Speed limits on gravel roads?

>
> About the only good reason for stopping would have been to get the name of
> the
> dog's owner, who let it run loose, so I could sue them for the damage to
> my car
> from the collision. Maybe the local authorities might have something to
> say
> about a cruelty to animals law, which has to have been violated by letting
> the
> dog run loose near a road, where it was sure to get hit, sooner or later.

I Wouldn't have been that harsh. Still, I might have figured that the
'witnesses' were better equipped to deal with the situation than I was. So
why bother stopping? It's likely I'd just be in the way at that point.
Personally, I probably would have stopped anyway, as I'd feel terrible if I
hit a dog. But I'm not going to kid myself that stopping in that situation
would serve any useful purpose FOR THE DOG.

> 35? Gimmie a break. Ever see those WRC rallies on the TV? They're doing
> it
> on gravel roads, and hitting 130 mph. Anyone that can't do a (straight)
> gravel
> road at the 55 mph speed limit needs some further driver education. Yeah,
> there's some twisty stuff that can be a challenge, even on paved, but
> gravel is
> only as dangerous as you make it.

In addition, gravel in particular is rougher than it needs to be if you
drive too slow. When the highway near my house was torn up for several
months, there was a long dirt stretch where speed limit was 45 and most
idiots were going about 15, and feeling every little bump. I can't count
the number of times I flew right by a long conga line of these idiots at
around 50 or so, and I had a nice smooth ride while I was passing them. Too
many people don't know how to drive on dirt/gravel. It is
counter-intuitive. You think that slowing down will make it smoother.
Nope, just the opposite. So these idiots slow down, take for fricking EVER
to get anywhere, and have a really bumpy ride on the way. -Dave

"Brent P" > wrote in message
. ..
> In article >, Dave Head wrote:
>
>> 35? Gimmie a break. Ever see those WRC rallies on the TV? They're
>> doing it
>> on gravel roads, and hitting 130 mph. Anyone that can't do a (straight)
>> gravel
>> road at the 55 mph speed limit needs some further driver education.
>> Yeah,
>> there's some twisty stuff that can be a challenge, even on paved, but
>> gravel is
>> only as dangerous as you make it.
>
> My concern would be for my car's paint job....

Then your best strategy would be to speed up to get off the gravel road as
soon as possible. No matter how fast or slow you are going, traffic headed
the opposite direction WILL kick up rocks at you. So limit your
xposure. -Dave

>
> In NC, the speed limit for a rural (non-residential, non-business) dirt
> roads would be 55 unless otherwise posted. I own a farm on what used to be
> a very isolated dirt road. I drive 50+ on it all the time with no loss of
> control.

Exactly. If you know how to drive on gravel, you also know that the last
thing you want to do is drive slowly on it. -Dave

Mike T. wrote: <brevity snip>
> Uhhhh . . . you are aware that driving slowly on gravel is a really bad
> idea, right? Not only does it make the ride much rougher than it needs to
> be (for you), but it's also tough on your car's suspension. For each gravel
> road (all are different, obviously) there is a certain speed UNDER which the
> ride will be extremely rough. Where I grew up, most gravel roads, you
> needed to go at least 45-55 or so to smooth them out to a point where your
> teeth weren't being rattled out of your skull. What happens is, when the
> car reaches a certain speed, the tires are skipping across the tops of
> bumps, averaging them out. Thus, below that certain speed, your car hits
> EVERY BUMP, INDIVIDUALLY.
>
> So if you are doing say, 50, which is the speed you NEED to go, on gravel,
> and you hit a dog in front of witnesses, what do you do? Well I would hope
> that you'd stop. But even if you stop, there is nothing that YOU can do,
> personally, for the dog at that point. Me, I would have stopped. But maybe
> this guy figured the witnesses were best equipped to take care of the dog,
> and kept going. He was most likely RIGHT in that assumption.

> Dust, definitely. Control loss? Totally depends on the individual road and
> the skill of the driver. Driving on gravel is different from driving on any
> other road surface. Either you have the experience to handle it or you
> don't. If you DO have the experience to handle it, you do not drive slowly
> on gravel, as that is a really bad idea.

> Many states have a default speed limit and unposted roads (such as almost
> all gravel roads) would be subject to the default speed limit. Every state
> I've lived in, gravel roads would be subject to the default of 55MPH, which
> is good, as you need to go almost that fast on most gravel road surfaces.

That's about the goofiest **** I've ever read.

Meet me in Roscoe MT next month and we'll take a ride to Alpine and E.
Rosebud Lake on E Rosebud Rd. From 45.30768, -109.52383 -to- 45.20023,
-109.63949

Uhhhh... I'll drive.
-----

- gpsman

>
> That's about the goofiest **** I've ever read.
>
> Meet me in Roscoe MT next month and we'll take a ride to Alpine and E.
> Rosebud Lake on E Rosebud Rd. From 45.30768, -109.52383 -to- 45.20023,
> -109.63949
>
> Uhhhh... I'll drive.
> -----
>
> - gpsman
>

Dude, all roads are different. I'm sure you can find a gravel road that is
really dangerous at any speed. Many gravel roads are best travelled at
about 50MPH or so. Below that speed is torture, for both the vehicle and
the occupants, to include the driver. It has to do with . . . do you want
to hit every fricking bump in the road, or skip most of them? -Dave

"morticide" > wrote
> This question came up in a friend's letter to the editor in my hometown
> newspaper. He had inquired with the state patrol about what the speed
> limit was on county gravel roads; the response was that it's the same
> as on the highways. The writer cited an incident in which someone was
> flying down the gravel at at least 50 and hit a dog...and kept going,
> right in front of witnesses.
>
> I used to live on a gravel road, and anything faster than 35 on most of
> them in northern Missouri is asking for trouble (dust, control loss).
> Some locations, probably by county law, post a 35 speed limit. The
> only gravel road I know of that has a posted speed limit higher than
> that is AK 11 at 50.

Are you talking Arkansas? If so, it's probably something different than AK,
which is Alaska's state code.

In any case, this goes back to the standard: "reasonable and prudent"
and "too fast for conditions". Many gravel roads are quite safe at
50mph. The Alaskan haul road (to Pt. Barrow) is generally run at
65-75 mph by truckers - it's actually safer in the winter when it
freezes. However, loose gravel is not as safe as a well-packed
consolidated surface, and I bet that's what you're thinking of.

FloydR

gpsman wrote:
> Mike T. wrote: <brevity snip>
> > Uhhhh . . . you are aware that driving slowly on gravel is a really bad
> > idea, right? Not only does it make the ride much rougher than it needs to
> > be (for you), but it's also tough on your car's suspension. For each gravel
> > road (all are different, obviously) there is a certain speed UNDER which the
> > ride will be extremely rough. Where I grew up, most gravel roads, you
> > needed to go at least 45-55 or so to smooth them out to a point where your
> > teeth weren't being rattled out of your skull. What happens is, when the
> > car reaches a certain speed, the tires are skipping across the tops of
> > bumps, averaging them out. Thus, below that certain speed, your car hits
> > EVERY BUMP, INDIVIDUALLY.
> >
> > So if you are doing say, 50, which is the speed you NEED to go, on gravel,
> > and you hit a dog in front of witnesses, what do you do? Well I would hope
> > that you'd stop. But even if you stop, there is nothing that YOU can do,
> > personally, for the dog at that point. Me, I would have stopped. But maybe
> > this guy figured the witnesses were best equipped to take care of the dog,
> > and kept going. He was most likely RIGHT in that assumption.
>
> > Dust, definitely. Control loss? Totally depends on the individual road and
> > the skill of the driver. Driving on gravel is different from driving on any
> > other road surface. Either you have the experience to handle it or you
> > don't. If you DO have the experience to handle it, you do not drive slowly
> > on gravel, as that is a really bad idea.
>
> > Many states have a default speed limit and unposted roads (such as almost
> > all gravel roads) would be subject to the default speed limit. Every state
> > I've lived in, gravel roads would be subject to the default of 55MPH, which
> > is good, as you need to go almost that fast on most gravel road surfaces.
>
> That's about the goofiest **** I've ever read.
>
> Meet me in Roscoe MT next month and we'll take a ride to Alpine and E.
> Rosebud Lake on E Rosebud Rd. From 45.30768, -109.52383 -to- 45.20023,
> -109.63949
>
> Uhhhh... I'll drive.
> -----
>
> - gpsman

Unfortunately for your disbelief, the Mythbusters did a test of that
theory and found that it is correct, the ride smooths out above a
certain speed. Of course all bets are off on washboard roads. You
could get a smoother ride that way but control (steering) would be
badly degraded IMO.

Harry K

>
> Unfortunately for your disbelief, the Mythbusters did a test of that
> theory and found that it is correct, the ride smooths out above a
> certain speed.

Who needs the mythbusters? Just about anybody who actually knows how to
drive has discovered themselves that most dirt/gravel roads have a sweet
spot (speed wise) where they are both smooth and safe to travel on. That
speed is often somewhere above 40MPH. The mythbusters might have applied
science in some manner to try to explain it, but it's a reality. If you
know how to drive, that is. But I see so many people on dirt/gravel
creeping along in their cars slower than I can walk that I'd have to
conclude most people do NOT know how to drive. -Dave

Floyd Rogers wrote:
> "morticide" > wrote
> > This question came up in a friend's letter to the editor in my hometown
> > newspaper. He had inquired with the state patrol about what the speed
> > limit was on county gravel roads; the response was that it's the same
> > as on the highways. The writer cited an incident in which someone was
> > flying down the gravel at at least 50 and hit a dog...and kept going,
> > right in front of witnesses.
> >
> > I used to live on a gravel road, and anything faster than 35 on most of
> > them in northern Missouri is asking for trouble (dust, control loss).
> > Some locations, probably by county law, post a 35 speed limit. The
> > only gravel road I know of that has a posted speed limit higher than
> > that is AK 11 at 50.
>
> Are you talking Arkansas? If so, it's probably something different than AK,
> which is Alaska's state code.
>
> In any case, this goes back to the standard: "reasonable and prudent"
> and "too fast for conditions". Many gravel roads are quite safe at
> 50mph. The Alaskan haul road (to Pt. Barrow) is generally run at
> 65-75 mph by truckers - it's actually safer in the winter when it
> freezes. However, loose gravel is not as safe as a well-packed
> consolidated surface, and I bet that's what you're thinking of.
>
> FloydR

I was talking about Alaska 11, the Dalton. I was considering taking a
drive on it until gas prices rose. It's posted 50, and a lot of the
road, according to online research, is well maintained gravel and in
some spots chip-sealed. 65+ would be no problem on that road except
for some of the tight turns. The haul road actually goes to Deadhorse;
Pt. Barrow is only accessible by plane or dog sled at this time.

One thing that's not been considered in this thread is the fact that
Missouri has a poor quality road system when it comes to gravel. It's
about 90% washboard and loose gravel. That's where control above 30mph
becomes an issue. Plus, they are never dustproofed. I'd hate to enter
a cloud of dust at 55 and find a tractor in the dust cloud. Stopping
distances on gravel are long!

Mike T. wrote:
> > (some snip)
.....I'd have to
> conclude most people do NOT know how to drive. -Dave

You do not need to go onto the gravel to confirm that conclusion! Most
people do their best driving at age 16 on the initial road test and
never get another road test until giving up driving altogether or dying.