Uncle Ben ups the speed limit

In the face of the van-cam fiasco, Governor Cayetano is proposing that we raise the speed limit on our highways.

This, I think, was the right thing to do all along, and it's so telling that we had to go about it in such a backwards way. Is this a good thing, or are we just asking for trouble?

Comments

Heheheh. I tell people the speed limit in Hawai´i is so slow because if it were any higher, you'd run out of freeway.

I agreed with the first parts of the freeway designated for the higher limits, that's for sure. I think it would be superfluous and possibly dangerous to try to up the limits between the H-2 interchange and Koko Head, what with all the entry/exit ramps.

wait a sec.. you don't drive, do you? :) I personally can't speak for H-1 or H-2, but H3 is begging for a speed upgrade (45mph stretches??). And someone try to convince me that Pali wasn't meant to be driven at 55- sheesh, I can take the hairpin at 50 (although I don't recommend this, 40 is much safer :)

I dunno, sometimes this place reminds me too much of California about 15 years ago. I don't think speeding in itself is the problem- it's reckless drivers, and people driving too slow in the faster lanes. If people would just use more common sense- especially about not drinking and driving- traffic would flow much more smoothly.

Anyone else watching News 8 at 6? Darren Pai just did an unscientific comparison of the two speeds at the Makakilo/Kunia stretch of highway. He drove the stretch two times, once at 55 mph, and then once at 60 mph. He then compared the lengths of time it'd take going through the stretch at each speed. The result? A whopping 23 second difference between the speeds. Is this enough to justify the speed change? ::shrug::

I don't drive, so I can't really say much about the freeways and all the problems associated with driving in Hawaii - though I really think that if people were to be a little more mindful about their driving (and this is coming from someone who knows one too many drunk drivers... and bad ones at that) we would have a better time going on the road.

Hey, what about drag racers? I still remember this one time really late at night when my Dad was driving us back from Sis' place in Makakilo going into town, and we got caught (I believe it was somewhere near Moanalua on the 78) between two particularly noisy rice rockets trying to re-enact scenes from The Fast and The Furious...

What? Only a 5 mph increase? How useless ... speed limit around here is 65 mph in the city, 70 mph in the country (which means everyone goes at least 80 mph).

But like I said before -- drive that fast, and you run out of freeway.

I find Hawai´i drivers to be polite to a fault. I regularly get irritated when drivers give me the right of way when they're not supposed to. Plus the infrastructure is lousy. Kapahulu Ave. is just screaming for a turn-only lane.

I hate Austin drivers with a passion. Idiots and assholes all of them. If you ever want to witness reckless ignorance of the rules of the road, drive in Austin for a week.

I can't comment on H-3; I've only driven it once, and that was just to "drive" it, not to go anywhere on the Windward Side :(

I've been driving H-1 between Pearlridge and town since 1980, and drove from Pearlridge to Mililani for about 18 months in the mid-90s. H-2 coming down the hill could easily accomodate faster speeds (and did...).

I think the 'running out of freeway' comment is apt, Greg. The reason why the new speed limits are limited to certain sections (H-1 at Kunia, H-3 above Halawa) is because they're (1.) very long and (2.) have limited onramps and offramps. You can't raise it in town, because not only is the "freeway" three-lanes wide, curvy, and constricted by several overpasses, but there are offramps and onramps every quarter mile. Having folks go 60 or faster there would be a disaster.

I agree a 5 mph increase is almost pointless, especially given that now the "unwritten" rule about being able to go 10 mph above the limit is widely held. (Of course, that means the "real" limit is 65.)

Like Steve, though, there are some stretches - including the ones already pegged for the 5 mph bump - that can safely handle an even higher number. Frankly, coming down H-2 at some wide, straightaway points, it's hard to not hit 65 just coasting.

And: Um, Lisa? I think Jen's post was also in favor of upping the limit. I agree (and always have, since the Van Cam fiasco came about) that the limits on the Pali are ridiculous. The only concession is, unfortunately, that since it does zip through residential areas, you can't not reduce the limit along some segments.

hee, I just found it amusing that Jen was the one to post this piece, is all.

I agree that there are some stretches of highway (Pali past Waokanaka especially) where the speed limits are appropriate and shouldn't be raised. I'm always glad when I get the red at Waokanaka because people get upset when I slow down to even 40 there.

I may be a highway speed demon (no kidding, I regularly drove 85-90 up 280 in CA on my way to work!) but I take surface street driving very seriously and rarely exceed posted limits.

What is that supposed to mean, you "found it amusing"? Someone who doesn't drive is not allowed to have an opinion on the matter? Traffic affects everybody, even those of us who ride the bus (incidentally, I don't think the bus lane is a very good idea either).

Hay I'm only 18 but I understand what it feels like to speed it's an awsome feeling but at the same time My best friend says those who speed must have a death wish because speeding can be deadly. I think that by raising the speed limet it would only be asking for trouble.

I lived off of H-1 for over a year in the early 90s and traffic always was running from 65 to 75 mph when it was lite . The freeways were designed to handle 75 to 80 mph . So anything posted below that is just a waste of time . Limits should match real world conditions if you want them to be relavent .

Over the last 10 years in states with real world limits posted of 70 to 80 mph posted on interstates the death rate did drop when the limit was raised . Post all the freeways at at least 70 mph outside of the city .

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