Speeding
 

We could pay for a police force out of speeding tickets!

I have just returned from business on 441 and came back into TV through El Camino Real. I have what the family liked to refer to as a "lead foot" when I drive, I was overtaken by almost every car driving the left lane. Most of the traffic was doing close to 50mph, if not more.

If the local police stationed unmarked cars at strategic places through that piece of road, and maybe include BV to 466, we could pay for our police force.

We complain about snowbirds and their driving, but we are becoming just as bad.

In The Villages I would worry more about drunk driving and age related impaired driving than someone who just drives fast.

And how fast were you driving??? :smiley:
Actually, 45-50 mph sounds like a reasonable speed for a four lane divided roadway with no pedestrian traffic and only a couple of intersections like Camino Real.

Speeding
 

And I agree with Outlaw... 100%..... 35 mph is too slow.... BUT... that is the speed limit and the law.. and not obeying it will cost you, big time !!!! And, understanding human nature, if we could talk them into changing it to 45 or 50..... then those that are speeding now, will be going 60-70 mph.....

Not to mention the Street Legal cart crowd kicking and screaming.

OK, I'll get some blow back for this, but.....
I find the concept of street legal arts to be idiotic. What do you gain? The legal ability to drive your cart at 25 instead of 20? And to do so you have to get out in the same lanes of traffic with vehicles 10x your weight going 35+. Ever observe the attitudes of some (not all) of these LSV drivers? It appears that they are out there with their "right" to use the same lanes you do and shoving it down your throat. It's kind of a passive-aggressive giant middle finger. Can and do some LSVs go over 25 just as regular carts go over 20---I'm sure they do, but I can only assume if they get in an accident the insurer will check to see if over 25 is possible and deny coverage, just as they do with other carts. If you want to go faster, take your car.
Personally I think 35 is fast enough on the major roads, but sometimes it's easy to drift up over 40 if your not watching the speedometer because the conditions are more than favorable. If the speed limit is set for safety issues, fine. But if it is set at 35 to accommodate the handful of LSVs out there, it's a joke.
End of rant.

I agree. I would speculate that the chances of the speed limit being changed is extremely remote. The roads are a shared resource and it is our responsibility to obey the law and share the resource with others in a safe manner. I would personally like to see more speed traps as the threat of a ticket is usually the only thing that slows people down.

I absolutely agree. I've never seen the sense in them either, but to each their own.

I wouldn't call them speed traps but LEO are usually stationed where one has difficulty seeing them and they use a radar gun.

Doing 50 MPH will automatically get you a ticket that normally costs $256.00. LEO as a courtesy usually knocks it down to 38 MPH costing one $138. I'm not sure what happens, if one is doing more than 50 MPH.

One could go to a school and the points will not show up on one's license. School is about $40. Every 12 months, one could go to school but if less than 12 months, expect an insurance increase.

What's the hurry anyway?

Where do you need to go so fast? We are retired.

what does being retired have to do with being in a hurry??

School
 

If you had a commercial license in previous job and still drive on it you cannot eliminate points by going to school. Just my experience talkingbto dmv.

Do you really believe that only retirees are using the Villages roadways?

So in other words, since you're retired everyone else should drive like they're retired, or adjust their life to suit you. I've been driving since 1966 without an accident, with one caveat, so whatever I've been doing must work. I can tell you, I don't drive slow, but I know how to handle a vehicle.

I've lived around retired people all my life. I grew up in St. Petersburg, the town Johnny Carson once called 'the city of the walking dead'. In 1975 I drove only a motorcycle for an entire year, to work, to play, at night, in the rain, in love bugs. Retired people tried to run me off the road every chance they could. I've become a defensive driver from my years in Pinellas County, but yet, I can move through traffic with no problems.

An accident can happen at any speed, and especially when not expecting it. My caveat was two months ago when I was waiting to exit the Marathon station on 466A and after 50 years of no accidents a guy rear ends my car. He explains he has MS disease and his leg is stiff and he was sorry, but missed the brake pedal. Fortunately he had good insurance, my repairs were $2400 plus a 2 week car rental.



Where do you need to go so fast? We are retired. So this is how we should be.

http://www.eldercareresourcespittsbu...=250&z=1&q=100

This is what scares me the most. The two hands locked on the wheel, head straight ahead driver.

http://blog.bnf.fr/uploads/lecteurs/...aservas-cc.jpg

The Sumter County Sheriff Dept will set up speed traps in this area two or three times per month. They usually do a "land office business" when they do! I think they have cut back a bit since the new grass was planted along El Camino.

Speed is a disease, take a look at TV and the Papers, speed, crashes, four wheel skids, folks killed while tubing on the lakes or with Jet Skis and Wave Runners. It is a big problem where so many just turn the other way, stick the head in the sand. So sad to see this and it usually takes a major crash or pileup and serious injuries before we hear: Gee, we DO have a speed problem.
As stated earlier, we are mostly retired and YET we see marked cars of people going to work, 3 minutes until 8 or whatever, driving like crazy. SLOW DOWN.

I'm always confused when I read posts like this. I always drive between the speed limit and five miles and hour or less over it. I very seldom have people pass me and certainly not at the outrageous speeds that people on here talk about. Not saying anyone's lying, but I just don't see it when I'm driving around here. What I see is 95% of the people driving like me, within five MPH of the limit.

bathroom?

Same experience here.

probably right
 

I think most do drive within 5 mph of the limit. In Florida you have to be going 5 over the limit for a money ticket, 4 or less is a warning by state law.

Does this apply to golf carts ? Or are carts zero tolerance at >20.0 mph ?

The roads do not belong to retirees exclusively. The way some of these people post you would think its the wild west in and around The Villages. It not. and its not that traffic has speed-ed up its simply that some drivers reaction times have slowed down and they need to recognize it.

What? Please post that statute.

318.18

For speed exceeding the limit by: Fine:
1-5 m.p.h..........Warning
6-9 m.p.h..........$25
10-14 m.p.h..........$100
15-19 m.p.h..........$150
20-29 m.p.h..........$175
30 m.p.h. and above..........$250

So, let me get this straight:

If you drive 35 in a 30 zone, you get a warning
BUT....
If someone goes 25 mph in their golf cart (if capable), they get up to $1500 fine and a felony charge????
Anyone see a problem with THAT????

Ive yet to find the statute which says its a felony (keep in mind you don't get a ticket for speeding, its for an unregistered vehicle). Nonetheless, I can't find where it becomes a felony.

Question,if the street legal carts can run the MMP why cant I drive my car on them.

You can. Just don't get caught.

First of all, the statement was not completely true. You can get a ticket for anything over the speed limit but because judges will tend to throw these out and admonish the officer for wasting the court's time. Police generally don't give tickets for 5mph over or less.

With golf carts, it's the same thing. They will generally not bother people for 25mph and below. The reasons are twofold. Number one is the same as with cars. Number two is that legal carts can get going over 20mph when going downhill.

We need to remember that the 20mph is not a speed limit for carts in the same way it is for cars. The 20mph rule is to determine whether or not a golf cart needs to be registered and insured. If you are pulled over in your golf cart and it is found that it is capable of going over 20mph on a flat surface you may be charge with driving an unregistered and uninsured vehicle on a public way. The speed limit can be 30 mph and you can be going 27 and still be cited if your cart is capable of going over 20. In that case you would not be cited for speeding.

As far as I know, there is not a separate speed limit for golf carts. There is a limit on how fast a golf cart is capable of going. If it can go over 20mph, it is then considered to be a Low Speed Vehicle and under the law needs to be registered and insured.

For one thing, street legal golf carts or LSVs are limited to speeds of 25 mph.

I'm not sure that that is the case. But it's two totally different charges. A driver going 35 in a 30 zone is charged with speeding.

A person driving a golf cart that is capable of going over 20 on a flat surface is charged with operating and unregistered and uninsured vehicle.

Other things to know is that if a cart is capable to going over 20, it also is required to have all of the same safety features as a car. Headlights, a solid windshield, wipers, horn etc.

True, but only because of the way the law is written. Personally, I think a cart going 22 in a cart lane is safer than a LSV going 25 on BV.

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...470fa7d40a.jpg

Memorable character from my youth. I thought it was for us kids only.

Here's the "sense" of the LSV: Take a trip in your car going from your house to BV, then drive up or down BV for a substantial distance, going the speed limit. Finally, pull in to one of the town centers or a recreation center. Check the average mph on your trip computer. It probably shows your average speed to be less than 25 mph. Now, a LSV can pretty much go 25 mph everywhere, since it is the slowest vehicle on the roadway. The LSV doesn't have to slow down at numerous gated intersections, stop, then cross, as it would if it was using the MMP. The LSV doesn't have to deal with the 15 mph golf cart slowing everyone down. So, the LSV traveling a good distance can probably average 20 mph on the roadways. An LSV on the MMP will average about 11-12 mph (That's what my computer tells me I average). If you're traveling to an activity 10 miles away, an LSV using BV would take maybe 30 minutes. On the MMP, it would take 50 minutes. That's a pretty big difference. Not to mention the hassle of all the intersections and tunnels on the MMP. So there is the reason people like the LSV. Full disclosure: I don't have an LSV. But I understand why people do.

Doctor, tee time, water volleyball, pick up spouse, meet friends, pharmacy, financial advisor, save seats at town square....

I cringe as I watch Smart cars do 78 in the left lane of the LIE. I cringe just a wee bit less as I watch a LSV on BV. To each their own.

I just about spurted coffee laughing as I read this! Great!

Me too! :wine:

No they don't. They just become the 25 mph vehicle slowing everybody ELSE down.:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

I'm having so much fun at Point A, I was late leaving for Point B.