Speeding - is there a 'magic number?'

Is there a particular window of velocities that you can get away with over the posted limits without an officer caring? Surely there is, if you've ever seen a freeway, ever.

Is there a numerical value? Like 8, 10, 12, ?? mph over the limit?
Is there a ratio? 10% over in a 65 mph zone = 71.5 mph...
Is it proportional to the "flow of traffic?"
Is it proportional to the amount of traffic on the road?

Other theories?

Well considering I have gone through speed traps atleast 18-20 km over and not even gotten pulled over i wouldnt know i guess 20 or so km would be a magical number where i am at

I usually allow myself 10% or so. But if everyone else is speeding I'll speed up a bit too. I never let myself be noticeably faster or slower though.

on roads 45-50 i go about 5-7 over, on roads about 55+ i go about 10-12 over, cops dont seem to mind usualy... :bloated:

anything under 10 km/h over the limit won't get you pulled up- BUT 20 km/h usually will ;)

Note: Magic number is LESS than 55mph over speedlimit. Especially in a 55mph zone. :(

Typically around here it is 10 miles per hour over and they wont ticket you. I drive so much and know where the police sit and wait so I drive about 40 or 50 miles per hour over at most times; however I do drive on a very rural highway with little or know traffic for hundreds of miles a day. I did get a warning 2 weeks ago for doing 40 over. 90+ in a 55 this is due to the fact that he did not radar me. He was driving an unmarked car and I flew past him. He came up behind me and I thought he wanted to race so I took off and than I saw him stick the blue light in the windshield.

Here in NZ we have a Zero Tolerance policy, and the cops have a Quota to fill every day.

If the cop is down on his quota and your doing 101kmh (100 is the limit) under the current law he can give you a ticket.
So it really is up to the officer.

Originally posted by Moppie
...your doing 101kmh (100 is the limit) under the current law he can give you a ticket.
So it really is up to the officer.

They ALWAYS can give you a ticket if you're only violating a teensy bit - but usually you have to be speeding enough to be worth their bother, especially if it's extremely cold or hot out.

Still though, go the speed limit. I mean, you're not in such a darned hurry, and even if you are, speeding doesn't really help because of how the lights are timed.

In NSW we have ~10-12 km/h lee way.

Ya its realy kinda stuped, I was going down hill and there was like a mini VAN an SUV and me in my coup. we were all like 15 miles over the speed limit is like 35 on the down kill slope. the van next to me was going 49mph and i was going 51mph said the cop. the officer pulls me over and saids that i was going over 50 so he pulled me over... WHAT the speed limit is 35 but he was pulling ppl over that was going over 50... and all 3 cars were purty much going the same speed down the hill its retarded reasoning these cops have most of the time... Once i was going like 25 over the speed limint on the freeway and the cop just drive behind me and told me to slow down with the speaker phone that was kewl :)

but back on topic i usely go 5-7 over the suggested speed. Most cops go slower then the speed limit and all the STUPED mofos slow down behind the cops thinking if they went faster they would get pulled over !!!!! that piss me off so i just find an opening and drive pass the intimidating cop:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

in my area, you can get away with about 10-15MPH over, in a 55, but any thing less than a 55, you get will pulled over for doing more than 8 over

Around here with all the traffic-going the flow aint going to get you a ticket. However there are a few towns around here where the Police are real assholes and will stop you for going over the speed limit even if its by 3-5 MPH over.
I stick with the 5 MPH over the posted speed limit, and or go with the flow on the freeways.

Scott

Here in Ontario, Canada, you dont get points on your license for anything under 19km/h over the limit, regardless if its a 40 or 100 zone. And the fine is under a hundred bucks. IVe passed cops (going opposite directions) at 130 in a 90 before, and not had problems. But I try to keep it below 105 in an 80.

Originally posted by Moppie
Here in NZ we have a Zero Tolerance policy, and the cops have a Quota to fill every day.

If the cop is down on his quota and your doing 101kmh (100 is the limit) under the current law he can give you a ticket.
So it really is up to the officer.

Think you are mistaken on a couple of points there Moppie.

http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2420705a11,00.html

zero tolerance only applies to those speeding at over 11km/h over the speed limit,under that it is at the discretion of the officer,but he is expected to issue a ticket for 70% of the motorists that he stops.In this part of the country,OI find them surprisingly tolerant.On a trip to the city this weekend,I came up behind a patrol car in the Aakino gorge.It's not the kind of road that you can break the speed limit on in many places,but he was travelling at around about 90-95 km/h on the straighter parts.Obviously,a passing manoever was out of the question,as that would have meant a short and fast pass and a speeding ticket.Traffic was quite busy and pretty soon he had 5 or 6 cars behind him.He pulled over ,let us all past,then tagged on to the back of the traffic.We split away with some of the faster cars hitting about 110 in the 100 zone,but he didn't seem too bothered.Mind you,if he had been in the area to which the 'quota' system applies,things may have been different.

At the end of the day ,the quota system is a waste of time.If the police are doing their job effectively,they deter people rather than punish them.There is no way of quantifying how many drivers are deterred by the prospect of being fined for speeding,so the true performance of any single constable can never be accurately assessed.At the end of the day,if you don't want to get caught,don't speed.There are plenty of dumb people out there who can fill the quotas a few times over.

Originally posted by taranaki
There are plenty of dumb people out there who can fill the quotas a few times over.


Not dumb, just wealthy enough to able to afford the fines :)
Speeding is a sport for the rich, and I know plenty who indulge in it on a regular basis.

And that article you posted is interesting, but pure PR crap from the Police.

Up untill about 2000 there was a 9kmh allowance on posted speed limits to allow for the inaccurate speedos in older cars (for example the one in the triumph used to waver from 95-105 when traveling at about 100).
However the police caught onto the fact that the country has an increasingly modern car fleet, and so dropped from its traffic policy the 9kmh allowance and instead allowed and incouraged officers to stop and ticket anyone doing anything over the posted speed limit.
5 years ago if you were stopped for doing 108kmh you had about a 99% chance of getting off, now you have almost no chance, and I know several ppl who have been given a ticket for doing 5kmh over the limit.
The only exception to this are pole mounted speed cameras where an average speed for that section of road is assesed, and anyone traveling over it is ticketed. Of course the average speed is always reassesed, and since most ppl slow down to exactly or just below the limit when going past a camera pole the average often ends up bang on the limit, or only a few ks above it. Iv seen a speed camera ticket for only 6kmh over the posted limit.

As for allowing cops to used thier discretion when giving tickets just as long as 70% of the ppl they pull over get a ticket, its a pile of crap.
It means cops are going to be pulling cars over for no reason other than the hope they can find something ticket worthy, and god help you if you missed your warrent by a week or one indicator is out.
And next time you are pulled in a rural area over see what happens if you tell the officer your from Auckland.
There are inexperianced cops out on NZ roads who have been conditioned into thinking that if you travel at any speed greater than the speed limit then you are a threat to every other road user and you must be stopped, and that the only way they have advancing in the force, or getting a bonus at the end of the year (and bonus are offered for catching the most taffic offenders) is to stop the evil anti social ppl who travel at any speed above that posted.
Fortunalty there are also plenty of older wiser cops who know better, and who realise that revenuse gathering is not good PR for the police, and that the real danger are ppl with no real driver education.

well I got a ticket yesterday... 64mph in a 45 zone.... fucker was sitting under the 45mph sign. I was going 64 in a 55, which was fine... but then I just cruised downhill... *grr* I had really hoped not to get any more tickets.. especially considering that I got about 5 in my last del Sol... dammit.. :mad:

Tangie has a lead foot. :o If I'm around home, I've been known to cruise at about 10 mph over the posted limit. If I don't really know any one in the heirarchy of wherever I'm driving I'll keep it to about 5 mph over. I am really careful in construction zones, though. Last thing I need is double the fine and the points. :o

One of my friends got a warning for going 58MPH in a 55MPH zone. Cops suck in Zanesville.:(

i usually do 5 mph over the limit:p

Originally posted by HogieGT-R
i usually do 5 mph over the limit:p
Same here, except lately I like to keep up with traffic so that usually more like 10 or 15 over.

I can't afford to go 5MPH over any more :(

Originally posted by saturntangerine
Tangie has a lead foot. :o If I'm around home, I've been known to cruise at about 10 mph over the posted limit. If I don't really know any one in the heirarchy of wherever I'm driving I'll keep it to about 5 mph over. I am really careful in construction zones, though. Last thing I need is double the fine and the points. :o

Cops in Virginia and Maryland will sit in construction zones on the equipment so you don't even see em. They radio to another cop down the road to ticket you. Here in Va they also track your speed by aircraft. I have heard that they only follow people that are going over 80. I have yet to get one of those tickets:evillaugh

Cops are good at hiding.:twoguns:

Here in the UK there used to be an unofficial line taken by the police of 10% plus 2 - so 35 in a 30, 46 in a 40, 57 in a 50 and so on.

Since speeding has become a major political issue the police have been slightly less generous, but usually out of town you can expect a 10% leeway. Speed cameras are a different matter and I usually make sure I'm not exceeding the limit at all when I pass them. Seeing as most of them are glorified cash generators it pays for the police to make them as close to the limit as possible :rolleyes:

I know for a fact that 43 in a 30 zone WILL get you a ticket :o