem is not with just slow drivers, it's with slow drivers getting in the way of fast and aggressive ones, right? And since law enforcement has a hard time weeding out the fast guys, then the only way to improve safety (and some people's inner peace) is by making the slow pokes speed up.
My personal opinion is that there should be a way of marking your car so others know that the vehicle may/must move slower. This should be for underpowered cars and for slow drivers. The driver on your tail won't know if you don't want to go faster or physically can't, so he shouldn't take it as personal offense. In Europe I've seen speed limit stickers on trucks informing other drivers about the truck's top speed, but they hardly ever have anything to do with real life (I've seen trucks with 2-3 different stickers, eg 70, 80 and 100 km/h, going 110 km/h in a 90 zone, while the law prohibits trucks in Poland from exceeding 80).