What's the acceptable speed over the limit ?

[uski]

Hi,

I am very new to the area and I have no idea what is the "normal" speed on the highway is (101, 237, 87...)

Everywhere, people drive above the limit. What is acceptable ? The legal answer is obviously 0.

However, I've been rear-ended on the highway before and it is NOT FUN (driving at around the speed limit, at night, car driver was probably texting). It is indeed safer for us t drive a bit faster, but I don't want to start getting tickets a few weeks after my arrival in CA.

If I drive at the speed limit, cars go past me like I'm an annoying obstacle. It definitely feels unsafe.

If I go faster, I stress out because I have no idea what the tolerance of the officers is around here.

5 mph ? 10 mph ? 15 mph ? I have no idea

One could tell me "drive with the flow", but if everyone is going fast, I don't want to be the one paying for the others (most officers ticket bikes first - at least where I come from).
Sometimes, in 65mph zones, people are driving 70mph, sometimes, 80mph...

So what do you do ? What is the reasonable speed ? (no i won't quote you in front of the judge)

Thanks

 

[DonTom]

I find that too often, I am too slow for the drivers behind me but at the same time, too fast for the cops.

But I would say you're safe if you stay below ten MPH over the speed limit on the bay area freeways. But still slow down when you smell a cop.

I have found when everybody is going right at the speed limit, it usually means there is a cop up ahead.

On side roads, make it five MPH over to be safe.

I have found cops are not that bad in the SF Bay area. They are worse here in the Reno area and are more likely to be stopped here for BS things.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[uski]

Thanks ! I usually use the cruise control on the freeway to watch my speed and I set it using the GPS. I will try a bit less than 10 and see how well that goes with other vehicles.

PS: Do you really have 10 bikes? OMG I can see myself going slowly there in the next few years

 

[bojangle]

Hi,

I am very new to the area and I have no idea what is the "normal" speed on the highway is (101, 237, 87...)

Everywhere, people drive above the limit. What is acceptable ? The legal answer is obviously 0.

However, I've been rear-ended on the highway before and it is NOT FUN (driving at around the speed limit, at night, car driver was probably texting). It is indeed safer for us t drive a bit faster, but I don't want to start getting tickets a few weeks after my arrival in CA.

If I drive at the speed limit, cars go past me like I'm an annoying obstacle. It definitely feels unsafe.

If I go faster, I stress out because I have no idea what the tolerance of the officers is around here.

5 mph ? 10 mph ? 15 mph ? I have no idea

One could tell me "drive with the flow", but if everyone is going fast, I don't want to be the one paying for the others (most officers ticket bikes first - at least where I come from).
Sometimes, in 65mph zones, people are driving 70mph, sometimes, 80mph...

So what do you do ? What is the reasonable speed ? (no i won't quote you in front of the judge)

Thanks

Like you said, if you're riding above the speed limit, there are no guarantees.

I'm a LEO and also a rider. I also believe it's safer on freeways to ride a bit faster than the flow of traffic. Definitely safer than going slower than the flow. But not all officers ride, or will agree with that, or care about that.

I'd say as a general rule for any street it's a good idea to keep speeds below 15 MPH over the speed limit. If you're 15 over, or higher, you're going to start to get more attention, IMO. I'd modify that a bit to the area. In residential and school zones you probably shouldn't be close to 40. But on a freeway when the flow of traffic is close to 80, cruising at 80 probably isn't all that high of a risk of getting pulled over. And I'd bump that up to 85 on those freeways that are posted at 70.

LEOs working traffic enforcement will often times have lower thresholds, as one of their main job duties is traffic enforcement. The majority of the marked police cars out there are working patrol, not traffic. As such, it will more likely take a speeder going at least 15 over to catch their attention/interest in making a speeding stop, as they have a much more diverse, hectic, and busy work load, in general.

 

[MR662]

Like you said, if you're riding above the speed limit, there are no guarantees.

I'm a LEO and also a rider. I also believe it's safer on freeways to ride a bit faster than the flow of traffic. Definitely safer than going slower than the flow. But not all officers ride, or will agree with that, or care about that.

I'd say as a general rule for any street it's a good idea to keep speeds below 15 MPH over the speed limit. If you're 15 over, or higher, you're going to start to get more attention, IMO. I'd modify that a bit to the area. In residential and school zones you probably shouldn't be close to 40. But on a freeway when the flow of traffic is close to 80, cruising at 80 probably isn't all that high of a risk of getting pulled over. And I'd bump that up to 85 on those freeways that are posted at 70.

LEOs working traffic enforcement will often times have lower thresholds, as one of their main job duties is traffic enforcement. The majority of the marked police cars out there are working patrol, not traffic. As such, it will more likely take a speeder going at least 15 over to catch their attention/interest in making a speeding stop, as they have a much more diverse, hectic, and busy work load, in general.

I'm a rider off-duty and also a Motor Officer so my main job duty is traffic enforcement and vehicle collision investigation. Like mentioned above, there is no guarantee but 5-10 mph is generally safe. I also give motorcycles more leniency then I do cars. I too feel its safer for a motorcycle to be a bit faster then the slowest on the road. It's hard to keep that needle right on the target speed and there are variations in speedo accuracy, so most officers give you some wiggle room. My target speed is 15 mph and I work in the city. I can get 15 -20 mph over all day long. Also going with flow of traffic can still get you a ticket. My advice is don't be the fastest guy on the road and don't be the one making a lot of lane changes passing vehicles. Those are the ones I spot at over 700-1000 ft away when working LIDAR and who I focus on.

 

[NorCalAthlete]

My advice is don't be the fastest guy on the road and don't be the one making a lot of lane changes passing vehicles.

This all day every day. Welcome to the state OP. My $0.02 - stay in the #2 lane until you've been here a while and get more comfortable. On 280, you'll probably still be doing 72-75 in the #2 lane while people fly by you at 80+ in the #1 left lane. You might even get passed by people doing 75-80 in the #3 lane. If that happens, go ahead and move over to the #3 lane and keep doing 72-75 as traffic allows.

Stick with the general rule of "people to the left of me are going faster and people to the right of me are going slower" and you'll be fine.

I generally go with a % of the speed limit rather than a hard 5-10-15 over. Ie, 10-15%. So if the speed limit is 65 mph, you can usually be ok at 15% over (74.75 mph) as long as you're not the fastest one on the road. Similarly in a 35 mph zone, 15% over is 40.25 (I'd recommend staying closer to the 38-40 range if you're going to cruise in a 35 zone, but realistically most places with that limit have plenty of stop signs, lights, traffic, etc so it shouldn't be much of an issue).

When in doubt...just do 5% over. 68 in a 65, 36-37 in a 35, etc.

 

[Beanzy]

Maybe it was on the CHP forum but I remember reading Chippies hate it when drivers do 80 or more. Once going up a local highway with a hill I hit 80 easily on my bike and then eased down to 70 something as the road flattened and just as a Chippie came up behind me. He drove by too. :laughing arty

 

[scootergmc]

I don't know what comes into play, I'm guessing whether the officer is bored or not, day or night. I know I got clocked (at least it looked like I should have been, I dunno, cops could've been playing candy crush) at 90+mph on the Futura at night on I-10 between Blythe and Phoenix last year, on both sides of Cal/Ariz border.

 

[Shiro]

I'm a rider off-duty and also a Motor Officer so my main job duty is traffic enforcement and vehicle collision investigation. Like mentioned above, there is no guarantee but 5-10 mph is generally safe. I also give motorcycles more leniency then I do cars. I too feel its safer for a motorcycle to be a bit faster then the slowest on the road. It's hard to keep that needle right on the target speed and there are variations in speedo accuracy, so most officers give you some wiggle room. My target speed is 15 mph and I work in the city. I can get 15 -20 mph over all day long. Also going with flow of traffic can still get you a ticket. My advice is don't be the fastest guy on the road and don't be the one making a lot of lane changes passing vehicles. Those are the ones I spot at over 700-1000 ft away when working LIDAR and who I focus on.

Haha I'm not going to say how I know but I'm pretty sure you pulled me over one time coming westbound on the bay bridge for recessed license plate. I thought I'd play with you and take the Fremont exit at speed but when I glanced back you were tire to tire on my ass and I was like fuck this cop goes to track day for sure:laughing

 

[ThinkFast]

My cousin was a sheriff in the Midwest. He told me they had a saying: Nine is fine. Ten - you’re mine.

Ymmv.

 

[uski]

Hi,

Thanks all for your replies, it's very helpful.

I did not comment earlier as I had nothing special to say, but it feels good to see some officers are aware of the unique challenges and differences of motorcycle vs other vehicle types.

Thanks

 

[MR662]

Haha I'm not going to say how I know but I'm pretty sure you pulled me over one time coming westbound on the bay bridge for recessed license plate. I thought I'd play with you and take the Fremont exit at speed but when I glanced back you were tire to tire on my ass and I was like fuck this cop goes to track day for sure:laughing

Sounds like something I might do......:rofl:ride

 

[DonTom]

Thanks ! I usually use the cruise control on the freeway to watch my speed and I set it using the GPS. I will try a bit less than 10 and see how well that goes with other vehicles.

PS: Do you really have 10 bikes? OMG I can see myself going slowly there in the next few years

Yeah, and all ten I use and they all run as well as new, if not better. An example is the 1971 BMW. It has some performance mods and my ridding buddy's here in the Reno area who used to own airheads are impressed with its speed.

If you ever come to NV, let me warn you about the school zones here. Nothing like in CA where it is "25 MPH when children are seen".

Here in NV, the school zone speed limit is 15 MPH even when no kids are in sight. They are heavily enforced and they WILL bust you at 20 MPH without a doubt. Perhaps at 17 MPH. Go around 13 MPH to be safe, just as the other cars will be going. Most of the school zones here in NV have lights when they need to be obeyed. But some only have signs with the times listed. If on a weekend or long after the school gets out, the normal speed limit (whatever it is) will apply and then you don't have to worry about it.

I hear the school zones got extra strict in NV many years ago when a politician's own kid was killed by a school.

-Don- Cold Springs Valley, NV (three houses for my ten bikes and 5 cages).

 

[uski]

Thanks very much for the heads up !

I am always extra careful around high-risk zones, signs or not.

I hear the school zones got extra strict in NV many years ago when a politician's own kid was killed by a school.

Sounds like a terrible way to govern...
Decisions should be data driven and not based on the personal experience of a politician (a life of a politician's child is not worth more, or less, than others').

 

[dravnx]

Thanks very much for the heads up !

I am always extra careful around high-risk zones, signs or not.



Sounds like a terrible way to govern...
Decisions should be data driven and not based on the personal experience of a politician (a life of a politician's child is not worth more, or less, than others').

Your naiveté is very cute.

 

[DonTom]

Thanks very much for the heads up !

I am always extra careful around high-risk zones, signs or not.

Some of the NV school zones are quite long without a school in sight. The school is around somewhere, but it could be a block or two away from where the school zone starts.

If you know what a long "no wake zone" is like in a boat, some NV school zones are even worse! They remind me of such.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[vought]

Some observations on my part; I am often on I-280 between 380 and Redwood City.

-Don’t be in the left lane unless you are passing someone in the #2 lane. The passing lane laws are never enforced, but too many people treat it like “the fast lane” (which doesn’t exist) and think that since they’re going fast, it’s where they should be. If you’re slower than the flow of traffic it’s a great way to get rear ended, trigger road rage - or if faster than the flow of traffic - become a target.

The guidance here to be a little faster than the prevailing traffic speed got me popped by CHP late last year. Faced with a rolling roadblock of 15+ cars on I-280 at night, I rolled on throttle to the front of the pack of sleepy drivers and almost immediately got pulled over. Turns out that my self-preservation instinct (always have someplace to go in case an animal appears; never ride next to or between cars if you can help it) attracted a patrol car. So be aware and watch your speed differential. I still think the ticket was BS - but it has yet to go to trial, so we will see what the judge thinks.

 

[DonTom]

So be aware and watch your speed differential. I still think the ticket was BS - but it has yet to go to trial, so we will see what the judge thinks.

But this world runs on BS!

I know one guy who went to court for a speeding ticket. Speed limit was 65 MPH. He got a ticket for something like 75 MPH somewhere here in NV.

It was something like an $80.00 ticket. He took it to court. He told the judge he wasn't going that fast. The judge asked how fast he was really going and he said something like 68 MPH.

The judge then said something like, "okay, I just reduced your speed to 68 MPH". No argument at all. But he still had to pay the ticket with the reduced speed, which he discovered was also $80.00 for 68 MPH.

From one to ten MPH over was the same fine in that area.

He made the mistake of admitting he broke the law. Even one MPH above is breaking the law and has the same fine.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[bojangle]

But this world runs on BS!

I know one guy who went to court for a speeding ticket. Speed limit was 65 MPH. He got a ticket for something like 75 MPH somewhere here in NV.

It was something like an $80.00 ticket. He took it to court. He told the judge he wasn't going that fast. The judge asked how fast he was really going and he said something like 68 MPH.

The judge then said something like, "okay, I just reduced your speed to 68 MPH". No argument at all. But he still had to pay the ticket with the reduced speed, which he discovered was also $80.00 for 68 MPH.

From one to ten MPH over was the same fine in that area.

He made the mistake of admitting he broke the law. Even one MPH above is breaking the law and has the same fine.

-Don- Reno, NV

And that's exactly why the judge just accepted that speed from the defendant. It was an admission of guilt with the same fine/punishment he was already facing. I doubt it would have just accepted the speed of the defendant claimed he was driving 63.

 

[uski]

One of my close friends is a lawyer and I learnt a lot while talking with him about how the law operates.

It was in Canada - but honestly it's mostly the same in the US.

There's this video too :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVuJG92u2Pk
Canadian video, but a lot of it, outside of the legal details, also apply in the US.

I got pulled over in the US once for speeding, applied what was said in this video, fought it in court with a lawyer, got it reduced to a non-moving violation. I could probably have skipped the lawyer and save some $$$, but I could have also lost the case, so...

It was my first (and last) speeding ticket there, so it probably made it easier too.

The ticket definitely was bullshit and the cop definitely didn't like bikes. We crossed him like 10mn before being pulled over while he was doing a traffic stop. We were not going too fast when that happened. He was outside his car, claimed he measured our speed and I highly doubt this is possible, I don't think the doppler radar in his car has any type of memory. I think he visually overestimated our speed and made it a personal vendetta to catch up.

He (told us) he went back to his car after the traffic stop and drove like CRAZY to catch up. He told us he had to drive around 90mph+ to catch up (I do have an audio recording), which I can totally believe given the time it took and how far it was, and /assumed/ we must have been going that fast too (wrong !).

Except he could actually catch up because we were not going anywhere as fast as he was claiming. I was about to pull up GPS logs but the lawyer told me it was non useful in court.

I saw a black car approaching very fast in my rear view mirror and instinctively accelerated (remember - I've been rear ended once), and that's when he measured the speed. He was not having any lights on, so I could not know it was a cop and even if I knew, I would still have accelerated.

Thank you dear cop for driving like crazy toward bikes, make them afraid, and then use that to write a ticket.

Of course he could not use the first "measurement" because we could have claimed it was not us. In fact, maybe it was not actually us. I'll never know. It would explain some of the situation if it was two faster bikes. The ticket was based on his doppler measurement when he was rushing toward us.

The cop told us he was nice because he didn't write a ticket for the bikes (we were two bikes) while walking around mine and pointing things... my bike is totally stock, no modification at all. I have all the reflectors, stock lights, stock exhaust, everything. He was sure I had a modified exhaust and behaved like he was doing me a favor. He really had no clue and was just being a d*ck. Told him my bike was stop, he said "ah ah" like he was talking to a drunk guy saying he didn't drink, and kept going.

We were two bikes and immediately stopped, too. We both got a ticket.

Next time we'll split (it was at an intersection) and leave the cop select which one he wants to pull over. So much for being nice if he uses that against us.

I considered joining the police for several years and worked in a LEO-related department for several years, so I have nothing against the police, quite the opposite really, but this interaction left me with a terrible feeling about cops in the US. This is why I posted, I wanted to know how things were working in CA because I'm really afraid of this type of interaction.

A speeding ticket is never cheap, it always runs in the hundreds due to the consequences for the insurance.