Waze works great once there's a critical mass of other drivers—busy roads in populated areas. My radar detector fills in the gaps on back roads and small towns very well.
I’ve driven a lot in urban places with speed camera programs (which I fully support along with other car reduction and traffic calming designs) and lots of pedestrians and cyclists around, but I’ve never had a camera ticket in 20 years of driving.
Eight years ago I was driving on a genuinely empty back road in a rural part of America, speed limit 55mph. I failed to notice that, for one mile, the speed limit went down to 45mph. The character of the road didn’t change, we weren’t passing through a populated area. I don’t know why it changed. For miles in either direction it was 55. I kept going 55 and put absolutely zero people at risk of anything. That oversight cost me $400, and the cop was a huge asshole about it. So I bought a radar detector.
There are various layers of dysfunction at play in American road design and policing that I’d happily advocate we address. In the meantime I’m doing what I can to avoid any interactions with power drunk people who have the ability to decide my fate on a whim.
The assume-good-faith answer to a speed limit dip like that is usually that the road has one or more intersections with some risk factor. Like limited visibility around a bend or hill, or a short merging/acceleration area, or prone to flooding in rain, or intersection with a bike trail. Of course, any particular spot like yours could be a police cash grab, but there are many places where something like that seems arbitrary but there is a real reason. Best to follow the signs, for conditions you might not know about.
Speed limits are not the solution. Proper road design is the real solution. We shouldn't have straight four lane stroads that look like a racing strip going straight as an arrow for five miles if the intent is to limit speed to twenty five miles per hour. Slow the road down with curves and bends, not with a signage and paint.
For fixed radars, at least down here in Brazil, RadarBot is a lot better than Waze. For cops on the side of the road, maybe Waze can be better. RadarBot updates it's list of fixed spees cameras really fast.
Waze works great once there's a critical mass of other drivers—busy roads in populated areas. My radar detector fills in the gaps on back roads and small towns very well.
Why not just obey the speed limits and stop putting innocent people at risk so that you can edge lord your way through late adolescence?
I’ve driven a lot in urban places with speed camera programs (which I fully support along with other car reduction and traffic calming designs) and lots of pedestrians and cyclists around, but I’ve never had a camera ticket in 20 years of driving.
Eight years ago I was driving on a genuinely empty back road in a rural part of America, speed limit 55mph. I failed to notice that, for one mile, the speed limit went down to 45mph. The character of the road didn’t change, we weren’t passing through a populated area. I don’t know why it changed. For miles in either direction it was 55. I kept going 55 and put absolutely zero people at risk of anything. That oversight cost me $400, and the cop was a huge asshole about it. So I bought a radar detector.
There are various layers of dysfunction at play in American road design and policing that I’d happily advocate we address. In the meantime I’m doing what I can to avoid any interactions with power drunk people who have the ability to decide my fate on a whim.
The assume-good-faith answer to a speed limit dip like that is usually that the road has one or more intersections with some risk factor. Like limited visibility around a bend or hill, or a short merging/acceleration area, or prone to flooding in rain, or intersection with a bike trail. Of course, any particular spot like yours could be a police cash grab, but there are many places where something like that seems arbitrary but there is a real reason. Best to follow the signs, for conditions you might not know about.
Speed limits are not the solution. Proper road design is the real solution. We shouldn't have straight four lane stroads that look like a racing strip going straight as an arrow for five miles if the intent is to limit speed to twenty five miles per hour. Slow the road down with curves and bends, not with a signage and paint.
I thought the same but then I realized the post is from 2014, so maybe not at the time
For fixed radars, at least down here in Brazil, RadarBot is a lot better than Waze. For cops on the side of the road, maybe Waze can be better. RadarBot updates it's list of fixed spees cameras really fast.