HiWire

Has anyone noticed that speed limits are going down around here? I understand the safety angle – it looks like a lot of formerly 60 km/h roads are being brought down to 50 km/h. Doesn't do much to help the traffic situation.

misterstyx69

iTrader: (142)

Kind of stupid if you ask me,as cars usually go about 20kph faster than the limit anyways.
So..they take a 60(they'd do 80) and take it down to 50...you are good at 70...

TerryD

main road downtown were 50s and are now reduce to 40 and side streets from 40 to 30km/h

Taivas

I feel like it has been a constant race to the bottom for the past ten years.

Here in Ottawa one of the best examples of this kind of nanny state insanity can be found coming over from Quebec into the city along King Edward. The speed limit there, which was once 60, is now as low as 30 as you come through a long corner.

I know the GTA has a reputation for faster driving than the rest of the province so maybe safety is truly the concern; however, up here the city tends to quote reasons along the lines of "it will reduce car traffic and revitalize the neighbourhood"... don't even get me started on the trend away from parking spaces in a town which sees winter for what feels like half the year.

Neo

iTrader: (3)

Band aid solutions.
Remember when driving was a privilege? People buy their licenses nowadays. These tests are a joke. If we actually tested people correctly, there wouldn't be a need to reduce speed limits. If anything they would go up!
Alas, we have to deal with people who are oblivious to their surroundings and completely uncurtious to their fellow driver.

Thankfully I don't live in the GTA.

HiWire

I've heard that it is actually easier to get a license in Toronto than in other towns in Ontario, contrary to what most people would expect. People drive fast because traffic and construction are so awful throughout the area – any kind of opening in the bumper-to-bumper and you can find people driving at excessive speeds – 140 km/h is normal on some parts of the 401 and the surrounding highways where law enforcement is thin.

I wish that municipalities would set realistic speed limits, rather than instantly kowtowing to local interest groups. Setting artificially low limits leads to everyone speeding. Another problem is the lack of alternative routes or detours. Any kind of accident on the major arteries can lead to hours of backed up traffic.

There is a war going on (especially downtown) between drivers, cyclists, public transit, and pedestrians. Road signage is still unclear (particularly for visitors) or missing – and little or no consistent notice is given regarding large, traffic-blocking construction projects (private or public).

Streetcars and buses destroy traffic flow where they don't have their own lanes, and cyclists and pedestrians routinely engage in hazardous behavior (e.g., riding between car lanes, running out into traffic, riding through intersections without stopping, etc.). The majority of drivers are law-abiding here, but it is frustrating to go places because of the long travel times, heavy traffic, and expensive parking.

First world problems, right?

Terrh

iTrader: (7)

Seems to be common everywhere. Local to me in SW ontario they've been lowering all the local limits for years. One road that was 80km/h when it was gravel gained a 60 zone when they paved it, they recently widened it and lowered the whole thing to 60 and the old 60 part to 50. It's a rural road with maybe a dozen houses on it total in a 5km stretch. I'm not sure what the point is, aside from being really handy to put speed traps on now.

Lucas FC

iTrader: (1)

I Just got back from a road trip through the maritimes. Most of the highways we took were 110km/h and had no traffic on them. It was great driving out there! The scenery was an added bonus.

TomU

iTrader: (11)

Same here. I just assumed speed limits were mph so didn't think it was that low

And it is really nice (in the summer that is )

rx7racerca

iTrader: (1)

Setting speed limits artificially low does little to modify driver behaviour - most drivers drive a reasonable speed for the road and conditions, regardless of what limit is set, high or low.

"Speed kills" is a lie created to sell the double-nickle speed limit in the US back in the 70s during the oil crisis. Law enforcement and governments have enthusiastically bought in, because speed enforcement can bring in a lot of easy revenue for police departments and governments. Here in Alberta, for example, ticket revenues are divided between the provincial government and local municipalities, which in turn typically use the funds to pay for... more policing, creating a nice little feedback loop whereby the police essentially get to increase their own funding by writing speeding tickets, and/or local politicians get to increase overall funding by making the police more self-funding.