Increase Ontario 400-series Highway Speed Limit

[GayManLoveIsOK]

i like my gas mileage i get in my car, and i would rather see more focus put towards teaching the retards that live in my area to drive better...i wanna see tougher licensing, more training and a general belief over time that people should always want to be a smarter driver...most people have no clue they are operating a 2000lbs+ missile...

cute 4th post by the way...

[Gummiente]

The day a FaceBook petition changes the course of a government is the day I will give up on the world.

As for raising the speed limits, my answer is NO. One trip through Toronto at rush hour should be enough to ***** slap silly notions like that right outta your skull. Today's cars are capable of handling the increased speeds, but today's drivers are not.

[GentlemanRacer]

So who are you up against?

1. Insurance companies who will insist that their policies were designed for the consequences of impacts at ~100km/h and that they will threaten to raise premiums because they are essentially rent-seeking parasites and an indirect provincial tax farming scheme, and not a real business.
2. MADD, and the hysterical in general.
3. The police, whose role as revenue collectors for the province makes them a stupidly powerful lobby.
4. The slow, who include senior citizens and are a major voting bloc.
5. The beta, who include readers of Now magazine, drinkers of almond milk, and other avowed cock-blockers.
6. The medical profession, because injuries and permanent maimings are more rewarding to treat than fatalities, in spite of the implied increase in transplant availability.
7. The engineers, because they don't understand economics.

But have fun storming the castle!

[Cat13]

You could be correct but in Texas that has not been the case at all:

"TxDOT officials say that, by and large, actual highway speeds won't increase because the overwhelming majority of drivers tend to stay at a prudent pace based on the design of the road and the topography surrounding it. In other words, if 85 percent of motorists are currently driving 75 mph or slower on a road posted for 70, increasing the legal maximum to 75 mph won't mean that most drivers will reflexively begin going 80.
The department says, for instance, that after the speed limit on I-10 west of Kerrville was raised to 80 mph a few years ago — under a different state law — 85 percent of drivers were clocked at 81 mph or less. Traffic fatalities on the 80-mph sections of I-10 and I-20 actually decreased in the three years after the change, the department said."

And if that happened here I would be seriously happy. Unfortunately every day that I drive the highways as my commute I doubt such a result.

Today's cars are capable of handling the increased speeds, but today's drivers are not.

That is why I feel the same way. Too many people feel their skill greater than what it actually is. I would everyone in that category including myself.

[Jayv]

Outside of the City the 100 km/h speed limit is redundant. The 401 between Courtice and Cobourg is wide and open, and the cops do patrol this area regularly from both the air and ground which is wrong.

[Cat13]

Outside of the City the 100 km/h speed limit is redundant. The 401 between Courtice and Cobourg is wide and open, and the cops do patrol this area regularly from both the air and ground which is wrong.

How is it wrong that they patrol this area? As much as I like traveling at 120, I see their patrols as a good thing. Keeps us in check.

[OpenGambit]

So who are you up against?

1. Insurance companies who will insist that their policies were designed for the consequences of impacts at ~100km/h and that they will threaten to raise premiums because they are essentially rent-seeking parasites and an indirect provincial tax farming scheme, and not a real business.
2. MADD, and the hysterical in general.
3. The police, whose role as revenue collectors for the province makes them a stupidly powerful lobby.
4. The slow, who include senior citizens and are a major voting bloc.
5. The beta, who include readers of Now magazine, drinkers of almond milk, and other avowed cock-blockers.
6. The medical profession, because injuries and permanent maimings are more rewarding to treat than fatalities, in spite of the implied increase in transplant availability.
7. The engineers, because they don't understand economics.

But have fun storming the castle!

You sound like you have a hard life.

[Jayv]

How is it wrong that they patrol this area? As much as I like traveling at 120, I see their patrols as a good thing. Keeps us in check.

You could spin out going at 5000kmh and the only thing you would hit would be cattle.

100 km/h is far too slow especially as that road, the cars, and the drivers can all drive safely at a higher speed with this particular stretch of road.

[Jayv]

And not to sound like a broken record, there is no doubt the 400 highways were built to accept a higher max speed than 100 km/h.

The oil crisis is over, but why are so many ppl against the increase.

It's because we have poor drivers, we also have highway with no lane discipline.

First step, increase drivers education, harder testing criteria, fix lane discipline, more policing focused on the road for bad drivers, not just speeders.

[Bermuda]

I'm with many here, it's a moot point. When I'm on the 400 series, I'm either stuck in traffic, or hoping that the ****** in front of me looks into his/her rearview and sees that there are actually vehicles who would like to pass using the left lane. Higher speed limits are going to lead to more self entitled drivers, poorer fuel mileage, and create havoc when incompetent drivers struggle to simply keep up with the flow.

Another potential issue is merging. Highway on-ramps are already short. It's bad enough that every other driver who hops on the highway merges into 100km/h traffic doing 80 (serious pet-peeve). Imagine the kind of mess when people merge at that speed into 130km/h traffic? And don't simply suggest that people merge faster. Either they are nervous and afraid or refuse to run their 1.4L sedan with 4 passengers into the ground, so they simply won't.

[kiwi]

Now, if it were to change the silly 80km roads to 100km then I'm with you.

[油井緋色]

Only on this forum will you find vehicles generally used by speed demons being used by little girls who don't want a speed increase.

You've got my like though.

[Bermuda]

Only on this forum will you find vehicles generally used by speed demons being used by little girls who don't want a speed increase.

You've got my like though.

Roads exist to get people who use them from A to B, not to see who has the most nerve. If all you want to do is go fast, then find a track and go as fast as you'd like.

[Jayv]

Only on this forum will you find vehicles generally used by speed demons being used by little girls who don't want a speed increase.

You've got my like though.

Would you really feel safe if the speed limits were increased to 120 km/h in the GTA?

The flow of traffic right now is 120 km/h, add another 20km/h can the average GTA driver handle driving a car at 140km/h?

Take the HTA172 ruling for example, so the speed limit is upped to 120km/h that means i can now ride my bike at 169 km/h without fear of my bike being impounded.

160km/h squid is now sharing the road with the 105km/h governed transport truck.

[jsv650]

The 401 should be the last place to increase the speed limit - it's the busiest truck route in the world (http://www.midlandfreepress.com/Arti...=true&e=919985). The trucks shouldn't go above 100 as they're slow to get going, and slow to stop. If your answer is to get trucks off the road, please lobby the government first for the infrastructure to allow rail, which doesn't exist (and trucks fill the gap).

IMHO, traffic on the 401 should be enforced harder - 120 should be a ticket. It would reduce the closing speed with trucks and people actually doing the limit.

[Gummiente]

If your answer is to get trucks off the road, please lobby the government first for the infrastructure to allow rail, which doesn't exist (and trucks fill the gap).

Don't forget to lobby all the municipal governments to allow rail lines to be laid in front of your local grocery stores, LCBO's, The Beer Store, CDN Tire, Zellers, etc, etc.

[Nixel]

Only on this forum will you find vehicles generally used by speed demons being used by little girls who don't want a speed increase.

You've got my like though.

And this is why we can't have nice things. Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

[OpenGambit]

And this is why we can't have nice things. Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

Who takes their inner speed demon to the 400 series highway anyway... other than YorkU students (must be the depressing nature of not getting into UofT)

[Nixel]

Who takes their inner speed demon to the 400 series highway anyway... other than YorkU students (must be the depressing nature of not getting into UofT)

You're evil... That made me laugh out loud at work.

[DJM]

IMHO, traffic on the 401 should be enforced harder - 120 should be a ticket. It would reduce the closing speed with trucks and people actually doing the limit.

120 is fine in rural areas. Windsor/London, Brockville/Cornwall corridors for example. No where near the traffic density of GTA, which you seem to be using to apply the same blanket statement.

Again, proper driving techniques are the key. Personally I would like to see dynamic speed limits. Having a speed sign change it's led's from 100 to 120 on a sunny day with light traffic would be ideal. Driver education needs to be addressed first though.