Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by komali2 3241 days ago
That's actually a big question I have as a new Californian. In Houston, you got caught, every time, if you sped on the freeways. The cops were everywhere.

Here not only do I rarely see cops, I've read in the local papers that cops can't pull people over for speeding if EVERYONE is speeding. You have to be speeding far above average. So everyone is actually incentivized to speed together.

When I first got here I saw comically low speed limit signs - as low as 55mph on freeways! And averages of 65! That's INSANELY slow for how big these freeways are! But apparently it doesn't matter in California, here everyone just speeds and is protected as a group.

I don't doubt that I'll pay my dues eventually. You don't get away with 95mph on a sportbike forever. We make targets of ourselves. That's fine, in Houston I got ticketed ~200USD every three years or so, that's a fair price to get to go above the speed limit for me.

1 comments

I usually go at 75-80 on a "55" highway for my daily commute, never had issues even while passing cop cars. In general, as long as you're not driving like an idiot (switching 3 lanes without signalling) or running old tags, or basically have a red flag hanging, they won't bother you. Although if they do stop your for one of these reasons, they'll probably also ticket you for speeding. Speed limits are enforced far more strictly in residential areas though.