What are speed limits in various zones in 2070?

Probably roughly the same as now, with the possible exception of adding "high speed lanws" to some highways.

On the off-chance you're not familiar with U.S. road speeds:

• Residential or urban area: typically 30mph to 40mph, depending on the roads.
• "School Zone", within ~200m of a school: typically 10mph slower than the surrounding roads, sometimes 15mph slower.
• Highway: used to be universally 55mph, but some sections are now 65mph. Almost everyone speeds by 10-15mph, though.
• Parking lots, etc: often 15mph.
• Sparsely populated rural areas may have posted speeds in the 45mph to 50mph range.
• Construction areas: 10-20mph slower than the otherwise-posted speeds. e.g., in an area where the speed limit is typically 40mph, a construction area may impose a lower limit of 20 or 30mph. Special note: this is not cumulative with "School Zone" reductions. A 65mph highway might post temporary limits of 45mph (along with lane closures) while roadwork is taking place.

Don't forget to convert everything to metric, which seems to be the standard for everywhere and everything in Shadowrun.

So Shadowrun is a Dystopia with a tiny little Light at the End of the Tunnel ?

with a Metric Dance
Medicineman

most likely SR speed limit signs are in meters per combat round

you're getting more and more American highways that are speeding up with a recognition of the distances involved. 65mph is common and I heard a strip of Texas road is going to 85mph. I think you'd see english systems like MPH still being used in the UCAS and CAS, and possibly NAN. Almost in defiance of the Japan-o-corps. CFS might be forced into Kph by the forces in SF and with their withdrawal.... switch back, not bother? A road sign in MPH could be a sign of defiance to the Japanese, like how during the Falkland's War islanders under Argentine occupation kept driving on the left hand side of the road.

In RL are UK roads strill done in MPH even though they use Metric? Is Mexico Metric? If not then the Azzies would probably likewise keep stuff in English just to be different and maybe even start selling liquids in Stuff Shacks in quarts rather than liters.

In the time of SR4, speed limit signs are most likely a relic of the past - literally and figuratively. They'd most likely be printed in both, for the sake of the three people in the world who don't have AR-equipped cars, glasses, or eyeballs (it helps that those three people are named "Lofwyr," "Hestaby,"and "Ghostwalker",) but with giant, glowing AR overlays that display according to your personal preferences - not that you'll be looking at the sign, since the speedo in your driving HUD will display your current speed and, right next to it, the speed limit, in Metric, English, or whatever you prefer. Care to drive in Chains per Moment? Go right ahead!

That's a really good idea for towns and cities (I wish I'd thought of it) but I was thinking of the long stretches of highway on the open ground, I'm not sure anyone would pay for that level of coverage. There are long stretches of the PA turnpike that are pretty out there in 2012- remote, lovely, loaded with Amish and lots of nothing, like wise the Adirondacks in upstate NY and we haven't even hit the great praries of the midwest. and the big open nothings of places like Montanna. Remeber a few years ago Montanna had NO day time speed limit in large stretches but it got pulled off because insurance ocmpnaies raised rates.

Inside Seattle, considering hooking up to the GridGuide might be mandatory, I wouldn't think speeding was that common anymore, mostly reserved for biker gangs, criminals, Shadowrunners etc.

Here's the metric conversions:

Highway: 100 km/h

Rural: 80 km/h

Residential: 50 km/h

School/Construction: 30 km/h

Shadowrun walk speed: 12 km/h (which is insanely fast really, RL is about 5 km/h)
SR run speed: 30 km/h (within Usain Bolt speed 44 km/h)

In some states, speed limits are suggestions rather than absolute rules - or used to be. I recall reading a case about a guy with a brand-new Porsche bombing along at some ridiculous speed - like 130 or greater - who got pulled over and ticketed.

He got off in court when his lawyer came with him, reminded the court that the speed laws in their state were not absolute figures but instead demanded that the driver "not operate at an unsafe rate of speed." Cross-examining the very policeman who wrote him the ticket showed that his headlights were very bright, giving him more than adequate view of the road ahead and that he at no time posed a danger to anyone else, and was at all times in full control of his automobile, which had been engineered to operate safely in the manner he was driving it. The court concluded that he was operating his motor vehicle safely in accordance with the law, though not in accordance with their "We recommend you drive no faster than this to be safe" signs, and dismissed the case.



As you suggested for use, though, for the outback roads, I imagine the speed limit signs from the USA are still extant, and rather than go to the expense of replacing the signs, they just leave the speed limit on the maps the same, and practically speaking, ignore them.


That said, RFIDs aren't that expensive. I imagine Signal 2 or, at the most, 3, would be sufficient for any speed limit sign's broadcast beacon. And in any event, even if you don't want to update the signs, the speed limit will still be present on the mapsoft you're using to drive with, which will display the speed limit in your AR overlay.

The case sounds like the stuff in Montanna.

I think you'd find that speed limits would be regulated and enforced in and around any city. Several Reasons:
1) Revenue. City hall likes speeding tickets.
2) Safety. Overcrowded roads are dangerous at speed.
3) Money. This is Shadowrun. The insurance companies now OWN the roads and the cops, and probably city hall.

This is part of why the Go-gangs are such a feature of the setting - they like to drive fast, and its illegal.

When Speed is illegal, only criminals will have Speed.

I expect cars to go much faster (and some might fly!) in the future: anyone ready for 200 MPH posted for mid-air pathways? The progress we made in automobile design will continue on and we will enjoy the ability to travel in flying vehicles by then.

Yea, they said that about the year 2000 back in the 1950's and early 60's too. It's now almost 13 years past that and still no (common use) flying cars.

Speed limits of 100+ MPH maybe, but flying cars, maybe not. Though the SR timeline has diverged enough that it is possible, after all you can put LTA on a tank (or aircraft carrier) and it'll work.

-D

Parking lots don't have legally enforced limits. They aren't public roads so local laws do not not apply unless city/county/state code says otherwise.
Construction zones are usually -10mph when there's lane restrictions and -20mph when workers are working.

And other countries (and Shadowrun) use this modern thing called the Metric System.

War and Peace uses miles per hour.

/topic

suggestions.

In some places, they have about as much weight as the feeble old grandmother begging you not to go out and kill rival gangers with your gang.

In other places, they are "suggestions" in the exact same way as "Drop your weapon: you have fifteen seconds to comply!" is a suggestion.

i'd probably listen to the former sooner than to the latter . .
if i am in that situation already, then the chances of me getting away scott free are slim already, so what would it hurt to go out in a blaze of glory trying to get away scott free after all?

"Five rounds to plan, get cover and open fire? What a deal!"

You're not Joe Everyman, nor are you Mookie the Motherfucker, gang-banger.

Mookie the Motherfucker doesn't give one volcanic shit what some decrepit old bitch has to say, and would likely give her the back of his hand for speaking to him.
Joe Everyman, on the other hand, is going to shit a brick, drop his guns, and pull over to the side of the road. When the cops get there, he'll already be in the position - the fetal position - with the armed gun-drone hovering over him.




It opens fire preemptively if you start to move for a weapon. It's not stupid.

Oh yes it is . .

As always, "It depends". The speeds listed above (In km/hour, as is proper) are a good guideline, but enforcement is trickier.

In a 'plex, the majority of cars are electric and tied in with GridGuide ™. This got more common after Crash 2.0 and the wireless Matrix, natch. GridGuide ™ will make certain that you say in the right speed band as well as give you directions or, if you'd like, your Pilot program is perfectly capable of driving for you, which many people enjoy. Get in your car, tell it where you want to go, then fire up your commlink so that you can enjoy the ride while reading or updating your MeFeed. Many people never even learn to drive, because, well, why would you? The car drives itself. Themanual override is there, so you can disengage the pilot and do your own thing, but there's not much of a reason to do so. Traffic that moves in unison with lights are vastly more efficient, and you'll never break a law, so let it handle things.

Law enforcement for traffic violations uses a lot of drones. Drone cameras at red lights, for instance, peg you if you run the light, while GridGuide itself keeps tabs on the streets and will ping you when you're going to fast, to advise you to slow down or be fined. Ignore it, and the tickets start dropping in. Ignore them, and the local police are called in to stop a reckless driver. Neat bonus? GridGuide will pull all the cars to one side of the road, so that the pursuit cars can catch up to you easier and with less risk of an accident. Helicopters and flying drones can be called in for major moving issues, and its a simple thing to tag a car with paint and some RFID tags so that you can follow anywhere it goes.

Now, once you get out of the downtown area and the better middle class neighborhoods, you get more people on public transport and driving cheaper (often used, sometimes just scoot-like) Less GridGuide here, since the network's less reliable, and more people driving themselves. Once you get to the Barrens, the only cars you'll see are likely to be rusted-out gas-guzzlers from 20+ years ago or shiney new vehicles for successful crooks. When the leader of the Bloodfangs gang parks his shiney new SUV in the road, nobody touches it. Easy way to find people, that.

So halving those values wouldn't be too far fetched.

After all, optimized runners blow Bolt out of the water when they break the sound barrier anyway.

Yep, in that regard they're still a bit nostalgic. But with all the upheaval on globablisation in the setting, I'd guess imperial units are fairly dead by 2050...

Since Shadowrun is a dystopia, I'm inclined to agree.

Except for the CAS. They're the last bastion of Imperial.

I just had this image if the Imperial Death Barrel, being attacked by the metric rebels in their Exa-Wing fighters

Lets hope Luke uses the SI Force and does not succumb to the temptations of the Pound Side...

Why? An entire post in puns? Just why? And to attack Star Wars so needlessly. Oh the horror, the horror.

"Everything I saw told me that Kurtz had gone insane. … If I was still in feet and inches, it was because he wanted me that way."