I’m in the area and I too have seen the driving you describe. I’ve also seen incredibly reckless driving on city and suburban streets since the pandemic. I’m an avid cyclist but I’ve recently quit routes that require riding on any street or road where the posted speed is 35 or more. People are insane behind the wheel.
I drive from the Midwest to the east coast about once a year. When going through Indianapolis, the speed limit drops to 50, but the average speed stays at close to 70.
It made me wonder where the greatest disparity between the posted speed limit and average speed exists. 95 is insane, but my experience has been that there is too much traffic to get a high average speed.
And I’m looking for the total average, not the average of just the fast drivers.
Kansas City used to have a stretch of highway 71 where the posted speed limit went from 45 to 55 to 65 in about 5-10 miles. They got rid of the 55 zone because it was unsafe to drive the speed limit, because you don’t want people going drastically different speeds on the road. That was what they said anyway.
Sure, it makes sense that the safest driving conditions are when everybody's going the same speed, as that eliminates tailgating weaving to get ahead. The problem, of course, is that not everyone agrees on what that speed should be.
70 MPH? The joke around Indy is we have the Brickyard where cars can travel 230 MPH. Yet, the speed limit around the 465 loop is 50 - 55 and everyone goes 80 MPH - 90 MPH with very few (if any) people getting pulled over.
Several years ago the police in VA in suburban DC said they don’t pull people over for speeding on the beltway because it’s too dangerous to try to get back into traffic from the shoulder.
I used to take 70 through the city before all the construction. Now I realize it is all of the highways where people speed. I vaguely recall there might even be a spot on 70 where it went down to 45, and traffic did not slow down.
I went ahead and searched my tweets to find out when I first really noticed. 2017. I was worried about getting a ticket.
I live in the Indy metro as well, 465 is a free-for-all. I was going 75 in the 55 mph part to keep up with traffic this morning to work. Also, frequently see the random car going like 120 mph.
Yep. It's peddle down 24/7. During the height of the pandemic, when there were virtually no vehicles on the road...I could get to work on the NW side (I live about 30 minutes south of Indy) in 45 minutes. It's typically an hour to an hour fifteen.
I’m in the area and I too have seen the driving you describe. I’ve also seen incredibly reckless driving on city and suburban streets since the pandemic. I’m an avid cyclist but I’ve recently quit routes that require riding on any street or road where the posted speed is 35 or more. People are insane behind the wheel.
I drive from the Midwest to the east coast about once a year. When going through Indianapolis, the speed limit drops to 50, but the average speed stays at close to 70.
It made me wonder where the greatest disparity between the posted speed limit and average speed exists. 95 is insane, but my experience has been that there is too much traffic to get a high average speed.
And I’m looking for the total average, not the average of just the fast drivers.
Kansas City used to have a stretch of highway 71 where the posted speed limit went from 45 to 55 to 65 in about 5-10 miles. They got rid of the 55 zone because it was unsafe to drive the speed limit, because you don’t want people going drastically different speeds on the road. That was what they said anyway.
Sure, it makes sense that the safest driving conditions are when everybody's going the same speed, as that eliminates tailgating weaving to get ahead. The problem, of course, is that not everyone agrees on what that speed should be.
70 MPH? The joke around Indy is we have the Brickyard where cars can travel 230 MPH. Yet, the speed limit around the 465 loop is 50 - 55 and everyone goes 80 MPH - 90 MPH with very few (if any) people getting pulled over.
Several years ago the police in VA in suburban DC said they don’t pull people over for speeding on the beltway because it’s too dangerous to try to get back into traffic from the shoulder.
I suspect that plays a role in Indy as well. 50 - 55 does seem to be a rather slow speed limit when some areas have 4 or 5 lanes. It's
I used to take 70 through the city before all the construction. Now I realize it is all of the highways where people speed. I vaguely recall there might even be a spot on 70 where it went down to 45, and traffic did not slow down.
I went ahead and searched my tweets to find out when I first really noticed. 2017. I was worried about getting a ticket.
https://x.com/FrankSchloegel/status/944247091534204929?s=20
You nailed it with respect to I-70 as well. And there is a very small stretch where it drops to 45.
I live in the Indy metro as well, 465 is a free-for-all. I was going 75 in the 55 mph part to keep up with traffic this morning to work. Also, frequently see the random car going like 120 mph.
Yep. It's peddle down 24/7. During the height of the pandemic, when there were virtually no vehicles on the road...I could get to work on the NW side (I live about 30 minutes south of Indy) in 45 minutes. It's typically an hour to an hour fifteen.