....wondering if a future Darwin award winner is posting on this thread.

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You've never been in rain that forced you to drive anything near 40? Never been in conditions where peole were pulled over because the rain was so heavy or the ponding so severe?

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I have. So, I did the smart thing and got off the highway. Look, I'm an economist for a living. One thing that we discuss is how dangerous faulty expectations can be. Inflation isn't nearly as bad as expecting a level of inflation and not getting it (as an example). People expect others to drive close to the speed limit. If you're driving 30 MILES PER HOUR under the speed limit (that is, almost half), then you're being unsafe. People will be forced to slam on their brakes around you. On top of that, studies show that a little tap on the brakes make other around you nervous and they will start hitting the brakes even if they're in a different lane. So, do yourself and me a favor and don't be unsafe. Drop it to 55 and you'll be just fine.

There are alot of idiots posting in this thread.

I especially love the sense of entitlement to the highway. "If you can't drive like I want you to drive then get off the highway."

The speed limit is the maximum allowable speed. Anything under is appropriate depending on conditions. Not every vehicle is the same and not every person is the same. It is awsome that most of you seem to know what the appropriate way to operate each vehicle on the road is.

If you approach a car travelling 40 mph on the highway too fast, then you are driving in an unsafe manner. If the car were to change lanes in front of you and you hit them, then you are legally liable for the damages.

Oh... your an economist, you therefore must know everything about driving. Well thats different....

In the words of the late George Carlin...

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Have you ever noticed that when you're drivin', anyone goin' slower than you is an idiot? And anyone goin' faster than you is a maniac?

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That is funny, true, and perhaps the single Carlin quote that will make it through the texag filters unscathed...

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If you approach a car travelling 40 mph on the highway too fast, then you are driving in an unsafe manner

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I've also been told that a car can't interfere with the natural flow of traffic. I have a hard time siding with the one person driving 40 if everyone else on the road is driving 70.

It's the same rules as snow skiing. The uphill skier is responsible for all downhill skiers, even if they are stopped. If you're on the road, you're responsible for detecting any hazards in front of you, including the guy driving 30 mph slower than you. Of course, you are well within your rights to express your displeasure with the person but, you better not hit them or cause a wreck going around.

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I have a hard time siding with the one person driving 40 if everyone else on the road is driving 70.

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Conversely we've got two or three on this thread that think anyone who drives under 60 in a 70 at any time under any conditions is an invalid. Go figure. I think everyone thinks everyone else is an idiot.

Don't hold me to this timeline but I am going to try to get some figures for you guys tomorrow. I want to try and get one of the traffic guys to calculate stopping distance on a dry road at 70, 60, 50 and 40 mph on a dry road and then the same speeds on a wet road. Might be interesting.

csmotorcop - if you are reading this, don't try to hide from me.

The idiots really stand out when the roads are wet. I agree that 40 MPH is too slow for highway minimum speed under normal conditions. The minimum should be 50 MPH.

I'm certain I remember minimum speed limit signs on the highway when I was a kid. Now that I think about it though, I haven't seen one in years.

entitlement is the new race card

entitlement is feeling that you can drive on a highway with a speed limit of 70 at 40 mph, not that you can drive 70 on a highway with a speed limit of 70...try again but lets not use liberal attacks

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If you approach a car travelling 40 mph on the highway too fast, then you are driving in an unsafe manner. If the car were to change lanes in front of you and you hit them, then you are legally liable for the damages.

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actually i bet you could easily get out of charges associated with this and have them placed on the person driving too slow, thats a crime you know, but students dont typically commit that one so they dont cover it at the academy

also, you can post all the stories you want about the crashes that occur, but how do you know they were not driving slowly and that their vehicles were well maintained, please post the entire story, according some of your logic if someone drives drunk in the rain and kills someone else it is the rains fault

please read the following articles
http://www.helium.com/items/973195-driver-safety-the-dangers-of-slow-drivers

[This message has been edited by WATER TOWER (edited 8/8/2008 11:17a).]

Listed below is information that one of the traffic officers calculated regarding stopping distances. Understand that they had to use “average” information for these calculations. Many, many factors affect the drag factor – the drag factor affects the calculated stopping distances. For our purposes we used an average roadway with dry conditions and the same roadway with wet conditions. The figures will show the mph the vehicle is traveling and how long it takes the vehicle to come to a complete stop.

Dry roadway calculated with an average drag factor = .70

40 MPH 76.19 ft (25.4 yds)
50 MPH 119 ft (39.67 yds)
60 MPH 171.4 ft (57.13 yds)
70 MPH 233 ft (77.67 yds)

Wet roadway calculated with an average drag factor = .55

40 MPH 96.9 ft (32.3 yds)
50 MPH 151.5 ft (50.5 yds)
60 MPH 218.8 ft (72.93 yds)
70 MPH 296.6 ft (98.87 yds).......almost 1 football field

Again, the factors will vary based on vehicle type, road type, etc. However, the figures above all use the same data except for the weather conditions. I added the yard equivalent since everyone is getting in football mode and I thought that the good people of TexAgs could better visualize a football field.

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Dry roadway calculated with an average drag factor = .70

40 MPH 76.19 ft (25.4 yds)
50 MPH 119 ft (39.67 yds)
60 MPH 171.4 ft (57.13 yds)
70 MPH 233 ft (77.67 yds)

Wet roadway calculated with an average drag factor = .55

40 MPH 96.9 ft (32.3 yds)
50 MPH 151.5 ft (50.5 yds)
60 MPH 218.8 ft (72.93 yds)
70 MPH 296.6 ft (98.87 yds)

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Of course it's reasonable to drive a bit slower than normal when on a wet road (and to slow down even more if visibility is significantly decreased by rain). But by TLIAC's numbers, slowing from 70 mph to 60 mph is more than sufficient to compensate for a wet road, all other factors being equal. Slowing from 70 mph to 40 mph is indeed foolish and hazardous.

You still aren't getting it. It's not the stopping factor, it's the water under your tires that cause you to hydroplane, slide across the median, and kill a van load of nuns and crippled orphans.

I hope you can live with yourself.

Most vehicles can hydroplane at speeds as low as 35 mph. Are you suggesting we should all slow to 34 mph every time it rains a little? I will instead continue checking the inflation and tread of my tires, turning off my cruise control on wet roads, and being mentally prepared to react calmly and quickly if my car does begin to hydroplane.

The greater danger is not weather/road conditions (except in extreme instances) but unsafe driving, in bad weather or good. Driving 40 mph when most of the traffic around you is going 65 mph (e.g.) will very likely lead to someone else either rear-ending you, or swerving suddenly into another lane (or off the road) to avoid hitting you. When that happens, you may not be legally at fault, but you will have contributed to causing an accident.

By all means, please do adjust your driving (including speed) appropriately for the weather and road conditions. But remember that other traffic is part of "road conditions," and that driving much slower than other traffic is not an appropriate or a safe adjustment! If you are not comfortable keeping pace with the flow of traffic, use a different road with slower traffic, or pull over and wait for conditions to improve. Don't turn yourself into an obstacle for other drivers to dodge.

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Most vehicles can hydroplane at speeds as low as 35 mph. Are you suggesting we should all slow to 34 mph every time it rains a little?

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So, by your logic, you will drive at 40 mph or faster in conditions that you describe as conducive to hydroplaning?

Good luck-please let me know what your are driving so I can stay out of your way.

EDIT: I will get off the highway if the conditions are such that I cannot maintain a safe, controllable speed. But if I get caught in a rain squall between exits on Highway 6, I will slow to a speed that is safe and prudent, even if it is 10 mph until I can exit.

If I am struck in the rear by another vehicle unable to stop in those same conditions, my (or my estate's) attorney will be getting a major piece of somebody's lifetime earnings.

[This message has been edited by Aggiefan54 (edited 8/9/2008 11:48a).]

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You're a ******bag.

No, I will drive at speeds I consider appropriate for the weather and road conditions, including many factors in that judgment—especially visibility (how hard is it raining?), traction (how worn are my tires? How much water is on the road? What type of pavement is it?), and the traffic around me (how much traffic is there? How fast is it moving?).

Note I said most vehicles can hydroplane at speeds as low as 35 mph, not that they will do so. If that is enough to warrant slowing to 34 mph whenever there is any water on the road, then by the same logic, you should also pull over under a bridge anytime there are strong winds, in case a tree gets blown over on top of your car.

You seem to think hydroplaning is some malevolent force that will automagically change the direction of any vehicle that experiences it. This is not true. The laws of physics—including, notably, inertia—continue to apply to a hydroplaning vehicle.

If you do not understand how a hydroplaning vehicle behaves and how it reacts to driver input, I suggest you find an empty, flooded parking lot and practice inducing and recovering from hyrdoplaning. But don't tell me to do avoid the mere possibility of one dangerous situation (my car hydroplaning) by creating another actually dangerous one (a large differential between my speed and that of traffic around me).

I've been back in the office about 20 minutes. When I was driving back on Highway 6 it was pouring rain. I was going about 43 mph because there was a lot of water on the road and the visability was very limited. I'll add that I was in my personal vehicle and nobody was passing me. Everyone was driving slow, keeping a safe distance between themselves and the vehicles in front of them. I guess I'm one of those people.

Dammit, TLIAC... you should have been driving 60MPH or so... Didn't you see above that that is just as safe as driving 70MPH on a dry road?!?!?!?!

The statistics don't lie!!!!!

While driving back on Hwy 6 at noon, the rain was very bad and the moment I merged onto 6, my car hydroplaned a little. So I slowed down to 45 and stayed in the right lane and left about 8-10 car lengths between myself and the vehicle in front of me. From University to the Barron Road (or Brazos Valley Bank) exit, only two 18-wheelers and two other vehicles passed me.

I was going on to the Greens Prairie exit, but I wanted off the highway because I didn't want to be on that road any longer because of the conditions.

If my going 45 in a torrential downpour was too slow for you, get in the other gd lane and quit your *****in'.

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my car hydroplaned a little. So I slowed down to 45

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You are endangering lives! Not from hydroplaning, but from slowing down!

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I was going about 43 mph because there was a lot of water on the road and the visability [sic] was very limited. I'll add that I was in my personal vehicle and nobody was passing me. Everyone was driving slow, keeping a safe distance between themselves and the vehicles in front of them.

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So I slowed down to 45 and stayed in the right lane and left about 8-10 car lengths between myself and the vehicle in front of me. From University to the Barron Road (or Brazos Valley Bank) exit, only two 18-wheelers and two other vehicles passed me.

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TLIAC and Bill, I have no problem at all with going that slow when conditions actually warrant it. Kudos to you both for driving safely and with the flow of traffic.

Im sure they will sleep better at night knowing you approve of their driving habits.

This board is master of the strawman argument. Absolutely no one is stating, implying, or even coming close to believing that you should drive at 70 mph when the roads are icy, flooded, etc. You make me roll my eyes when you try and prove a point by saying this - especially when as soon as it happens 3 other posters come along to pat you on the back.

What HAS been said, is that a little rain does not warrant slowing down to half the speed limit - which was what happened when the original poster actually began this thread. It was a slight drizzle.

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Im sure they will sleep better at night knowing you approve of their driving habits.

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I was just clarifying my position, in response (indirectly) to statements like these:

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I guess I'm one of those people.

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Dammit, TLIAC... you should have been driving 60MPH or so... Didn't you see above that that is just as safe as driving 70MPH on a dry road?!?!?!?!

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If my going 45 in a torrential downpour was too slow for you, get in the other gd lane and quit your *****in'.

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You are endangering lives! Not from hydroplaning, but from slowing down!

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(At least AgDotCom has a sense of humor about it! )

in this town people barely know how to drive when it isn't raining but less when it is!!!!

There is two lanes on major highways for a reason. Faster traffic stays to the left, slower to the right. Sometimes you will even see a signs saying so ( I believe this may be the reason why there aren't anymore min speed signs in Texas anymore).

If someone is moving slow in the right lane, get over into the fast lane. Common sense.

BTW, what is an economist? We have an Economy or something?

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in this town people barely know how to drive when it isn't raining but less when it is!!!!

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Too true.

But, it could be worse. Whenever I find myself needing a reminder of that, I visit my parents and spend an afternoon driving around Shreveport. Afterward, drivers here seem downright competent!

[This message has been edited by southcutt (edited 8/13/2008 1:03p).]

There IS two lanes? Really? You sound like the people here in tennessee LOL

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There is two lanes on major highways for a reason. Faster traffic stays to the left, slower to the right.

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It is pretty danged rare to see someone in B/CS actually follow this rule.

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This board is master of the strawman argument. Absolutely no one is stating, implying, or even coming close to believing that you should drive at 70 mph when the roads are icy, flooded, etc. You make me roll my eyes when you try and prove a point by saying this - especially when as soon as it happens 3 other posters come along to pat you on the back.

What HAS been said, is that a little rain does not warrant slowing down to half the speed limit - which was what happened when the original poster actually began this thread. It was a slight drizzle.

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What has been said by you (below) and others, and very definitively I might add, is:

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If you want to drive 40 mph, you need to be off the highway. You are driving in an unsafe manner. Just get on the feeder road. Slowing down to 55-60 is one thing, but 40 is ridiculous. Let me reiterate. It is not a safe practice.

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There is nothing in there about conditions. Zero. You're an idiot if you drive 40. That's what you (and others) say.

Or did you really mean something else?

...and here's a gem from page juan...

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if you do not feel confident traveling at a safe speed (no more than 5 under) on the highway then dont get on the highway... again, if you are not comfortable going the speed limit, take a road you are comfortable traveling on....if you want to go 40 take texas, or wellborn, or the service/access/frontage road....this also applies during non rainy times, the speed limit is 70, typically the average speed is about 57

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Good grief. I'm sorry, Nom de Plume. Good detective work, gumshoe. The first statement was in reference to the actual conditions that the OP was talking about. I will try to be perfectly clear for you in the future so that I can walk you through this stuff.