It's 32 degrees and you're driving on the highway...

[ZackyDog]

...The roads are clear but damp, and have a little salt on them. What do you think is the fastest speed that you can driver safely?

Thanks.

It's around midnight. Not a lot of cars but trucks. Not windy but a curvy highway; the normal speed limit is 55 mph.

 

[Orpheum]

Exactly the speed that will allow me to get home and not to the hospital...

 

[teletimetx]

Not enough info to assess. Time of day, wind factors, road surface, traffic levels, road contours, actual specified speed limit, etc.

If you have some specific driving safety message you’d like to pass along, then just do that.

Thanks for caring, though.

 

[getbent]

the main worry is bridges and overpasses... is there wind? is it wet or damp, do your tires kick up water (wet) or not (damp) what is your tire situation? front wheel drive or rear? lots to consider.

I'd probably go the speed limit.

 

[ZackyDog]

Not enough info to assess. Time of day, wind factors, road surface, traffic levels, road contours, actual specified speed limit, etc.

If you have some specific driving safety message you’d like to pass along, then just do that.

Thanks for caring, though.

OK.

It's around midnight. Not a lot of cars but trucks. Not windy but a curvy highway; the normal speed limit is 55 mph.
revised OP

 

[Jupiter]

it's gonna change moment to moment, but I'd be at or below the speed limit

 

[Fretting out]

Are you making this thread while observing these things?

If so I wouldn’t be driving at all

Unless you’re in the passenger seat

 

[ZackyDog]

Are you making this thread while observing these things?

Of course not.

 

[teletimetx]

OK.

It's around midnight. Not a lot of cars but trucks. Not windy but a curvy highway; the normal speed limit is 55 mph.
revised OP

Well that’s a start. Pacific NW might have road conditions such as “clear, but damp”, but elsewhere on the planet, not necessarily. Yes, I lived in Portland for 2 months, so I can estimate what you’re trying to emulate, maybe.

Seriously, IMO, if you have a message, then just do that.

Kind of deciding I don’t really care.

 

[Stanford Guitar]

If it's a 2 lane road, you can only drive as fast as the truck in front of you.

 

[Peegoo]

The fastest speed what I can safely drive are precisely one mile per hour below the speed that I'd doing when I'm lose traction and go spinning off into the rhubarb.

Results not typical. Do not attempt. Your actual mileage may vary. Professional driver on a closed course. This does not constitute medical advice; consult an attorney before suing a doctor. Batteries not included.

 

[Quexoz]

32, damp but salted? Only real concern is icy bridges, barely. If it's not safe to do 40, I am off, or on my way off the road anyway.

 

[ZackyDog]

Well that’s a start. Pacific NW might have road conditions such as “clear, but damp”, but elsewhere on the planet, not necessarily. Yes, I lived in Portland for 2 months, so I can estimate what you’re trying to emulate, maybe.

Seriously, IMO, if you have a message, then just do that.

Kind of deciding I don’t really care.

There's no message; I just wanted some kind of sanity check. There have been major accidents lately on CT highways, and now I think that I know why.

I lived in Portland, Oregon hospitals for 3 months, recovering from a near death experience with the flu. I lived in the Seattle area for 22+ years; now I'm back where I grew up in CT.

 

[telemnemonics]

10% over the speed limit.
Maine winters the roads North of Augusta and East of 95 are (or were when i lived up there) white hard pack all winter.
I've driven 200 miles on sheet ice.
I've driven 50 miles in a blizzard that mostly allowed me to see most of the length of the hood, drove by the feel of the shoulder from Bangor to Bar Harbor.
Some places and times leave no other option than to drive under bad conditions.
All speed or direction adjustments should be very gentle.
When sideways and backwards on ice, just relax and wait for some grip or your speed to diminish.
Nothing fear can improve!
In Maine the worse the weather the fewer the vehicles.
In Boston the sense is less prevalent.

 

[Peegoo]

If you've ever wondered why no automobile rental agencies in Alaska have white cars in their inventory...well now you know.

 

[telemnemonics]

Seriously though the listed specs, 32f, clear but damp pavement, and salt?
That's just not an icy condition, not at all.
Unless the municipality isn't used to winter and the "salt" isn't really there.
First freeze of the season I don't assume the roads are well salted.
Or if there was flooding torrential rains for a solid hour or more that washed away all the salt.
If I'm unsure or there's any doubt I try the brakes to determine how much if any grip I have.

 

[Boblets]

Down our way, 32C is warm enough to put the air con on.

 

[bgmacaw]

The roads are clear but damp, and have a little salt on them.

Here in GA where there's probably not going to be salt on the roads, you stay home after making a desperate run to Kroger for milk and bread.

 

[stormsedge]

It all depends.

Edit: Funny...around here, the instant the temps hit 32F around here, people start driving like there is ice everywhere...not the case. It takes hours for the roads to cool enough to freeze over.

 

[metalicaster]

In what car? My Range Rover feels stable at about 105; my Miata would be terrifying.