Be Alert for SLOW-MOVING Vehicles on Texas Highways ...

originally posted by: Cloudbuster
The speed limit is not a target, it is a limit.

While true, you can get a ticket for impeding traffic flow due to driving too slow (in a vehicle clearly capable of the full speed limit).

Id say anything above 70% of the limit is exceptable, driving at half is clearly not good for congestion.

a reply to: OrphanApology
I would love to see the source for that statistic......


here is what I found.....

Causes and Factors in 18 Wheeler Accidents

Truck accidents can happen for a number of reasons. Truck drivers could be tired, operating their vehicles recklessly, or under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Sometimes, weather conditions, truck malfunctions, and other outside factors could be to blame.

According to the FMCSA, 3 percent of truck drivers involved in fatal crashes had a blood alcohol content level of at least .01 at the time of the wreck.
More than 30 percent of fatal crashes involved some sort of driver error or negligence. The most common instances included speeding, distracted driving, and failure to yield right of way.
Poor weather conditions were reported in 14 percent of truck crashes in 2010. Rain was the most common condition reported.
Eighty-seven percent of fatal head-on collisions in 2010 were caused by the truck crossing the center line. Just 13 percent were caused by a passenger vehicle.
Four percent of fatal 18 wheeler accidents in 2010 were caused by rollovers.

In rear-end wrecks in 2010, 76 percent were caused by passenger vehicles. Twenty-four percent were the fault of the truck driver.
Cause



Considering all rear-end accidents are the fault of the rear driver this stat is interesting....if that is what you mean....

a reply to: OrphanApology

FIAT, Citroën, and Peugeot have all sold cars there in the past....as well as other euro manufacturers. Could be any number of cars with out a better description who knows..

a reply to: rickymouse
75 is the limit not the minimum.....I believe 45 is the minimum in a 75....
US minimum and Maximum


Note Idaho and Wyo just raised theirs to 80 come July 1st


Speaking of Texas 75-85 limit....

This sounds like out by Big Lake. Narrow 2 lane high way set at 75mph. Get down closer to the border and you have the same speeds on crumbling roads twisting into 30mph turns. My son called it "the 100 mile death trap"

I-20 has the high speeds, and the congestion out by Midland has been very productive for the emergency workers.

When I lived in El Paso people talked about seeing drivers with Chihuahua (Cuidad Juarez) plates like it was traumatizing to them. The story was how bad they drove and the wrecks. Looking back it seems more like insurance scams going on.

Consolidate into below post

a reply to: ParanoidAmerican

That's a law firm site that specializes in making money off making the truck drivers liable for accidents. As you can see by the data below the law firm actually lies on it's website and has the information backwards, stating that it is the trucks who crossed the line 87% of the time. Of course that's lawyers fer ya. The actual government document they site states that is truck drivers who cross line only 13% of time.

I will sift through the government data and see what I can find. I will try and find the website that was used when I priced an insurance product. I can't remember the name right off hand but I will come back and edit this post in a bit.

First edit:
ai.fmcsa.dot.gov...

For two-vehicle fatal crashes in 2010 involving a large truck and a passenger vehicle:
Of the 398 fatal head-on crashes, the large truck crossed the center line in 13% and the passenger vehicle crossed the center line in 87% of the crashes.
Of the 318 fatal rear-end crashes, the large truck hit the passenger vehicle in the rear in 24% and the passenger vehicle hit the large truck in the rear in 76% of the crashes.

Edit 2:
Non-government website but has statistics listed and also has links at bottom to all government websites"

www.truckinfo.net...

What are some accident statistics?
Estimates of 41,000 to 45,000 traffic deaths occur every year within the U.S.. Walkers and bikers account for 15% of the total traffic deaths each year. Fewer than 9% of those deaths involve commercial vehicles. More than 80% of those accidents are the fault of the non-commercial driver. Of those death related accidents only 4% of trucks are fatigue related. Drinking related accounted for .06% of those accidents.

Keep in mind that although 3% of accidents had commercial drivers with an alcohol of .01 or more, that doesn't mean that the alcohol played a factor. For regular drivers legal limit is .08, for commercial drivers it's .01 or more. So basically if a commercial driver had been drinking night before and had slept off dizziness(.01 is a very very low bac) they would still be cited for drunk driving.

a reply to: ParanoidAmerican

I used to absolutely hate being inside the 25 mile border zone..when there was a border zone to speak of. Now it seems a free for all from the Mexican border to the Canadian border with no care for who goes where with what equipment on our highways. It used to be far more restricted though.

Then? Oh, there was NO doubt when I was in the border zone vs. north of it. The plates weren't the sign, just something to confirm as I drove by. What struck me were TWO big things and so consistent over the years, it made me wonder just what traffic law IS in Mexico anyway??

First, cars and trucks loved to drive the shoulder if a blistering 45 or 55 mph back then was too much for them to handle. I mean, full driving down the shoulder on an otherwise empty or very lightly populated secondary road. I guess it was helpful in that I passed the slow pokes easy enough ...but someone never explained to our foreign visitors a thing I learned in the weeks of trucking school. U.S. highway shoulders are *NOT* always made anywhere near the same standard as the roadway itself. They tend to be thinner, with less foundational work below and cost cutting came there, if anywhere. BAD BAD place to drive...but it seemed the norm. (??)

Then the slow slow drivers IN the traffic lanes. Are there any Mexican nationals who can explain that? Is it an engrained fear of being pulled over so, running below limits at all times? Is it something else? What it does seem to be is suicidal in ways, for a society that usually looks at a speed limit as a 'starting point', not an end point.