Doing The Speed Limit .. Or Not?

Just call me Grandma. I'll stick to the speed limit, thank you very much, just as I do when I drive my car.

We just follow the speed limit, our company also has governed trucks and offers a fuel bonus.

My thinking about the speed limit is that I have the understanding that there is a 5 mph buffer. Since trying to keep exactly perfectly steady on an accelerator isn't humanly possible....even on cruise control there are variances when you encounter uphills and downhills. So any reasonable person or (cop) shouldn't fault you if they clock you doing say 63 in a 60...because were only human and we need time to be aware of the subtle increase in speed and make the proper adjustments. However a more than 5 mph difference should be detected easily by a driver.

Anyway, my experience also tells me that there is alot of people who drive 10 mph or more on a regular basis because police scanning the highways are for the most part not often. If you say traveled say 10-15 miles back and forth from your (old non trucking) job on a major highway you would maybe encounter a cop once every 20 times and more than half the time you saw them they already have someone else pulled over for whatever reason. So to get to my point is that as a cop I would not waste my time with a 5-7 mph law breaker because there will always be someone coming along doing 10 mph or faster in addition to a higher dollar amount fine that comes with it. Plus it allows the cop to on occasion to act like a good guy and say "I clocked you doing 72 in a 60 but I'm ONLY going to ticket you for going 65. That way you really can't complain about the 65 because you know you were going faster than that, maybe not 72 you think but certainly at least 65. So you don't complain or "fight" the ticket and the cop appears to be the "nice" guy. In order to do this you have to be going more than 10 mph. Do people get tickets for doing exactly 5 mph over speed limit and ticket for that exact speed, im sure they do but I think its very very rare and usually happens by those ego-driven small town cops that are desperate for money for their borough.

However, You have to be careful, with a tractor trailer, if you staying with the flow of traffic and everyone around you at the moment is going around 5-10 mph over. Any reasonable person(cop) if given the choice would pick out the tractor trailer to pull over rather than a "4 wheeler" due to being more dangerous at that higher speed.

I have a friend that is a state trooper. He says his rule of thumb is simple: "9 you're fine... 10 you're mine"

I have a friend that is a state trooper. He says his rule of thumb is simple: "9 you're fine... 10 you're mine"

Lol I like that rhyme. Nice One.... Which confirms my thinking. Anyway, I just want to add that I mostly obey the exact speed limit but if I feel the speed limit is a bit unfair, too low, at say 50/55 with nothing but trees and farmland around than I will go to 5 mph over and stay about there because I don't feel like having my eyes glued to every nook and cranny a cop might be hiding in(especially when most of my attention is being used texting on my cellphone) haha

If I go over 10 or more it's because the consequences of not getting somewhere in time is worth the risk of a ticket and I'm making damn sure that I'm looking at every nook and cranny.

My thinking about the speed limit is that I have the understanding that there is a 5 mph buffer. Since trying to keep exactly perfectly steady on an accelerator isn't humanly possible....even on cruise control there are variances when you encounter uphills and downhills. So any reasonable person or (cop) shouldn't fault you if they clock you doing say 63 in a 60...because were only human and we need time to be aware of the subtle increase in speed and make the proper adjustments. However a more than 5 mph difference should be detected easily by a driver.

Anyway, my experience also tells me that there is alot of people who drive 10 mph or more on a regular basis because police scanning the highways are for the most part not often. If you say traveled say 10-15 miles back and forth from your (old non trucking) job on a major highway you would maybe encounter a cop once every 20 times and more than half the time you saw them they already have someone else pulled over for whatever reason. So to get to my point is that as a cop I would not waste my time with a 5-7 mph law breaker because there will always be someone coming along doing 10 mph or faster in addition to a higher dollar amount fine that comes with it. Plus it allows the cop to on occasion to act like a good guy and say "I clocked you doing 72 in a 60 but I'm ONLY going to ticket you for going 65. That way you really can't complain about the 65 because you know you were going faster than that, maybe not 72 you think but certainly at least 65. So you don't complain or "fight" the ticket and the cop appears to be the "nice" guy. In order to do this you have to be going more than 10 mph. Do people get tickets for doing exactly 5 mph over speed limit and ticket for that exact speed, im sure they do but I think its very very rare and usually happens by those ego-driven small town cops that are desperate for money for their borough.

However, You have to be careful, with a tractor trailer, if you staying with the flow of traffic and everyone around you at the moment is going around 5-10 mph over. Any reasonable person(cop) if given the choice would pick out the tractor trailer to pull over rather than a "4 wheeler" due to being more dangerous at that higher speed.

There is no "buffer". The speed limit is the speed limit. A cop can pull you over for doing 1mph over if he wants to. Will he? probably not but there is no "buffer"

Umm.. Yes, there is no"legal" buffer. I never said there was 5 mph buffer "law" We are just talking about the wildly popular "5 mph" leeway that is understood...but rarely enforced. If you do get a ticket for going 1 mph over speed limit, chances are you were also pulled over for other reasons beside the 1 mph over speed. So, unless it was, perhaps, in a construction zone, then I would fight that ticket. You have a good chance to have it dismissed when that officer doesn't show up in court to fight it, at 1 mph over, it will rarely be worth his time unless there were other offenses you received when you got pulled over or you were disrespectful to the officer.

Just my opinion only

Georgia lawmakers have proposed a new law which would make all semi trucks traveling 10 mph above the speed limit a “super speeder.”

Convicted super speeders are required to pay a $200 fee, in addition to the normal speeding ticket fines.

I set my cruse on 65 even when I am in west Tex and the speed limit is 80 since I have gotten my Cdl I have changed the way I drive a lot I feel if a driver speeds he is not going to get very many more miles then what I get at 65 so I see no point in speeding

My thinking about the speed limit is that I have the understanding that there is a 5 mph buffer. Since trying to keep exactly perfectly steady on an accelerator isn't humanly possible....even on cruise control there are variances when you encounter uphills and downhills. So any reasonable person or (cop) shouldn't fault you if they clock you doing say 63 in a 60...because were only human and we need time to be aware of the subtle increase in speed and make the proper adjustments. However a more than 5 mph difference should be detected easily by a driver.

Anyway, my experience also tells me that there is alot of people who drive 10 mph or more on a regular basis because police scanning the highways are for the most part not often. If you say traveled say 10-15 miles back and forth from your (old non trucking) job on a major highway you would maybe encounter a cop once every 20 times and more than half the time you saw them they already have someone else pulled over for whatever reason. So to get to my point is that as a cop I would not waste my time with a 5-7 mph law breaker because there will always be someone coming along doing 10 mph or faster in addition to a higher dollar amount fine that comes with it. Plus it allows the cop to on occasion to act like a good guy and say "I clocked you doing 72 in a 60 but I'm ONLY going to ticket you for going 65. That way you really can't complain about the 65 because you know you were going faster than that, maybe not 72 you think but certainly at least 65. So you don't complain or "fight" the ticket and the cop appears to be the "nice" guy. In order to do this you have to be going more than 10 mph. Do people get tickets for doing exactly 5 mph over speed limit and ticket for that exact speed, im sure they do but I think its very very rare and usually happens by those ego-driven small town cops that are desperate for money for their borough.

However, You have to be careful, with a tractor trailer, if you staying with the flow of traffic and everyone around you at the moment is going around 5-10 mph over. Any reasonable person(cop) if given the choice would pick out the tractor trailer to pull over rather than a "4 wheeler" due to being more dangerous at that higher speed.

There is no "buffer". The speed limit is the speed limit. A cop can pull you over for doing 1mph over if he wants to. Will he? probably not but there is no "buffer"

That's actually quite incorrect. Perhaps you should brush up on your law books.

Texas law is greater than 10% (10.0000...1% over is illegal; 10% over posted is not illegal).

Simplified: 66MPH in a 60MPH (6MPH faster) is perfectly fine.