speed limit
 

Sorry if this has been brought up before, but I live in Hadley and today I was pulled over 3 blocks from my house for going 25 in a 15 mph zone. Are you kidding me? 15 mph? That seems ridiculous! I think my car idles at that speed. The officer was very nice and respectful and just gave me a warning. I wanted to question the speed limit but I didn't want to get him mad enough to change his mind and give me a ticket, so I kept silent. I agree that we don't want people speeding around there in a residential area, but 25mph would be a much more reasonable limit. 15mph is usually reserved for business driveways and parking lots. Does anyone agree with me and if so, do you know who I could contact to voice my concern? Thanks. Mac

I don't agree.

There are a lot of residents that walk in the street (no sidewalks), slow moving carts with no separate cart lane, bike riders, people walking dogs, and some residents in motorized wheel chairs.

I've seen the sheriff on a corner near when I live and they pull you over for either speeding or not making a complete stop.

As mentioned in other threads, the patrols have recently increased, carts and cars are getting pulled over.

I don't agree either.

I'm one of those residents, that walks,jogs,bikes, and walks my dogs in my neighborhood in TV while sharing the road with cars and golfcarts. I had posted just the other day that the posted speed limit in most neighborhoods south of 466 was 15mph. I believe 15mph is a reasonable speed on a road that is shared by so many. I would also like to see a posted speed limit on the multi-modal trails since they are also shared by users participating in various activities.

I am not familiar with your neighborhood but if I were to drive through it and saw the speed limit was 15 I would drive 15, not 25.
You can contact the county commissioners to voice your concern but I wouldn't recommend it. There is a reason the speed limit is 15 MPH so I would suggest living with it.

I must agree. I was just out in my golf cart on Madero, driving around 15-18 (not flat out), and I was passed by a Toyota Siena on a curve. He was easily doubling my speed. There were people working near the curb and barely on the road and they had to move out of his way. I am sure he would have been real apologetic if he had hit one of them. These roads are full of contractor's trucks parked on the curb, along golf carts and bikes a good part of the day, making them really unsafe to negotiate at more than the speed limit.

Where are you going that the few seconds you save by speeding can be that precious to you?

macgolgnut
 

I agree with you. 15 a little to slow. bicycle are going faster then that.25 seems like a nice safe speed. In The Villages they say driving golf carts to fast, and playing golf to slow.

I for one did not know the speed limit on the side streets was 15mph. Somewhere there is a disconnect between 15mph and golf carts that go 19.8mph. I never check the speed of the cart, but almost always drive it full speed except on curves and tunnels. So I agree with those that say 25 is to fast, but would suspect a reasonable speed limit for everyone might be better at 20mph. Seems if it is set at 15mph then golf carts should require speedometers. Which would require inspections to verify everyone had one. Which then require some sticker as proof it was done, which would require a registration to stop you from driving if it wasn't. And NONE of us want to go down that road. So set the speed limit to 20 mph. Then most carts can't speed. And those that do are breaking another law already in place anyway so they can be ticketed.

Halle, good post. I agree that 15 MPH is a reasonable speed on a shared road. There are many people who are physically challenged in our retirement community. Let's keep the pace of life slow and easy.

What seems to be forgotten here is that a car or truck is much larger than either a bicycle or golf cart and weighs a heck of a lot more. Hitting someone with a car at even 10mph can cause severe injury or even the loss of a life.

The speed limit of 15 does seem slow if you've just had to slow down from driving at a faster speed on a road with higher limits, but there are no sidewalks, people have to walk in the streets, around service vehicles and might not see someone coming at them in a motor vehicle.

I know that the speed limit for patio villas and CYVs is 10 mph, at least those off of El Camino -- that speed is for ANY vehicle driving on those streets (includes, cars, golf carts and bikes). I assume if the posted speed limit is 15 mph, it applies to me whether I'm in a car or a cart or on the scooter. Like a car, just because your cart can go 19.8 mph, it doesn't mean that's the legal speed for you at all times.

I also agree with the majority -- 15 mph (and even 10 in some areas) is a reasonable speed given who all is on those streets. I'd feel heartsick if I ran over someone's pet (wouldn't feel quite as bad if it was a person, but I would feel some remorse). On the main streets (Havana, Rhapsody, Dunkirk in Hadley), I can see where someone would think 25 mph is reasonable even though I do try to take even those streets slower -- have to stop too often to pet a critter.

Thanks for the reminder, Redwitch, that the speed limit applies to bikes and carts, also.

speed limit
 

As I was sitting here reading the post on the speed limit in the Villages I looked out my den window and saw my neighbor's mother, who is in her 90's walking on the street with her walker. Tell me, do you really think it's safe to come down my street doing 25 miles an hour when the speed limit is 15 and this lady happens to be walking more in the middle of the street because there is a truck parked in her way. How would you feel if you hit her as she does not have the ability or agility to get out of your way. The original poster should feel very lucky to not have gotten a ticket. If I was that officer, I wouldn't have been so nice.
I wonder why everyone is in such a hurry. I think 15 miles an hour speed limit is very appropriate for a place that has people anywhere from 50 years old and up walking on streets without sidewalks.

Macgolfnut was doing approx. 66% over the speed limit. If he was just going 5 miles more an hour putting it at 30, it would be the same as on rt.75 where the speed limit is 70, he would have been doing 140 miles an hour. He was almost doubling the speed limit on a side street in Hadley..

Don't want to hijack the thread but Triggerfish Run backs up to my house in Buttonwood. I assume that street is @30 MPH? I have no idea and having only spent one week in TV I am not familiar with the speed zones and what is normal.

Thanks for the warning - I didn't know it was 15mph.

I can only assume a resonable study was done to determine a safe speed. I agree with L2, I never limit my cart when in the neighborhood so I'm probably going closer to 20mph in the cart.

Also way to many people are walking on the wrong side of the roads around here, it drives me crazy. You must walk facing traffic. The other day I saw a woman walking in one of the rotaries going the same way as the traffic, that's an accident waiting to happen. 15 MPH seems to be a good speed for the neighborhood streets.

I do not have any problem with the 15 mile speed limit. So now I would like to monitor my speed in the cart. It is hard to just guess how fast you are actually going. Does any one know if that can be done at a low cost?

One inexpensive method of monitoring your speed on the golf cart is to purchase one of the now very cheap GPS units. They measure your speed very accurately.

I agree, Mudder. The law of common sense dictates walking, jogging, etc., facing the traffic. I passed a jogger the other evening, wearing dark clothing, and on the wrong side. I was very close when I saw his white legs. He was in the cart lane so no harm done. However, a cart would have a good chance of hitting him.

25 MPH can be way too fast on some of our streets. I live on a 25 MPH street (no cart lane) and would not be unhappy if it was changed to 15 MPH

I agree that it's not good to be walking in the rotaries facing either way! But it is a retirement community with an aging population. I think that we have to remember that there are some Village residents who suffer from dementia. Not everyone is going to be obeying traffic rules. Many residents are elderly and get muddled easily. Well, I guess we all get muddled sometimes!

macgolfnut

Can you telll us the specific street the sherrif was on ?? There had to be complaints about speeding drivers from someone who lives on that street for I cant believe a sherrif was just sitting there as part of a normal speed trap. I mean he/she can go to Morse, Odell, or even StillWater where (I think) the speed is 25MPH and pick up all the speeders he/she and the courts can handle.

Caution should always be key word but I would find it difficult to observe when golf carts go zipping by at 19.5 or faster! ..I think it was handled very professionaly without making a big deal out of it! The Offcier was doing his/her job and got the message accross to local residents

Maybe an opposing view....but I read a lot about walkers, joggers, women with walkers, pets, bicyclists, segways, etc. on the streets. If seems to me that the streets were designed for automotive traffic and those are the ones who pay the motor fuel taxes and registration fees to maintain those same streets.

I'm not advocating that everyone drive 60mph in the neighborhoods, but 15mph is very slow. Correct me if I'm wrong, but school zones are designated 20mph. As other have noted, golf carts are passing you at that speed....and I would think even bicycles.


I'm just saying ...

Mac:

I'm sorry that I don't agree. I think someone might have complained that people were exceeding the speed limit and the officer was there to give only warnings. You said, "The officer was very nice and respectful and just gave me a warning". My understanding is that a warning will not cost you anything unless one is caught in another moving violation within one year, (in the Northeast). Then the person will automatically get a ticket no matter what the circumstances.

I have gotten a couple of warnings in my 50 years of driving and managed to survive them despite my bruised feelings. Obviously, I was wrong in one situation and the other was bogus but that is a long story.

IMHO - I would not put an extra burden on myself trying to fight city hall. I found it better for me to be more careful as it doesn't stess me out.

I'll bet you'll NEVER see a cop doing 15 or under on any side street. 25 mph is reasonable on residential streets.

Barnsdale Run near Dunkirk Trail in Hadley. One unmarked car and the new golf cart that the sheriffs office has. Not sure if this is from a complaint but a neighbor did stop and talk to the officers while he was walking by and they said it is like you mentioned, a message to people to please obey the speed limit and that they will be in other areas of TV doing the same thing.

Funny thing about folks that complain about slow speed limits. Let's take Macgolfnut for instance. The speed limit is 15MPH and he was going 25MPH. If the speed limit was raised to 25MPH he would, more than likely be doing 35MPH and if the speed limit were raised to 35MPH he would be inching up to 50MPH and so on.

15 MPH suits me fine, and if everyone adhered to it we would all be a lot safer. IMHO

Quite true as our neighbor has found out. She was all stressed out over her ticket and went to court yesterday. She was offered two options pay the $130 fine, which will put points against her license or plead no contest, which will get her a $250 court fee and the ticket dismissed. Considering the impact of the points she choose the no contest option.

Why do some people think slower is always safer? :shrug:

Just got off the phone with my brother in the Chicago burbs. He has a house in the historic section that he mainly rents out until he retires next year. He bought a used Par Car (2002) cart last month and he mentioned that it goes 38 MPH!!!!

Is that possible???


.

Possibly because slower allows the driver more time to react to unexpected situations. :confused:

Well, I'm glad that I created some conversation about this subject, and I can see that I have very few people who agree with me. To answer an earlier question, it was a motorcycle cop on Rhapsody near Havana Trail. In conversations with friends around The Villages, it has become apparent to me that the police are jumping around the different neighborhoods and basically trying to get people to slow down and be careful on the side streets. I am a safe driver in most situations. I go 35mph on Morse and 45mph on 466 and 466A, even though I am often passed by other drivers. When I see a walker, jogger, dog walker, golf cart, biker, or any other slower moving person on the street, I slow down around them. However, I'm sticking to my guns that 15mph is REALLY slow. Next time you are out driving, go that speed for a few blocks. Bikes and carts will pass you. Every cart I have been in goes at least 19 or 20 mph, and almost nobody has a speedometer. So I guess they are all breaking the law. I'm not in any hurry. Heck, I'm retired! But it is extremely difficult and frustrating to go that slow. Sorry, that is just my opinion. Not to be rude, but I also think that those who have said that they think 15mph is fine and that I should have gotten a ticket should take a look in the mirror. Do they always go that speed or do they sometimes creep up around 25mph like I did. Have a good day everyone. :)

I have to agree on these points. I'm sure we are all guilty of speeding, and 15mph is slow, but if you hit someone and it is found you were doing 25 in a 15 zone, you don't have any legal excuse. I don't know what the penalty would be for injuring or even causing someone to lose their life in a situation like this, but it would be hard enough to live with if you were doing the speed limit and had no criminal charges filed against you. I can't imagine what it would be like to be speeding and hurt someone. I have found myself slowing down, even on my golf cart, while driving through neighborhoods because of this thread.

Ditto, macgolfnut

I think this is the key - it is just common sense to slow down when there are pedestrians, trucks, golf carts, etc on the road. While I tend to drive quite slow in a residential area, I can tell from observation that either the TOTV population is way outside the norm for TV or they are not aware of how fast that they do drive in residential areas. Most people drive at least 25 MPH.

speed
 

agree with you one hundred percent.15 is just to slow.

I applaud this thread if it has made some of us (and I include myself) more mindful of our speed in residential areas.

I agree Bare.

BUT

15 mph is not reasonable. You can't just say it's safer because by that logic 10 mph would be even safer. And 5mph would be even safer than that. Most new cars on a flat surface idle at about 10 mph. Where do they come up with 15? I would rather see 25 strictly enforced than 15 loosely enforced where 95% drive faster.

But let's all be cognizant of our surroundings and watch out for neighborhood foot traffic.

After reading this post I have been checking the entrances of the various villages and they all have speed limit signs - 10 mph for the villas and 15 mph for the others at the entrance.

What is wrong with obeying the speed limit? You have walkers, carts, cars and work trucks parked on the streets that make it hard to go around at a faster speed.

We are not in a hurry so hang up your cell phones and drive at the speed limit.

I would love to have a cop sit on my street and give tickets to the UPS and other delivery trucks - and the carts and cars that fly up and down the street.

I agree that the officer handled it professionally. I think the 15 mph is reasonable on neighborhood streets, but like many others, I did not realize that was the case. It's good to know.

If someone is not aware of the speed limit.......people are not reading the speed limit signs....how can they be aware of walkers, people on bikes or slow moving carts???

You are right that I should have been aware of the speed limit on neighborhood roads. Guess I was too busy looking out for walkers, people on bikes and slow moving carts.

Never did spot any slow moving carts.