What was annoying about it?
* Very few people drive the speed limit, so you're now stuck at being the slowest car on the road. (This will still be a problem under this law because new vehicles are the only ones affected.)
* Inaccurate/out of date speed limits.
* Impossible to pass anyone on a two lane road.
* Having the car take over control is very disorienting for a skilled driver who expects the machine to function as an extension of their body. See the number of people who prefer manual transmission and who eschew cruise control.
Do you even have a drivers' license? You evince very little familiarity with practical every day driving. If you are a driver, how many years experience in which countries? It would help us gauge the relevance of your comments -- different countries have different driving cultures.
I also often find myself driving among other people who speed. I stay to the right with the OTHER drivers who are following the law. I always drive the speed limit and it's never a problem for me. Many states' laws require this, anyway (faster traffic to the left, slower traffic to the right).
But if the prevailing speed feels safe -- it might just be 5 MPH over the limit, or the limit might be unnecessarily low -- of course I will just go the prevailing speed, to maximize safety. What kind of a fool would do otherwise, just to satisfy an imaginary policeman in his head?
But trust me, the imaginary police are very much not imaginary. I got a couple speeding tickets before I decided I wasn't going to deal with the courts ever again. Now, I do the speed limit. I see cops everywhere on the highways in my state and they definitely will pull you over going 10-ish over. Until recently, anything over 80mph (even if the highway was posted 70mph) was reckless driving (now It's 85 I think)
Hold on now, that's just an opinion. And while it happens to kind of match mine, everyone's opinion on how much speeding is "really speeding" is kind of different, up to a point. Kind of proves my point-- I don't want something stopping me from doing 5MPH or 10MPH or even 15MPH over the limit if circumstances outside of my control indicate I should (NYC is a good example of an area where EVERYONE going 15mph over the limit is not unusual)
My personal rule of thumb is to make sure at any given time, considering yourself and the drivers near you in view on the highway, that you are either under the speed limit or at or below the average speed everyone else is going.
If everyone else is going 10 MPH above, go 8 MPH above. As long as most drivers near you are faster, a cop will pull one of them over first. Never go above the speed limit without a "Speeding Buddy" (a driver who is going even faster who is a few car lengths in front of you). If you have no Speeding Buddy, you don't need to speed, you can just go the speed limit.
Also, the speed limit isn't 55 in the US. It varies between 50 and 80 depending on your state and region.
See, and I was taught 10 mph lower, and that has been my experience driving in many states—8 mph over and you're fine, but much higher than that and you'll get pulled over.
This is by far the most dangerous part. When you're on a freeway where everyone is driving 80-85MPH and you are driving the speed limit of 65MPH, you are the danger to the road. Speed may make accidents deadlier, but the speed differential (whether positive or negative) is what causes accidents. I would not be willing to drive on any of the major Bay Area interstate highways with a car limited to the speed limit. It would absolutely cause an accident eventually.
These kinds of arguments are annoying because they don’t address the detail of what is proposed here (mostly warnings in car) or the likely dynamics of future changes.
And like others have said, the laws actually say "speed limit unless passing". Because passing is dangerous and should be done as quickly as possible.
None that I'm aware of in Europe say this. Which country are you describing?
Speaking to the US as a whole on traffic law is hard to do. E.g. in Washington it is absolutely legal to exceed the speed limit to pass someone on the highway, in California it isn't. In California it's illegal to sit in the fast lane, in Minnesota it's not. In Minnesota you can turn right on certain reds, in DC you can't.
> two vehicles driving next to each other slowing gaining on another to overtake is also creating a dangerous road situation
Then perhaps you shouldn't pass if it's not safe to do so. My problem with everyone in this thread and who is against speed limiters is: the subtext is that they want to go faster than the speed limit so they can arrive faster. It's simply the fact that people are willing to engage is an extremely dangerous activity multiple times a day so that they can save a few minutes a day. The idea that people should have the right to go dangerously fast because it's simply more convenient for them is a psychotic proposition to me
Most US states aren't anything like Virginia. I just did a road trip across ~20 states and in none of them did people in cars (as opposed to semis) actually follow the speed limit on the highway. Most states had ~8 over as the normal speed, none were less than 5 over.
> The idea that people should have the right to go dangerously fast because it's simply more convenient
No one is saying anything about dangerously fast driving. In most US states speed limits are set with the understanding that a significant portion of drivers will drive 5 to 10 mph faster than the speed limit and not get pulled over even if a cop sees them. In those states driving at or below the speed limit is actually more dangerous because you're creating an obstruction that other drivers who are following the expected driving patterns have to adapt to.
(Again, from what I understand that doesn't apply to Virginia, which would be why your experience differs from most here.)
Regardless of where I've travelled in the US I've yet to see someone get pulled over for travelling in the passing lane (though I know it to obviously be a thing just not lucky enough to witness it). I thought for sure I was finally going to see it in Texas with this person doing 10 under in the left lane but the trooper just passed on by to their right.
Only applies to two-lane roads.