Topic: Save Fuel and Money with Cruise Control

[Fobroader]

Its amazing how many brainless steering wheel holders have bought the speed kills hook, line and sinker from the police. If they went for improper merging, failing to signal, holding traffic up, texting and improperly using a merge/free flow lane, their profits would go through the roof. But I guess telling stupid people something and then using the laziest form of "enforcement" to enforce said thing is much easier...and profitable.

[dkaz]

I passed by some police pulling over drivers using the 97 St bus lane this morning. Easy pickins' I say.

Oh man the number of people I see having to turn left/right or exit the freeway at the last minute here is insane. Last minute because they're usually doing it from the centre lane. It's hard to catch these things without having cops drive up and down the freeway though.

I'm surprised I've never gotten a ticket driving through Edson, but I think I usually do slow down to near 50. I don't get aircraft enforcement. There's no way they could issue enough tickets to pay for the cost of flying an aircraft.

There has to be a happy median though because John you mentioned before you thought it was nuts drivers doing 70 even 80 in 50 zones in BC. But BC municipalities tend to properly fund the police departments with property taxes so the police aren't scrambling for ticket revenues, so they are out there fighting real crime and rotate through different safety intiatives -- speed, distracted driving, Counterattack, etc.

[johngenx]

Fixed wing aircraft are actually pretty cheap to operate. We’re looking at flying into the St Elias mountains in the Yukon and the cost of a fixed wing craft charter is peanuts compared to a heli.

I get that BC doesn’t use draconian speed enforcement aka Alberta. But, geez, there’s a few instances they could get a little more on it. Construction zone speeding is rampant and so dangerous. I’d sure think twice about working road construction in BC.

And I think ripping into downtown Vernon from Kelowna end of 97 at 80 right to the lights by Polson Park is ridiculous beahviour and I’d support some speed enforcement there. There has to be a happy medium between the two approaches.

[dkaz]

And I think ripping into downtown Vernon from Kelowna end of 97 at 80 right to the lights by Polson Park is ridiculous beahviour and I’d support some speed enforcement there. There has to be a happy medium between the two approaches.

Oh that crosswalk at Vernon Jubilee Hospital is scary for the pedestrians. It should really be a full blown traffic light at that intersection. I've made it a case to do exactly 50 down that hill every single time, once on my motorcycle with a pickup truck right on my ass. Scary as but I'm standing my ground.

[quadzilla]

I'd support photo radar in subdivisions and school zones. People just drive like assholes there.

I've been doing some Cambridge - TO - Cambridge lately and will say for the most part, drivers are pretty good (traffic is horrible though). Still have people that need to move over jamming up traffic but 99% of the drivers are good enough.

FTR I don't think "good enough" is good enough.

[Fobroader]

I'm 100% behind photo radar in school, parks and residential areas. Don't put it on a high speed route, which causes people to slam on their brakes when they see the vehicle even though they are going the speed limit or under anyways, and tell me thats safer than traffic moving at 10-20km/h over the artificially low speed limit. The biggest problem in the Edmonton area is speed differential, you got young guy off the rigs in lifted diesel Ram doing 40-50km over the limit and you've got granny in her beige Buick doing 10-15 under the limit...thats where it gets dangerous.

[UnknownJinX]

I use the CC in my RX-8 on the highway as much as practically possible. Sometimes the traffic gets a little too dense to use it, though.

I have tried the ACC in a new Corolla rental in Cali once. Very nice system that adjusts the speed to keep a certain distance away from the car in front of you. Supposedly, some manual cars have that as well, which would be nice to have in the future.

Then there was my 99 Corolla CE that doesn't have CC at all, LOL.

The new Corolla hatchback for one, although only at more than 40 km/h. The one that the CVT model gets can completely stop the vehicle if needed.

Well, that's annoying. My Accord has the same limitation for the CC as well.

One thing I love about my RX-8 is that the CC can work as low as 30 km/h. Makes it extremely easy in school/construction/playground zones. Just set the CC at 30 km/h and all I have to do is cover the brake.

Municipal governments in Alberta are now reliant on the huge fees from photo radar and the cops scream that we’re all going to die if they don’t have it. So, we have it. A LOT of it.

A warning for our new Edmonton resident. If you’re driving west, Edson has the most draconian enforcement I’ve ever seen. I got a ticket for 51 and another for 52 in the 50. They also have multiple points on the same day. One guy I know got four tickets on a trip, two on the way out, two on the way home.

And those signs about aircraft enforcement are serious. I now drive strictly at the speed limit between Rocky Mountain House and Nordegg on highway 11. They’re out for blood there and will ticket at only a few km/h over. I didn’t get caught, but know some folks that have.

Is the speed limit in Alberta as unreasonably slow as BC or is it actually dangerous to go over the speed limit?

Also, do they use radar or lazer in Alberta? I have a Valentine One to at least help me figure out where cops love to hide around me. Radar detectors are still legal in BC, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, so I'd get one if you live in these provinces. Not that you can go insane with one, but it still helps.

Lastly, I have heard that you can easily defend yourself in the court if you are given a ticket for going less than 5 over by an officer. Just say calibration error and it will hold up.

[johngenx]

Is the speed limit in Alberta as unreasonably slow as BC or is it actually dangerous to go over the speed limit?

Many of them are RIDICULOUSLY low, designed to catch speeders.  60 on divided freeway style roads?  Yup, we have that.

[dkaz]

[The new Corolla hatchback for one, although only at more than 40 km/h. The one that the CVT model gets can completely stop the vehicle if needed.

Well, that's annoying. My Accord has the same limitation for the CC as well.

One thing I love about my RX-8 is that the CC can work as low as 30 km/h. Makes it extremely easy in school/construction/playground zones. Just set the CC at 30 km/h and all I have to do is cover the brake.

Only the manual transmission equipped Corollas get that restriction. I think it more has to do with the fact that if one is in cruise control in 6th gear and traffic is slowing down to under 40km/h, the RPMs get extremely low at that point. You can probably set the cruise control below that point but the laser dynamic cruise control portion is inactive at that point. The CVT equipped Corollas can come to a complete stop if required.

Many of them are RIDICULOUSLY low, designed to catch speeders.  60 on divided freeway style roads?  Yup, we have that.

Where's that? I don't find the speed limits unreasonable in Alberta. The only thing is that if BC can give a highway that goes up to 1500m above sea level a 120 km/h speed limit, surely the QEII can get the same treatment. It's likely some of those darn at grade intersections preventing the 120 km/h speed limits though.

[johngenx]

I routinely drive on roads in the NW end of the city like 137 ave west of 156 street which is four lanes, divided, limited intersections, and is a 60 zone.  Oddly, it's a 70 where it's busy and goes DOWN to a 60 where it becomes more akin to a freeway.  The police set up there all the time, it's a great fishing hole for them.

Same area, parts of Ray Gibbon Dr are also 60 and it's painfully slow compared to the natural flow of traffic.  Again, oddly, the limit changes to 70 where the road is more narrow and congested.

Sections of 184 st used to be 80, were cut to 70, and now 60 despite the road being widened and turn lanes, etc, added.  Another fishing hole area for police.

The worst thing Edmonton has done though is make large sections of residential areas 30 zones.  It's brutal.  A lot of people are completely clueless that it's 365 days a year from 7:30AM to 9:00PM.  The photo radar units have been catching about 700 people a day in just a few of them.  I hate driving in them, I'm creeping along at 29, and people are passing me in on-coming traffic, etc.  The school zones are fine, go for it, but the playground zones are anywhere basically grass is within a km of the road, so it's huge sections of roadway.

There's parts of the Yellowhead that are 60 and 70 and are basically speed traps for both photo radar and standard traps, in the east end of Edmonton.

When Henday was first opened, the city was going to set it all at 70, and I think they realized that people would be at City Hall with torches and pitch forks.  It's a provincial highway and the province told them to rethink that.  I think all of Edmonton was surprised to see it posted at 100 finally.

St. Albert is the World Headquarters of the Anti-Destination League.  We've had our main road limits cut from 80 to 60 and the lights retimed to ensure you stop at all when moving through the city.  "Traffic calming" they called it.  They then added speed-on-green and redlight cameras to most major intersections as well as extensive road-side photo radar.  They even drastically cut the amber light phases to catch more red light runners - FML.  It's worse than Edmonton, but thankfully I live near the edge of the city and don't actually drive that much IN St. Albert.

[dkaz]

They are relooking into the playground zones. There are some that are protected with fences that don't warrant a 30 zone. Some of the playgrounds do see activity well into the evening though which is a nice change from BC.

I've never been on 137 Ave west of St Albert Trail before but I've taken Campbell Rd a couple of times to get onto the Henday and the speed limit seems low.

Turning the Yellowhead into a full freeway will be nice when that's complete.

[johngenx]

Something you need to be super careful about is if you're in Spruce Grove or Beaumont and some other surrounding communities is they use these video box things at stop signs, and if you don't sit for the full three seconds, BLAM, ticket in the mail, about $500 worth.  Just stopping isn't enough, it's three seconds stopped.  A friend of mine tried to fight one, and didn't get far.  He stopped, but not for long enough.  In Spruce Grove they also have hired people that use hand held cameras and they act like pedestrians and they video you not stopping for three seconds.  The high revenue for those tickets makes enforcement an easy investment.

The Yellowhead will be a real freeway in the year 3000.  Maybe.  They've built one overpass, at 156st in the past 20 years.  With overpasses here now costing a quarter of a billion dollars, it's not feasible.

That said, we don't sit for hours on the 401 or trying to cross some bridge in Vancouver, so...

[HeliDriver]

Three seconds at a stop sign?    Where did that come from?

The AB Driver's Handbook just says you need to come to a "complete" stop. And the legislation doesn't even say "complete":

Stop signs
37
   A person driving a vehicle that is about to enter onto a
highway from another highway that is marked by a “stop” sign
shall bring the vehicle to a stop
(a)  before entering on the intersecting roadway and at a point
no further than 3 metres back from the intersecting
roadway, or
(b)  in the case where there is
(i)  a marked crosswalk on the near side of the
intersection, immediately before entering on the
crosswalk, or
(ii)  a marked stop line on the near side of the
intersection, at the stop line. 

http://www.qp.alberta.ca/documents/Regs/2002_304.pdf

[dkaz]

Something you need to be super careful about is if you're in Spruce Grove or Beaumont and some other surrounding communities is they use these video box things at stop signs, and if you don't sit for the full three seconds, BLAM, ticket in the mail, about $500 worth.  Just stopping isn't enough, it's three seconds stopped.  A friend of mine tried to fight one, and didn't get far.  He stopped, but not for long enough.  In Spruce Grove they also have hired people that use hand held cameras and they act like pedestrians and they video you not stopping for three seconds.  The high revenue for those tickets makes enforcement an easy investment.

The Yellowhead will be a real freeway in the year 3000.  Maybe.  They've built one overpass, at 156st in the past 20 years.  With overpasses here now costing a quarter of a billion dollars, it's not feasible.

That said, we don't sit for hours on the 401 or trying to cross some bridge in Vancouver, so...

Good to know, I likely won't remember til I get that ticket in the mail though.

The Yellowhead Freeway conversion is officially in City of Edmonton's 10 year plan. Most of it should be done in 5 years but there'll be some lingering interchanges to be built by the 10 year mark.

https://www.edmonton.ca/projects_plans/yellowhead-trail-freeway-conversion.aspx

The AB Driver's Handbook just says you need to come to a "complete" stop. And the legislation doesn't even say "complete":

I didn't think you needed to describe a stop as complete. When your vehicle is no longer moving forward, that's a stop. Reminds me of a joke.

A lawyer runs a stop sign and gets pulled over by a sheriff.

He thinks he's smarter being a big shot lawyer from New York and has a better education than an sheriff from West Virginia. The sheriff asks for license and registration.

The lawyer asks, "What for?"

The sheriff responds, "You didn't come to a complete stop at the stop sign."

The lawyer says, "I slowed down and no one was coming."

"You still didn't come to a complete stop. License and registration please," says the sheriff impatiently.

The lawyer says, "If you can show me the legal difference between slow down and stop, I'll give you my license and registration and you can give me the ticket. If not, you let me go and don't give me the ticket."

The sheriff says, "That sounds fair, please exit your vehicle."

The lawyer steps out and the sheriff takes out his nightstick and starts beating the lawyer with it.

The sheriff says, "Do you want me to stop or just slow down?"

---

In all seriousness, it's really amazing how many drivers anywhere think they can roll through a stop sign. These same drivers hypocritically complain that cyclists are terrible because they run stop signs.

[OliverD]

In all seriousness, it's really amazing how many drivers anywhere think they can roll through a stop sign. These same drivers hypocritically complain that cyclists are terrible because they run stop signs.

It really depends on the stop sign though. There's one on my road I roll through all the time. I turn right at it, and traffic from the left is nonexistent. I know what I'm doing isn't right per se but I'm still careful about it.

[HeliDriver]

In all seriousness, it's really amazing how many drivers anywhere think they can roll through a stop sign. These same drivers hypocritically complain that cyclists are terrible because they run stop signs.

It really depends on the stop sign though. There's one on my road I roll through all the time. I turn right at it, and traffic from the left is nonexistent. I know what I'm doing isn't right per se but I'm still careful about it.

Yeah, some of them are just ridiculous and should really be replaced with Yield signs.

I'm a stickler for the complete stop where it's warranted, but it's my little act of civil disobedience to roll through when it's not. 

[rrocket]

My mom lives in WI not far from Green Bay. After a certain time at night, most of the traffic lights stop working and turn into a flashing yellow from all sides.

I thought that was the smartest thing ever.

[Fobroader]

In all seriousness, it's really amazing how many drivers anywhere think they can roll through a stop sign. These same drivers hypocritically complain that cyclists are terrible because they run stop signs.

It really depends on the stop sign though. There's one on my road I roll through all the time. I turn right at it, and traffic from the left is nonexistent. I know what I'm doing isn't right per se but I'm still careful about it.

Absolutely, there are so many stop signs around our little town that should be yields, but then they couldn't get their $3-400 fine for people not stopping for this mythical 3 second rule. I drive a manual, when the Jeep stops going forward and rolls back, thats a full stop to me.

[OliverD]

My mom lives in WI not far from Green Bay. After a certain time at night, most of the traffic lights stop working and turn into a flashing yellow from all sides.

I thought that was the smartest thing ever.

Shouldn't it be a flashing red on one street and yellow on the other?

I used to live in a town that did that and it was awesome.

[rrocket]

My mom lives in WI not far from Green Bay. After a certain time at night, most of the traffic lights stop working and turn into a flashing yellow from all sides.

I thought that was the smartest thing ever.

Shouldn't it be a flashing red on one street and yellow on the other?

I used to live in a town that did that and it was awesome.

Nope...they were yellow throughout.