Has anyone heard of any studies that investigated if drivers of vehicles with accurate speedometers collect more tickets than people driving with optimistic speedos? Does Detriot (and Honda) base their decision to provide high reading speedometers on an urban legend and not on behavioral science?
Accuracy of speeometer vs tickets collected
- Thread starter SMSW
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Me tinks they consult the legal department. Optimistic to dead on your fine. Pessimistic they have a liability.
According to the interwebs... Australia made a royal mess of this not considering natural variation and moving the average speedo away from dead on to avoid pessimistic speedos out in the field. Since so many models and brands of bikes seem extra cautious maybe it has a little to do with the gentleman's agreement to limit the top speed to a sane? 187mph to avoid regulatory interference. Or bikes that go that fast aren't US made and 300 kph is a nice round number
I don't know where you'd get data on particular speedo accuracy and ticket. You'd think if somebody based a purchase decision on speedo accuracy there would be some kind of bias. A carp shoot on which way they'd tend, paranoid or wanting to push the envelope.
According to the interwebs... Australia made a royal mess of this not considering natural variation and moving the average speedo away from dead on to avoid pessimistic speedos out in the field. Since so many models and brands of bikes seem extra cautious maybe it has a little to do with the gentleman's agreement to limit the top speed to a sane? 187mph to avoid regulatory interference. Or bikes that go that fast aren't US made and 300 kph is a nice round number
I don't know where you'd get data on particular speedo accuracy and ticket. You'd think if somebody based a purchase decision on speedo accuracy there would be some kind of bias. A carp shoot on which way they'd tend, paranoid or wanting to push the envelope.
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Back in the '90s I seem to recall reading on the old forum that the US model ST1100 speedo was very optimistic, but the European models were closer to accurate. Me thinks liability is probably the main factor, as we have far more litigators in the US than they do in Europe.
The fact that my ST1100 speedo reads 5 mph high at normal riding speeds is actually a plus, since they decided to put the major numbering/tickmarks on the 5mph intervals (35, 45, 55, etc.) instead of 10mph intervals which was more typical in earlier vehicles. So I read the 75mph line as 70mph and I'm good.
The fact that my ST1100 speedo reads 5 mph high at normal riding speeds is actually a plus, since they decided to put the major numbering/tickmarks on the 5mph intervals (35, 45, 55, etc.) instead of 10mph intervals which was more typical in earlier vehicles. So I read the 75mph line as 70mph and I'm good.
I have not heard of any studies on this. I have only had two bikes with dead on speedos. My 1990 PC800 and my 2012 GL1800. My 88 GL1500 is close at 2 mph high. All my other bikes over the years have been 5 mph high. I put a speedo healer on my ST 1300 to get it dead on, but then the odometer was off.
I bet the that avoiding tickets has to do with where and when you speed, I am much better at observing speed limits in urban areas. I try to ride faster than the traffic because it feels safer but not by a huge margin. In the last 20 years I can only remember being stopped a couple of times and one of those while I was in a group. Both times it was just a friendly chat, and I have also had a few occasions where a cruiser would flash their light bar at me. I think once you get into risky passing and being over the speed limit and traffic flow by a large margin you ask to be stopped and fined. Now a days with cell phones in every car and folks being encouraged to phone the police adds another thing to consider.
Gerhard
Gerhard
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I wanted accuracy, so I've installed Police Speedos in my ST1300s...well, two of them anyway. The only one I haven't is '04 #1. But it's the only one that came with a speedo, the other two didn't have them!
+1!.........but tend to 'borrow' 5mph more from the 'given' 5 the longer the ride
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While my ST1300 speedometer consistently reads 10% above actual speed ... assuming "actual speed" is correctly displayed by my Garmin Zumo ... my stock 2010 Ford F150 speedometer consistently displays actual speed.
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Wouldn't it be the other way around? If your speedo was optimistic you wouldn't be going as fast as you thought.
If you thought you were driving 85 on the interstate but were only going 76 you probably wouldn't even get stopped, let alone a citation.
If you thought you were driving 85 on the interstate but were only going 76 you probably wouldn't even get stopped, let alone a citation.
If my ST1300 speedo is reading 10% above actual speed, then when it displays 70MPH, I'm actually going 63MPH. I think that's "optimistic."
Erdoc48
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Interesting...both my 94 and 00 ST's read 5 mph high as well. I guess it keeps me out of trouble as well.
I think it's pretty usual knowledge that the ST13 speedo meter reads about 7% higher than actual speed and given that fact statistically is been the best vehicle I've ever owned for collecting performance awards. In my case it might be my right wrist.
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I believe that's what the OP is saying.
+1 I think the OP's point is that riding with an accurate speedometer you could be at or above the limit. With an optimistic speedometer you think you're drive at or close to or "just" above the limit but you're really going slower than you think.
What responsibility does the manufacturer have to produce an accurate speedometer for the consumer? Sure there's be bad press if people got tickets because the speedo read a few MPH lower than actual speed. But I'm wonder if there would be any actual legal culpability.
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In Florida the driver is responsible for his speed and is not required to even have a speedometer, just not exceed the speed limit.
You do not have to at least that fast. There is also a statute that lets the officer on the scene decide if the driver was going too fast for conditions.
I once used it in a crash investigation in a severe rain storm.
Norm
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I have corrected the speedometer on most of my recent bikes and several ST11 & KLR. It's funny how our minds work, some friends like the low reading speedo while others, including myself, find the continual recalculation to be annoying. I like knowing the actual speed then making decisions from that. Likely it reflects a lower IQ.
I picture a lawyer in a courtroom pitching his case for the family of a deceased rider. "But your honor, my clients family member was falsely mislead into thinking he was riding at 65 mph when in reality he was traveling 70mph. When he negotiated the turn thinking he was only traveling at 65mph he lost control of the vehicle because of the difference in actual speed vs. the speed reported by the speedometer." Given the way juries hand money over to people who spill hot coffee on themselves, would you want to be on the other side of the courtroom during those proceedings? Set the speedo to read high, and you'll never have that scenario to deal with.
The times I have ridden past one one of those speed limit signs with the "Your Speed Is (X) MPH" instant readout display, my bike's speedometer was always reading 10% higher than the number displayed on the sign. I quickly got used to factoring that 10% into the equation when glancing at the speedo or setting the cruise control.
I assume you are referring to the woman who spilled hot coffee on herself in a McDonald's restaurant (i use the last word loosely). I read that there was more to that case than reported on the internet. Apparently, (according to the article that I read by a lawyer familiar with the case and upset with the media attention) there had been several complaints to the court previous to this case about the temperature of the coffee at this particular McDonalds, and the judge had reprimanded the restaurant and ordered them to lower the temp of the coffee served. The restaurant did nothing and after the third incident, the judge threw the book at them. Only the last case was reported in the media because the Judge ordered the McD's to pay that exhorbitant fine or damages. True or not? I don't know, but the article I read certainly seemed to be written by a knowledgeable person.
I'm as skeptical of the award as I am of the story that some guy crashed his Winebago motorhome because he thought cruise control was an auto pilot. Gotta eliminate stupidity from the gene pool somehow....
Throttlejockey
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Who does the speed limit?
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I like having an accurate speedo and I haven't gotten a ticket since 1975, so maybe there is a correlation?