The Northeast as a region has been relatively resistant to the revenue-generating law-enforcement mechanism, but Connecticut Gov. Rell is now proposing them for a stretch of I-95. (Mike the Actuary, Feb. 11). In fairness, it might be argued that cameras deployed to auto-ticket speeders may not generate as bad a set of unintended consequences as cameras set up at traffic signals.
11 Comments
I’ve never understood why toll turnpikes don’t issue citations if the time on your entry ticket to the time of your exit shows that you were speeding. It always seemed like a no-brainer.
Because the operators of the turnpike would rather you speed than run below the speed limit.
Why?
Faster traffic equals more cars per hour, so, more money per hour. Also faster traffic makes people more likely to pay to use the road again. If you are constantly harassed for breaking a random number on a sign (see Autobahn for further details) you will [bold]not[/bold] use the toll road again.
Traffic flow, especially when a tollway is an alternative to a freeway.
Rutroh, I guess I’ll see more traffic on the Merritt.
That makes me sad.
Tom T.,
Try to envision the immense parking lots that would be necessary to hold all the vehicles waiting for the clock to spin so they would be ticketed for speeding. Plus it really wouldn’t be the American way, exact science, no wiggle room. So what would lawyers do for clients if they weren’t capable of getting their speeding tickets fixed.
Speeding has traditionally been an offense against the driver, not the vehicle. One can not say for sure who was driving, so no points could be assessed.
The New Jersey Turnpike changes from 5 lanes north of exit 8 to 3 lanes south. Usually when I get on the turnpike at exit 6 on Sunday afternoon the traffic moves very slowly to exit 8. Yesterday everybody was speeding at 75 and better on the 3 lanes, and the 3 lanes were able to clear the traffic at the higher speeds. It was very a very dramatic effect.
In response to the last post, the maximum vehicle flux (cars per hour) occurs at about 30-40 m.p.h. The reason for this is that the distance between cars for safe travel varies roughly as the square fo the speed.
the maximum vehicle flux (cars per hour) occurs at about 30-40 m.p.h. The reason for this is that the distance between cars for safe travel varies roughly as the square fo the speed.
I don’t doubt this, but it doesn’t reflect reality. Most cars fail to observe the proper safe following distances. How many times have you been driving at the speed limit (of course *you* don’t speed đŸ˜‰ and had cars nearly continuously on your rear bumper? And when you try to maintain a safe distance from the car in front of you, someone else almost always cuts in, since there’s such a “large” cushion there.