Anonymous wrote:This was a highly controversial speed limit change. After a driver going over 100mph smashed into a car making a left turn (it failed to yield) resulting in the deaths of 3 people, some vocal neighborhood members launched a huge campaign for safety on this road.

Note River Road was designed for 45mph and higher. It's a divided road, 2 lanes each way, with no blind curves, no driveways or entrances directly on the road (there's a service road for that), and even guardrails, on the stretch of road where the speed limit was reduced.

SHA (highway admin) did an extensive report on this -- over 200 pages. It found pedestrian traffic in most stretches averaged 0-2 people per hour, and made no recommendation about lowering the speed limit. With additional pressure, SHA caved.

For an example of absurdity, drive Bradley Boulevard that is parallel to River. It's got a 35mph speed limit, but it's not a divided highway, it has blind curves, and driveways back up directly to it. River Road is considerably safer design-wise, and does not merit the same speed limit as Bradley.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP- He said he was doing me a favor as he claims I was going 47. I thought I was going with the flow of traffic but truly who knows. It’s my first speeding ticket in over 20 years. I’m a safe driver who generally goes within a few miles of the speed limit which is why I’m so upset at myself.

If this is your first ticket in years, and you rarely speed, why on earth do you care about the point? Pay the damn fine, don't speed any more, and it's a non issue. You don;'t have to waste any time going to court.

Anonymous wrote:OP- He said he was doing me a favor as he claims I was going 47. I thought I was going with the flow of traffic but truly who knows. It’s my first speeding ticket in over 20 years. I’m a safe driver who generally goes within a few miles of the speed limit which is why I’m so upset at myself.

Anonymous wrote:This was a highly controversial speed limit change. After a driver going over 100mph smashed into a car making a left turn (it failed to yield) resulting in the deaths of 3 people, some vocal neighborhood members launched a huge campaign for safety on this road.

Note River Road was designed for 45mph and higher. It's a divided road, 2 lanes each way, with no blind curves, no driveways or entrances directly on the road (there's a service road for that), and even guardrails, on the stretch of road where the speed limit was reduced.

SHA (highway admin) did an extensive report on this -- over 200 pages. It found pedestrian traffic in most stretches averaged 0-2 people per hour, and made no recommendation about lowering the speed limit. With additional pressure, SHA caved.

For an example of absurdity, drive Bradley Boulevard that is parallel to River. It's got a 35mph speed limit, but it's not a divided highway, it has blind curves, and driveways back up directly to it. River Road is considerably safer design-wise, and does not merit the same speed limit as Bradley.

Anonymous wrote:
Such a crock of @#$, going 44 on River near Wilson isn't remotely unsafe.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure, but surprised they nabbed you for going just 9 miles over. Where in Bethesda were you?

44 in 35 is exceeding the speed limit by 26%. That's a big difference.

Also, if your car going 44 mph hits a pedestrian, there's about an 80% chance that the pedestrian will be severely injured, and a 65% chance that the pedestrian will be killed. For 35 mph, the chances are only (!) about 60% and 35%, respectively. That's a big difference, too.

But there is no earthly reason that a pedestrian should be in the middle of River Road (there are only a couple of crossings) particularly when the car has a green light. By that logic, we should never have a speed limit above 10 mph because you never know when there could be a pedestrian and the pedestrian is more likely to get hurt at higher speeds.

Anonymous wrote:

So everyone should change their habits just in case there is some moron crossing in the middle of the street with no crosswalk and when cars have a green?

How about we improve safety in this instance by discouraging pedestrians from doing wildly dangerous things rather that requiring drivers to completely jackass proof pedestrians.

There are plenty of examples where drivers need to change behavior for pedestrian safety, but this isn't one of them.

And this speed limit was changed because one moron was driving 100 mph and hit people. Obviously that guy was at fault, but that doesn't 45 mph is unsafe or shouldn't be the limit.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You were speeding. Period.

No sympathy.

Good thing she didn’t ask for any.

Anonymous wrote:You were speeding. Period.

No sympathy.

Anonymous wrote:OP- He said he was doing me a favor as he claims I was going 47. I thought I was going with the flow of traffic but truly who knows. It’s my first speeding ticket in over 20 years. I’m a safe driver who generally goes within a few miles of the speed limit which is why I’m so upset at myself.

Anonymous wrote:OP- He said he was doing me a favor as he claims I was going 47. I thought I was going with the flow of traffic but truly who knows. It’s my first speeding ticket in over 20 years. I’m a safe driver who generally goes within a few miles of the speed limit which is why I’m so upset at myself.