Turnpike speed trap

[TheTed]

It looks like they just installed some "speed limit 60" signs on the Rogers Turnpike entering Oklahoma from Missouri near Joplin. One at the state line and one a few miles in. Then a few miles later it goes up to the usual 75. I don't think they were there a few weeks ago, and they definitely weren't there when the google streetview car went through.

When I drove by there was a cop parked 10 feet beyond the sign, another down the road with somebody stopped and a motorcycle cop clocking folks from the overpass.

It's not a work zone (it starts several miles farther into the state, and the speed limit was 75 in the work zone when I drove through). There are no exits nearby. The traffic there is pretty light.

I cannot fathom one possible reason for this drastic speed limit change other than to make more money. The speed limit is 65 on 244 in Tulsa, but only 60 in BFE on the turnpike.

Anybody have any info on this? Seems awfully shady to lower the speed limit that much, and dangerous, too.

[Conan71]

It looks like they just installed some "speed limit 60" signs on the Rogers Turnpike entering Oklahoma from Missouri near Joplin. One at the state line and one a few miles in. Then a few miles later it goes up to the usual 75. I don't think they were there a few weeks ago, and they definitely weren't there when the google streetview car went through.

When I drove by there was a cop parked 10 feet beyond the sign, another down the road with somebody stopped and a motorcycle cop clocking folks from the overpass.

It's not a work zone (it starts several miles farther into the state, and the speed limit was 75 in the work zone when I drove through). There are no exits nearby. The traffic there is pretty light.

I cannot fathom one possible reason for this drastic speed limit change other than to make more money. The speed limit is 65 on 244 in Tulsa, but only 60 in BFE on the turnpike.

Anybody have any info on this? Seems awfully shady to lower the speed limit that much, and dangerous, too.

Recent accidents???  Trying to raise money to cover the inevitable lawsuit settlement involving the Creek Nation paramedic?

[TheTed]

Lowering the speed limit 10 mph (from Missouri's 70 mph) and 15 mph from the rest of the turnpike is going to cause in accident itself.

I had to brake drastically from 75 down to 60 when I saw that cop sitting right behind the speed limit sign, especially given there was no advance warning that the speed limit was dropping. Luckily no cars were behind me. But in heavy traffic, with a cop right there and everybody slowing waaaaay down, that's dangerous.

[zstyles]

Is this going thru a city limits?

[cannon_fodder]

Id' be interested in an explanation for that.  Previously lawsuits have held that it is illegal to enforce a "construction zone" speed limit when there is not really a construction zone (on the reasoning that it is a revenue source only contrary to the intent of the law and that it can endanger workers in actual work zones when people start ignoring them).  I can't come up with a good explanation if the situation is as you describe.

Missouri speed limit sign at 70mph.

First speed limit sign in Oklahoma:  75mph.

What changed?

The only construction listed on the Will Rogers Turnpike for this summer is:
Will Rogers Turnpike
Mile Post 303-312  (Miami is mile marker 313 counting up towards Joplin)
Pavement rehabilitation project. Traffic is single lane in each
direction from daylight to dark with posted speed limits of 55
miles per hour. Expect delays.
Project should be completed Summer 2009.


But 55mph isn't 60mph and it isn't really near the border.  So that doesn't really help anyway.

[Conan71]

Is this going thru a city limits?

It's the turnpike. 

[GG]

This may be a reaction to the wreck a couple of weeks ago that killed 10 people. 

One of the allegations I heard was that area of the Turnpike was too hilly for the 75mph speed limit.   It was alleged that the truck driver did not have adequate viability due to the hills for the speed he was driving to react before plowing into the cars that were stopped.

Knee jerk reaction in my opinion.   

[YoungTulsan]

I like taking drives so I think I'll go check this out for myself.

[Hoss]

This may be a reaction to the wreck a couple of weeks ago that killed 10 people. 

One of the allegations I heard was that area of the Turnpike was too hilly for the 75mph speed limit.   It was alleged that the truck driver did not have adequate viability due to the hills for the speed he was driving to react before plowing into the cars that were stopped.

Knee jerk reaction in my opinion.   

Why not have separate speed limits for trucks then?  Texas does that.

[cannon_fodder]

Seems odd that thousands of trucks pass by there everyday without a problem and millions of trucks have driven that stretch over 50+ years without an incident . . . until this guy.  Also, seem irrelevant in that he apparently did not brake at all.  And on top of all that, many parts of the interstate system are more hilly than that and have speeds of 65+mph.

Typical stupid knee jerk reaction if that is the reason.

[patric]

Seems odd that thousands of trucks pass by there everyday without a problem and millions of trucks have driven that stretch over 50+ years without an incident . . . until this guy.  Also, seem irrelevant in that he apparently did not brake at all.  And on top of all that, many parts of the interstate system are more hilly than that and have speeds of 65+mph.

Typical stupid knee jerk reaction if that is the reason.

If that is the reason, DPS may be thinking it would improve their tarnished image by being responsive.
...sort of making up for their slow response to the initial accident that caused the congestion prior to the secondary, multi-fatality wreck.
...and if that's so, trying to look proactive by lowering the speed limit to ticket people who didnt know they were "speeding" is nothing short of scandalous, but DPS doesnt have to answer to the public anyway.

[TheTed]

If that accident is the reason, then it's ridiculous.

If every accident led to a lower speed limit we'd all be driving 10 mph in town and 20 on the interstate by now.

We don't even know how fast that truck was going, and even if he was going 60, he didn't brake, so the carnage probably wouldn't have been much different. The only way to minimize the damage of a truck not braking and hitting parked cars is a 20 mph speed limit. Obviously that's completely ludicrous.

I'd really like to see a study, but it seems like giving tickets everywhere just makes driving more dangerous. I've been on a few out-of-state trips lately where it seemed cops were giving tickets every 10-20 miles (must be the budget shortfall). I'll be driving in congested traffic at 75 mph, a cop is spotted, and everybody brakes heavily, many to the point where they're going 60mph in a 70mph zone. That can't be safe when you're surrounded by traffic.

But then again speeding tickets and road safety have little correlation.

[rwarn17588]

It looks like they just installed some "speed limit 60" signs on the Rogers Turnpike entering Oklahoma from Missouri near Joplin. One at the state line and one a few miles in. Then a few miles later it goes up to the usual 75. I don't think they were there a few weeks ago, and they definitely weren't there when the google streetview car went through.

When I drove by there was a cop parked 10 feet beyond the sign, another down the road with somebody stopped and a motorcycle cop clocking folks from the overpass.

It's not a work zone (it starts several miles farther into the state, and the speed limit was 75 in the work zone when I drove through). There are no exits nearby. The traffic there is pretty light.

I cannot fathom one possible reason for this drastic speed limit change other than to make more money. The speed limit is 65 on 244 in Tulsa, but only 60 in BFE on the turnpike.

Anybody have any info on this? Seems awfully shady to lower the speed limit that much, and dangerous, too.

That's because there's a big, new casino right at the Kansas-Missouri-Oklahoma state line (I forget the name of it). Traffic sometimes gets backed up from the interchange on weekends or special concerts, so there's a reason for the drop in the speed limit.

In other words, they're trying to prevent a repeat of what happened near Miami a few weeks ago.

[TheTed]

That's because there's a big, new casino right at the Kansas-Missouri-Oklahoma state line (I forget the name of it). Traffic sometimes gets backed up from the interchange on weekends or special concerts, so there's a reason for the drop in the speed limit.

In other words, they're trying to prevent a repeat of what happened near Miami a few weeks ago.

That doesn't explain the westbound speed limit drop. The casino exit is in Missouri. The speed limit, heading west, drops at the state line. You'd be past any traffic when you hit that speed zone. The next exit isn't for 10 or so miles past the state line.

Also, I've never seen any traffic there. Traffic actually seems to get much lighter once you enter Oklahoma, without all that slow Joplin local traffic. I question whether it's worthwhile to lower the speed limit because there's a little congestion 30 minutes a week or whatever it is. Wouldn't some big message boards alerting drivers to congestion a few miles in advance be the better move?

[OpenYourEyesTulsa]

There needs to be a regulation that cars have sensors in them to tell when they are getting to close to a car or stationary object.  Also it should have a sensor to detect when you drift out of your lane and corrects the steering.  Then the speed limits could be much higher without an accident.  Also it would almost eliminate drunk driving as a problem.  It seems like common sense to me.