Originally Posted by
B. Carfree
Well, that's the 85th percentile of independent vehicles. (When ten are stacked up, only the lead vehicle chooses the speed.) Also, they are allowed to lower the speed limit from that level if circumstances warrant it. Among the factors that are supposed to be considered are the presence of cyclists and pedestrians as well as the crash history (now irrelevant since police reports are only taken if someone dies or takes an ambulance ride). Unfortunately, far too few of our traffic engineers are interested in safety, as demonstrated by our horrific numbers of injuries on our roadways.
I was simply pointing out a fact about observed speeds, and how they are used without offering any personal speculative interpretations.
Trying to blame traffic engineers for the actions of road users who cause most of the "horrific numbers of injuries on our roadways" by ignoring the efforts of said engineers, and their obligation to observe the collective intent of traffic laws doesn't hold water.
We're all part of the problem....even as cyclists....and it won't change until we're all willing to admit it.