T's Auto Thoughts: Life at 65 - An analysis of speed limits (Automotive)

Footage from my "Life at 65" experiment (Bonus Soundtrack included)
All footage taken with cruise control set at 65mph
Additional footage after article conclusion

Speed limits are ridiculous. I agree with a 25mph limit in residential areas and the limits on most city streets (35 to 50mph), but the speed limits on our highways and freeways are terrible. Cars keep getting faster, more stable, and safer yet speed limits have been set at 65mph or 70mph for quite some time. Based on my recent sample, traffic engineers would ideally have the limits set quite a bit higher. (All article hyperlinks are active. I particularly recommend the article at citation 2)

"Wikipedia's Entry Regarding Speed Limits
85th percentile rule
In the United States, traffic engineers may rely on the 85th percentile rule[2] to establish speed limits. The speed limit should be set to the speed that separates the bottom 85% of vehicle speeds from the top 15%. The 85th percentile is slightly greater than a speed that is one standard deviation above the mean of a normal distribution.
The theory is that traffic laws that reflect the behavior of the majority of motorists may have better compliance than laws that arbitrarily criminalize the majority of motorists and encourage violations. The latter kinds of laws lack public support and often fail to bring about desirable changes in driving behavior. An example is the federally-mandated 55 mph (90 km/h) speed limit that was removed in part because of notoriously low compliance.
Traffic engineers observe that the majority of drivers drive in a safe and reasonable manner, as demonstrated by consistently favorable driving records. Studies have shown crash rates are lowest at around the 85th percentile. Vehicles traveling over the 85th percentile speed (or faster than the flow of traffic) have a significantly higher crash risk than vehicles traveling around or modestly below this speed.
Most U.S. jurisdictions report using the 85th percentile speed as the basis for their speed limits, so the 85th-percentile speed and speed limits should be closely matched. However, a review of available speed studies demonstrates that the posted speed limit is almost always set well below the 85th-percentile speed by as much as 8 to 12 mph (see p.88) (13 to 19 km/h). Some reasons for this include:
Political or bureaucratic resistance to higher limits.
Statutes that restrict jurisdictions from posting limits higher than an arbitrary number."

To test the 65mph rule, I traveled in the two slowest lanes of the northbound 5 between San Diego and Orange County with my cruise control set at 65mph. I observed approximately the number of vehicles passing me, and compared that to the number I had passed, or at least gained on. It wasn't a big surprise to find that nearly every vehicle was passing me, including all but a few semi-trucks. If I had to give percentages, I would say 95% were traveling above the 65mph limit, and 5% were traveling at 65. (A generous 5%) I did not find a single non-commercial vehicle traveling below the set maximum limit. Clear proof that the maximum speed limit of the 5 northbound between San Diego and Orange County is grossly inaccurate, and arbitrarily set.

Speed limits that make every one's driving habits illegal hold absolutely no value. It becomes solely a way for city governments to make money, and for city employees to have a job enforcing and processing citations that mean nothing. Maximum speed limits have little to do with safety, or the good of the people. If it did, I would hope the government and police departments would make a real attempt to change society wide driving habits. In the real world, it is differences in speed that create unsafe driving environments, not driving 75 or 80mph in a 65 zone. I personally can say, and hope my footage illustrates, that it is extremely unsafe driving at 65mph. I was tailgated repeatedly, cut off numerous times, and feared merging at the many onramps. I encourage everyone who reads this, to try driving at the set maximum speed limit on their local freeway/highway. You will quickly experience what I'm talking about, especially if you live in Southern California. Police officers are lucky more people don't drive at or below the set maximum speed limits. I guarantee there would be more accidents tomorrow if more of the population did. Clearly, it has become a hypocritical system of power and money, allowing officers to choose who will be guilty on any given day at any given time. It has nothing to do with morality or safety. It's all a big joke.

What the government needs to realize is that people generally don't want to die. If they don't want to die, they will drive in a manner that prevents their death. The majority of the population, lets say 85%, will drive in a manner that is safe and reasonable, because in a well developed society such as ours, the majority of the populaion is safe, legal, and reasonable. Their driving and accident records support this. If arbitrarily set limits claim all these life loving, death fearing, Americans are driving unsafely and in an illegal manner, then these laws cannot be taken seriously. Who stands as the morale or legal compass if the majority is in the wrong, and every one else is even worse.

These speed limits will not change significantly for quite some time, and they may never again accurately reflect the habits of the driving public. An appropriate speed limit for today's vehicles, drivers, and freeways will be too high for government to stomach. As time passes, an appropriate speed limit (based on the 85th percentile rule and other indicators) will increase and grow the discrepancy between the actual set limits and this appropriate value. This will cause normal safe drivers to slam on their brakes at the site of a police officer, potentially dropping 15 or 20mph, and causing an accident. Not that their original speed was unsafe, but because an arbitrarily set limit told them it was wrong. What if, every police and highway patrol officer enforcing arbitrarily set speed limits was working on some other case? Helping pursue a thief, catch rapist, stop domestic abuse, or solve a murder for example. Think how much better the world could be.

Additional Footage