Highways in Canada

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by SaskScraper

If I remember right as a child, I think Alberta's 110km/hr speed limit on divided highways was for day time only, night time was 100km but some time in the 1990's I believe, they changed to 110km/hr all hours.



With Newfoundland, PEI and the Territories road conditions (& moose) probably not built for higher speeds, i'm not surprised about their speed limits, also Quebec and the Atlantic provinces getting so much snow I'm not too surprised that Quebec doesn't have highest speed limit in Canada either and limited to 100km/hr. I am surprised though Ontario speed limit is 100km/hr. Last time I drove there, I could have sworn it was 110km/hr and therefore I drove ~130km/hr not thinking anything different.



I think that's generally how people view speed limits, in good conditions can tack on an extra 15 to 20% onto speed limit without worrying too much about getting tagged in speed traps.

for example, Saskatoon to Regina is 259kms distance but most drivers do it in almost exactly 2hrs, city limits to city limits.

I didn’t know SK RCMP’s that chill with speeding. Don’t RCMP across the Prairies (especially in MB) tag people at 11 km/h over?

I’ve posed this question several times but never really got any consensus answer.

[SaskScraper]

^^ I'm not sure, I've never been stopped by going 11km/hr over the speed limit on any highways ever....or even on expressways with speed cameras, for that matter, in Regina or Saskatoon.

If you drove 41km/hr in a camera enforced residential school zone that's 30km/hr limit, i'm not so sure though... i've never gotten a ticket in a school zone before.

[DavefromSt.Vital]

Michigan recently increased speed limits on a number of Interstates to 75 mph (120 km/h):

https://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,4616,7-151-9615_79223---,00.html

I was driving back from a trip to the Saginaw area and found the new limit on Interstate 69 to be no problem. However, after crossing the border at Sarnia the limit dropped to 100 on the 402, even though there aren't a lot of differences from one side of the border to the other.

Why only raise the limit on the 402 to 110 instead of 120?

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by DavefromSt.Vital

Michigan recently increased speed limits on a number of Interstates to 75 mph (120 km/h):

https://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,4616,7-151-9615_79223---,00.html

I was driving back from a trip to the Saginaw area and found the new limit on Interstate 69 to be no problem. However, after crossing the border at Sarnia the limit dropped to 100 on the 402, even though there aren't a lot of differences from one side of the border to the other.

Why only raise the limit on the 402 to 110 instead of 120?

So it’s 75 mph on I-69 now? Wow when I went on it 2 years ago, it was only 70 mph. I didn’t know that, at that time, I-75 was the only one in MI posted at 75 mph (what coincidence lol).

As for Highway 402, do you want me (or drivers like me) to pass you at 132 km/h or 144 km/h?

Also, with trucks only allowed to max out at 105 km/h, it’ll be a bummer. (Funny thing though, when I drive on Highway 401 around GTA these days, I see a lot of trucks going 110 km/h instead. Instinctively, I wonder if they originate in Brampton...)

[ZTrade]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

As for Highway 402, do you want me (or drivers like me) to pass you at 132 km/h or 144 km/h?

I can see the police becoming harsher at going 20 KM/H over if they increase the speed limits.

[Corndogger]

Originally Posted by ZTrade

I can see the police becoming harsher at going 20 KM/H over if they increase the speed limits.

There's lots of evidence that if speed limits are realistic that people will tend to obey them. Using the 85th percentile rule will result in the most compliance and is the safest. In Canada--at least in places I've been--it seems speed limits are set to maximize fine revenue under the guise of safety. KSDOT has an interesting brochure on speed limits. The following is worth noting.

COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS

The public normally accepts the concepts noted in the previous section. However, the same public when emotionally aroused in a specific instance, will often reject these fundamentals and rely instead on more comfortable and widely held misconceptions, such as:

A. Reducing the speed limit will slow the speed of traffic.

B. Reducing speed limits will decrease the number of accidents and increase safety.

C. Raising the posted speed limit will cause an increase in the speed of traffic.

D. Any posted speed limit must be safer than an unposted speed limit, regardless of the traffic and roadway conditions prevailing.

E. Drivers will always go 5 m.p.h. over the posted speed limit. Contrary to popular belief, speed in itself is not a major cause of accidents. In fact, accidents appear to depend less on absolute speed and more on the variation of speeds in the traffic stream.

Source: http://www.ksdot.org/burtrafficsaf/brochures/pdf/speedlimitspb.pdf

[The Chemist]

Chinese expressways are either 120 or 100, but speeding laws are much more tightly restricted with permanently mounted speed cameras (at least Chinese GPS apps tell you where they are and what the limit is). New speeding zone enforcement is being phased in, whereby they take a picture of your plate at the start of the zone and again at the end, and if your average speed through the zone exceeds the limit, you get a ticket. Speeding tickets in China also get you 3 demerit points on your license. So as a result of all the above, very few people in China actually exceed the posted limit.

[Dengler Avenue]

Upon second thought, my speed also depends on traffic. For ON-402, since there are a lot of trucks (unless the future Gordie Howe Bridge will redirect them to Windsor instead), I will mostly stick with 120 km/h. On the other hand, for I-75 in Upper Peninsula (north of the Mackinaw Bridge), there’s barely any traffic, so that’s where I will really hit 90 mph (144 km/h).

At night time though, 120 km/h is the absolute max. I don’t want any wildlife on my windshield.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by DavefromSt.Vital

Why only raise the limit on the 402 to 110 instead of 120?

A couple reasons, I would say. The province didn't want to face the extra backlash of going to 120 on the pilot projects. Maybe after whatever timeframe, they might come up with 120 for some highways and 110 for others. I still don't think 402 would go to 120 though, because it's truck heavy and only 2 lanes in each direction. But as mentioned above, the new Windsor bridge should reduce truck traffic on the 402 whenever we finally see it built.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by FrAnKs

That's only on A740 (Autoroute Robert-Bourassa)
Depending on the traffic density, it varies from 50, 70 and to a maximum of 90.

In Montréal the Métropolitaine is 70 as is Décarie.

Part of the A-5 in Hull is also 70.

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by Acajack

In Montréal the Métropolitaine is 70 as is Décarie.

Part of the A-5 in Hull is also 70.

Also A20 from A520 to A15 but who follows that anyway I’ve heard a story where someone was captured by a speed camera for doing 140 km/h in a 70-kph zone but still managed to get the ticket tossed.

[swimmer_spe]

I do wonder, what would happen if the speed limits outside of urban areas was removed.
How fast would traffic flow at?
By how much would accidents increase?
How much money would the government lose on due to lack of speeding tickets?

[TownGuy]

Originally Posted by swimmer_spe

I do wonder, what would happen if the speed limits outside of urban areas was removed.
How fast would traffic flow at?
By how much would accidents increase?
How much money would the government lose on due to lack of speeding tickets?

I don't think speeds would change that much but you'd have the odd person going 200+. Most would stick between 100-150 which is generally the case now.

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by swimmer_spe

I do wonder, what would happen if the speed limits outside of urban areas was removed.
How fast would traffic flow at?
By how much would accidents increase?
How much money would the government lose on due to lack of speeding tickets?

Originally Posted by TownGuy

I don't think speeds would change that much but you'd have the odd person going 200+. Most would stick between 100-150 which is generally the case now.

Except 200+ km/h isn’t all that uncommon in GTA nowadays. OPP GTA caught someone going 254 (!) km/h on one of the freeways. That guy was basically flooring it.

=======
Wait a second, I thought the OP doesn’t like it when we start discussing politics here. (No sarcasm, for real).

Anyway, here’s a picture that I took a week ago when I was spontaneously driving around Central Ontario. I was looking over Highway 11 from Highway 124: https://m.imgur.com/0VAjrNl

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by TownGuy

I don't think speeds would change that much but you'd have the odd person going 200+. Most would stick between 100-150 which is generally the case now.

You'd need to improve maintenance across the board and in some cases design in order for that to be safe.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

Also A20 from A520 to A15 but who follows that anyway I’ve heard a story where someone was captured by a speed camera for doing 140 km/h in a 70-kph zone but still managed to get the ticket tossed.

I am pretty sure the A-40 through Trois-Rivières, some of which is elevated and in a dense urbanized setting, is 100 all the way through.

100 is fine there but 120-130 like a lot of people drive when the limit is 100, is a bit dicey.

[Spocket]

Does anybody know why speed limits for trucks are always lower than for passenger vehicles? I mean, without thinking about, the answer seems obvious but on closer inspection, I can't really see what difference it makes in terms of safety. If you can do 100 in a semi, it seems reasonable to assume that you could do 120 without any real difference. Air brakes? Wear and tear on the road somehow? As a safety measure, it seems counterintuitive. After all, the idea should be to minimize higher speed maneuvers, right? So, if trucks are clogging things up, people (who would be ideally doing the speed limit for their class of vehicle) would have to change lanes to avoid them. If that's the case, how does that improve safety? Seems more like it would decrease highway safety. Granted, if a truck hits something, it's going to do a lot more damage but at highway speeds I wouldn't think many people would be expected to live in a head on or similar anyway.

[MonctonRad]

Semis (especially road trains) have a larger mass and take a longer distance to stop. Emergency stops also increase the risk of jackknifing. Also fuel usage increases with speed.

[Spocket]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Semis (especially road trains) have a larger mass and take a longer distance to stop. Emergency stops also increase the risk of jackknifing. Also fuel usage increases with speed.

Sure but slowing them down relative to the rest of the flow makes no sense. In fact, it seems to invite disaster since you're introducing an impediment to flow.
10 kph per hour isn't going to make them that much less damaging in the event of a crash. On the other hand, logically, it should increase the odds that they'll be either involved in or the cause of a car crash (albeit indirectly)

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Spocket

Sure but slowing them down relative to the rest of the flow makes no sense. In fact, it seems to invite disaster since you're introducing an impediment to flow.
10 kph per hour isn't going to make them that much less damaging in the event of a crash. On the other hand, logically, it should increase the odds that they'll be either involved in or the cause of a car crash (albeit indirectly)

I know where you're coming from and I partially agree with you that slow truck traffic serves as an impediment to other vehicles, but there is a logarithmic relationship between velocity and stopping distance, as well as energy at impact.

For example, a pedestrian hit by a car going at 50 km/hr rather than a car going 25 km/hr doesn't experience twice the force of impact, it's considerably more than that.

I don't know what the answer is. The most logical thing to do if we want to have uniformity of speed on a roadway is to make everyone slow down to "truck speed", but I doubt that would be acceptable to the motoring public..........