"Matt O'Toole" > wrote in message
...
> Vernon Balbert wrote:
>
> > I find it rather appalling that people seem to think that it's okay to
> > break the law as long as they don't get caught. It's not the police's
> > responsibility to see that you obey the law. They just clobber you if
> > they catch you. It's YOUR responsibility to obey it. Sheesh!
>
> I find finger-waggers appalling.
>
> Right or wrong, speed laws are widely ignored in southern CA. Late at
night,
> the freeways are pretty much a free-for-all. There are enough drunks and
> seriously reckless drivers to keep the cops busy, so the average speeder
is
> unlikely to suffer consequences.
>
> I'm not sure the current practice of broad-brush construction zones is
wise, if
> it leads to the masses ignoring well-intentioned laws.
>
> Matt O.
>
>

I'm with you, except for the last part about the construction zones.

I drive from Riverside into San Diego, and back, daily. And, I am here to
tell you that if you are doing 80, you are going too damn slow for the
traffic. Too fast for the law, but too slow to survive. Speeds in CA are
very high, 85 or 90 is "normal" on many stretches of freeway, speed laws be
damned! I am not suggesting we throw the laws out and create a giant
free-for-all out there, but there is Traffic Theory and Traffic Reality. I
just told you of the reality.

As for construction zones, it is good and proper to double the fines for
violations in construction zones. Mostly because, if cars CAN do 85, it
wouldn't be a construction zone, and since it is a construction zone, the
lanes are narrower, the walls are closer, and there are pedestrians within
20 feet of the cars speeding by even if they are separated by a wall. If a
car hits the wall and bounces off back into the traffic lanes, it can take
out several other cars, any one of which could take out the guys trying to
make the freeway wider.