25-40-FIFTY-60-70-80-90-100 Speed Zones

[bennymacca]

It is pretty clear that it is now 50 unless otherwise signposted.

Trouble is, you sometimes forget about this - some roads just 'feel' like 60 roads when they're really 50 roads.

This is especially the case in a manual - 50 is annoying because it's too fast for 3rd gear, but a tad slow for 4th; the car kind of wants to go faster.

yep for sure.

[Psyber]

People would become oblivious and blind to the lines after a short time anyway..

That didn't seem to happen in my 10 years in Melbourne - the pattern seems to impinge even if you are not conscious of noticing the lines.

[Psyber]

It is pretty clear that it is now 50 unless otherwise signposted.

Trouble is, you sometimes forget about this - some roads just 'feel' like 60 roads when they're really 50 roads.
This is especially the case in a manual - 50 is annoying because it's too fast for 3rd gear, but a tad slow for 4th; the car kind of wants to go faster.

True - there seems to be no logic to the location of many speed zones except that of the revenue opportunities.\

The gearing issue varies from car to car.
My Porsche 930 got me into trouble in the 1980s partly because the comfortable rev zones didn't match the speed limits, but the Alfa GTV6 I ran for several years after it fitted into them quite well.

[bennymacca]

subtle brag

[Psyber]

subtle brag

The other side is the admission that my wife never let me forget that getting our new house fully completed and decorated inside was delayed about 18 months when I bought the Porsche without discussing it with her. She claimed she couldn't see the obvious logic of my view that the house was good enough to live in for that time without that stuff, and I had to seize the opportunity to get a really good second-hand car deal.

[bennymacca]

screw bitches, get cars

[gossipgirl]

should be a prerequiste of getting a licence to be able to read speed limits and reading a speedo its amazing how many people are unable to perform this and are driving on our roads

[Psyber]

should be a prerequiste of getting a licence to be able to read speed limits and reading a speedo its amazing how many people are unable to perform this and are driving on our roads

Good driving requires keeping your eyes on the road and traffic well ahead of the vehicle your are in, not on the dashboard display or the near distance.
Narrow speed limit margins as in Victoria (+/- 2kph) that tend to force you to keep your eyes on the speedo rather than the road are a safety hazard.
(And speedos were last time I checked still legally allowed to be +/- 10 kph in accuracy so even that won't help you in Victoria...)

I guess the safe idea is to drive 5kph under the limit and annoy everyone else on the road, and create problems for all as the trucks swing out around you...

Speed signs are mostly fairly visible if you are not distracted by tracking traffic movements at the critical moment you pass them, but there are examples like the one coming into the city on the SE Free-way where you have a very short 80 zone and then the 60 sign is hidden around a sharp left bend, and semi-hidden behind the branches of a small tree once you make the turn.

That one comes across as a "Revenue Trap" to me.

[bennymacca]

The speedos are +7 but -0 as far as I am aware. Ie they can't read lower than you are actually doing. That's from a mechanic mate.

[tipper]

yep, the ADR's used to be +/- 10% accuracy of speedos, but a while ago now (i have a feeling it was mid to late nineties??) it was changed to +10%. as Benny said, they are allowed to read faster than you are actually going, but not read slower. most manufacturers seem to build their cars to err on the side of caution, all of my cars have been around 5 kays out at 110 (i was travelling slower than was indicated), but they are still within the adr spec.

[Psyber]

yep, the ADR's used to be +/- 10% accuracy of speedos, but a while ago now (i have a feeling it was mid to late nineties??) it was changed to +10%. as Benny said, they are allowed to read faster than you are actually going, but not read slower. most manufacturers seem to build their cars to err on the side of caution, all of my cars have been around 5 kays out at 110 (i was travelling slower than was indicated), but they are still within the adr spec.

It must have been the late 90s then if my recall of when I last checked is accurate.

It makes it even worse that in Victoria in 2009 I set my cruise control by the speed advisory station as you enter the Western Highway at exactly 100kph, and checked it again at the second one, then got pinged 50km down the road for allegedly doing 108kph. Apparently the Victorian government takes no responsibility for the accuracy of those advisory stations, though they did close them down for a few weeks after I had a go at my state MP there.
(James Merlino)

[tipper]

Yeah, and the change doesnt help all the cars made beforehand that did read slower, but its ok. They will just keep telling everyone its a voluntary tax no matter who is at fault

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

[gossipgirl]

should be a prerequiste of getting a licence to be able to read speed limits and reading a speedo its amazing how many people are unable to perform this and are driving on our roads

Good driving requires keeping your eyes on the road and traffic well ahead of the vehicle your are in, not on the dashboard display or the near distance.
Narrow speed limit margins as in Victoria (+/- 2kph) that tend to force you to keep your eyes on the speedo rather than the road are a safety hazard.
(And speedos were last time I checked still legally allowed to be +/- 10 kph in accuracy so even that won't help you in Victoria...)

I guess the safe idea is to drive 5kph under the limit and annoy everyone else on the road, and create problems for all as the trucks swing out around you...

Speed signs are mostly fairly visible if you are not distracted by tracking traffic movements at the critical moment you pass them, but there are examples like the one coming into the city on the SE Free-way where you have a very short 80 zone and then the 60 sign is hidden around a sharp left bend, and semi-hidden behind the branches of a small tree once you make the turn.

That one comes across as a "Revenue Trap" to me.

pretty easy if you cant read speed limits and control your vehicle at the correct speed dont be on the road. Its not rocket science

[Psyber]

should be a prerequiste of getting a licence to be able to read speed limits and reading a speedo its amazing how many people are unable to perform this and are driving on our roads

Good driving requires keeping your eyes on the road and traffic well ahead of the vehicle your are in, not on the dashboard display or the near distance. Narrow speed limit margins as in Victoria (+/- 2kph) that tend to force you to keep your eyes on the speedo rather than the road are a safety hazard. (And speedos were last time I checked still legally allowed to be +/- 10 kph in accuracy so even that won't help you in Victoria...)

I guess the safe idea is to drive 5kph under the limit and annoy everyone else on the road, and create problems for all as the trucks swing out around you...

Speed signs are mostly fairly visible if you are not distracted by tracking traffic movements at the critical moment you pass them, but there are examples like the one coming into the city on the SE Free-way where you have a very short 80 zone and then the 60 sign is hidden around a sharp left bend, and semi-hidden behind the branches of a small tree once you make the turn.

That one comes across as a "Revenue Trap" to me.

pretty easy if you cant read speed limits and control your vehicle at the correct speed dont be on the road. Its not rocket science

That narrow and simplistic position works fine if you never leave the suburbs, but at legal speeds on highways your attention does need to be further ahead of the car, and a small sign hidden around a bend or behind a bush can be easily missed.

In the example I cited, nobody can read the sign until too late. I know it is there and don't get caught out because I use the SE Free-way often, but plenty of others are still doing the legal 80 when they round the bend and hit the 60 sign with insufficient warning to slow down if there is a trap set up that day.

My cynicism about "revenuing" is supported by police officers I've treated telling me about the unofficial pressure to reach ticket issuing quotas and being chatted about the need to meet statistical expectations to prove they haven't been slacking. (While, of course, the existence of any official tax raising quotas can be denied.)

[bennymacca]

The best argument for the fact that speed cameras are revenue raising is comparing the fines in SA vs WA, one state being relatively poor, the other obviously a lot better off.

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[mal]

50k ZONES
The last time I was sprung for speeding was doing 58 in a 50 zone
It was on Shepherdson Road Parafield Gardens
I rarely venture to this part of Adelaide , and did not know it was a 50 zone
Fortunately I was only doing 58 thinking it was a 60 zone


PROPOSAL FOR METROPOLITAN ARTERIALS ?
Changing of speed limits here there and everywhere can be confusing, well they are to me
I have a proposal , fairly simple in concept, perhaps harder to administer
Segregate all arterials to Roads v Others
The following limits are what I suggest

All Roads : Minimum 60kms
All Others : Maximum 40km or 50kms, one or the other

That would be simple logic
You would have to rename a swag of arterials from roads to streets though[and vice versa]
Shepherdson Road would become Shepherdson Street [or raise the limit back to 60 and leave it as a Road]

60-70 KM ROAD ZONES
Also confusing
The example I will use
Montague Road Ingle Farm
There is a speed camera set up in the 60 zone near the corner of Beovich Road[Near the Ingle Farm Shopping Centre]
Yet Montague Road, between Walkleys road and Bridge road it is 70km
This road should be 60km for both durations perhaps ?

40-50 KM ZONES
This is most annoying
Some Streets as in Prospect and Unley are 40km zones
Yet in other areas streets are 50km zones
I suggest one or the other


SUMMARY
Less confusion , more consistency of known speed limits , perhaps = better safety , and perhaps lower road fatalities

@#$%^&*()(^$#@!@#$%^&*&%$#@$%^&*(*&^%$#@#$%^&
They got me again
58 kms in a 50 zone
Woodville road Wooddville , by the train line
[Going to a WWT VST game ]

When the f..k did Woodville Road become a 50 zone ?

Now pinged twice doing 58 , thinking both roads were 60 zones
So Im actually thinking Im driving below the speed limit

Im going to draft up a response
Anyone have any advice how to address my response ?

The response will be on why some roads are 50 and other roads are 60

[mighty_tiger_79]

Woodville rd has been 50 for a while and they have 2 cameras

[bennymacca]

All roads are 50 unless otherwise signposted.

An interesting aside - in Germany their speed limits are as follows.

In built up areas 30. Yes 30! Similar to our 40 zones but more more widespread.

Big town/city streets 50, similar to here

Arterial roads 70. No 80 as far as I could tell.

Single lane highways, 100. As here.

Dual/3/4 carriageway 100 near intersections, 120 or NO LIMIT other places ie autobahn.

From experience on the autobahn people were much more respectful on the roads. Everybody kept in the slow lane and only ventured into the middle or fast lane to overtake.

As soon as you had overtaken you were out of the fast lane quick smart because you would get cars doing 180-200
Coming up behind you.

The roads were built such that 150-160 felt like you were doing 110. The roads were much wider and straighter.

Why couldn't they do that here! The new expressway could be 130 without even trying.

[grant j]

@#$%^&*()(^$#@!@#$%^&*&%$#@$%^&*(*&^%$#@#$%^&
They got me again
58 kms in a 50 zone
Woodville road Wooddville , by the train line
[Going to a WWT VST game ]

When the f..k did Woodville Road become a 50 zone ?

Now pinged twice doing 58 , thinking both roads were 60 zones
So Im actually thinking Im driving below the speed limit

Im going to draft up a response
Anyone have any advice how to address my response ?

The response will be on why some roads are 50 and other roads are 60

If you got done by the railway line you must have gone past at least 2 signs stating it's a 50km zone

my tip - be more observant and slow down

good luck with the response

[mal]

All roads are 50km unless otherwise signposted
Yes I have not got a toenail to stand on , Im guilty
However
The processing of fines and the road law is now become my grievance

I try and drive at 60kms at all times in zones that are 60km zones
At times by doing this , I get tailgated , I have cars swerving around me
I have cars cutting me off
All this for acknowledging a speed limit

I've been driving since a Norwood Premiership year in the 1970s
Old habits die hard
I've driven up roads like Shepherdson Road Parafield Gardens, Woodville Road Woodville for decades
I have a problem that without a level of concentration I drive at the previous limits of 60 and not 50 on those roads

I have 2 issues I would liked clarified by the speed setting peoples

Why are Shepherdson Road and Woodville Road 50km zones and Main North Road Gepps Cross and Marion Road Parkholme not ?
I assume a reduction from 60 to 50 would be for road safety reasons , less speed = less crashes ?
If so ALL roads should be 50km , not isolated ones here and there

I was sent an infringement notice stating
I was speeding
I have to pay a fine
I have lost demerit points
BUT
Nowhere in this correspondence was there a notice of my problems driving in 50k zones
Drunks, Gamblers, Alcoholics get counselling with the various Anonymous groups etc
Should I be singled out and be made aware there is a Speeding Anonymous , or a driving educational thingamajib ?
Should I be made to re sit my drivers test , and be made to do a practical driving test as well ?

The only thing that seems apparent
Is revenue raising