Asbury Park Press carried a particularly amusing letter-to-the-editor today — the story of one woman who was brave enough to obey the freshly lowered 55-mph speed limit on the Garden State Parkway in New Jersey.

The Parkway speed limit is 65-mph starting from the border at New York, but proceeding farther south, the limit drops to 55-mph.  Recently, the 55-mph limit was extended farther north.  As anyone whose ever driven on the Garden State Parkway can attest, 75-mph-plus speeds are routine if not “too slow” to some of the more aggressive drivers.

AL.com has posted an interesting article that breaks down some common misconceptions about speeding violations. According to the linked article, a state police spokesperson said, “The speed limit is the speed limit, and that’s the speed you can go without encountering a trooper.” But a more detailed analysis by the AL.com authors revealed that only 72 speeding tickets, roughly 1% issued by Alabama troopers last year, were given to drivers going only 1 to 9-mph over the speed limit.  Of those 72 drivers, only 2 were ticketed with traveling less than 5-mph over the limit. Some additional discussion is provided regarding the accuracy of speed measurement devices and how that may play into an officer’s decision to ticket drivers at speeds close to but exceeding the posted speed limit.

The article also mentions the rather bizarre fact that the highest speeding ticket issued in Alabama went to a man driving 130-mph, double the 65-mph limit, in a “construction vehicle”.

NJ.com blogger Paul Mulshine recently posted an interesting review of dubious claims that a 55-mph speed limit improves overall fuel efficiency.  Mulshine provides a link to a variety of official sources, both domestic and international, that debase the myth of a single fuel efficient speed limit, especially one set at 55-mph.  “Every car I own gets better mileage at 70 mph than the typical SUV gets at 55,” remarked Mulshine. And while that may be true, it’s also worth noting that most modern passenger cars (and even SUVs) have evolved beyond the old carburated engines of yesteryear, and can achieve their highest fuel efficiencies at speeds above 55-mph anyway.

O’Reilly Radar reports that Motor Trend has reported that Nissan’s newest GT-R model will contain a speed limiter that uses the car’s built in GPS to determine the maximum safe speed.  On highways, the car will be limited to about 110 mph, but the driver can navigate through menus on the car’s computer to enable a special “race” mode if the driver is at a pre-approved race track.  A sign of things to come?

Jalopnik, another automotive blog, posted an interesting article on speed limit enforcement by state, including a nifty graph showing the states issuing the least (and most) tickets.  Washington, D.C. tops the list with 78.5% of tickets per-capita.  Anyone who has ever been to Washington D.C. knows how easy it is to be ticket, not to mention how expensive a ticket can be.  To further compound the matter of the voluminous amount of speeding tickets, Washington D.C. also notably is one of the few places that prohibits passenger vehicles from having radar detectors.

Virginia law provides for “minimum speed limits”, establishing a minimum speed at which all vehicles must travel on certain roads.  For example, on the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, there is a posted “Maintain 55″ minimum speed limit.  Opinion columnist William Melgaard writes about the failure to enforce this minimum speed limit and the traffic it causes. Should more roads have minimum speed limits to keep traffic moving?

A reader to the Kitsap Sun newspaper writes, “This is probably an age-old question, but I haven’t seen it addressed. I try to follow the speed limit, but my husband tells me that I need to speed up with the flow of traffic for safety. So, how strictly should I obey the speed limit?” she asks.

“Age-old question” about the speed limit

U.S. Representative Joseph Knollenberg, R-MI, spoke out against a proposal for mandatory speed limiters on big trucks in Ontario in a letter to Ontario Transportation Minister James Bradley, expressing concerns that a proposal could possibly violate the intent of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

U.S. Representative says speed limiters will hurt Michigan’s trade

Atlanta’s Dawson Times posted this article about eight ways they believe can help control neighborhood speeding.  They range from effective methods involving coordination with law enforcement to hilariously ineffective methods including driving slow with a “neighborhood pace car” sticker on your car.  We certainly don’t recommend that you play pace car.

Eight Ways to Stop Neighborhood Speeding

Yes, says state officer, in response to the inquiry of a citizen from mid-Michigan, who decided recently to stop wondering and start asking about a nagging traffic question.  He emailed the Michigan State Police with the following email.

“Why is it that law enforcement vehicles never seem to observe the posted speed limit? Of course, not in an emergency; but then their flashers would be activated. Shouldn’t police at every level be conserving fuel and setting the pace on our highways, rather than discouraging conscientious drivers by whizzing past them in non-emergency travel? Perhaps this is something I should take up with my state representative? -John Hayden

The response of the Michigan State Police is available with the original source here:

Don’t police have to obey speed limits?