Alaska - Can you speed in Alaska?

The title says it all.
I would like to speed and wondered how often do cops check the road. Do they use radars?

What are some of the places they use as hideouts?

Are the fines hefty?

Or do you really discourage it at all?

It seems I will have to see a lot of things, and those can be achieved by driving a bit faster(90+) : )

You see troopers semi-frequently, not sure on how well they patrol the road for speeders.

I wouldn't recommend it. There has been several times I've been driving and someone overtakes me at 80+ mph. Minutes later I pass them as they are now in the ditch. The roads are curvy, and there are lots of animals. Coming around a corner and having a moose right in front of you is not good.

Plus there are RV's all over the place. I'm quite happy when I can actually go the speed limit.

You see troopers semi-frequently, not sure on how well they patrol the road for speeders.

I wouldn't recommend it. There has been several times I've been driving and someone overtakes me at 80+ mph. Minutes later I pass them as they are now in the ditch. The roads are curvy, and there are lots of animals. Coming around a corner and having a moose right in front of you is not good.

Plus there are RV's all over the place. I'm quite happy when I can actually go the speed limit.

so there are NO straight lines? I mean for those sections where its pretty flat, is speeding ok?

so there are NO straight lines? I mean for those sections where its pretty flat, is speeding ok?

Agree with AlphaEagle. About the only stretch I can think of which is close enough to ANC for your purposes, and long and straight and flat enough to save any time by hitting 90 mph for an extended period is maybe north of Wasilla headed to Denali. Heavy moose country, and lots of little side roads with trucks and kids on four wheelers popping on and off the road unexpectedly. And lumbering motorhomes this time of year. In my wilder days I did 70 there and a couple of times came very close to regretting it.

And a friend was killed in a car wreck near there two months ago, leaving 5 children behind, so maybe I am sensitive.

I think the odds of hurting yourself and/or someone else are pretty high with this plan. Those studies which talk about how little time one actually saves by speeding like that might be useful reading.

wow,my impression of AK was like me driving for like 5 hours and seeing 2 or maybe tops 3 cars on the road, but it turns out its not like that for sure...

On the other hand I thought since its the largest state, the highways would be like FL turnpike where some people do 130+ and never get caught...

; )

Agree with AlphaEagle. About the only stretch I can think of which is close enough to ANC for your purposes, and long and straight and flat enough to save any time by hitting 90 mph for an extended period is maybe north of Wasilla headed to Denali. Heavy moose country, and lots of little side roads with trucks and kids on four wheelers popping on and off the road unexpectedly. And lumbering motorhomes this time of year. In my wilder days I did 70 there and a couple of times came very close to regretting it.

And a friend was killed in a car wreck near there two months ago, leaving 5 children behind, so maybe I am sensitive.

I think the odds of hurting yourself and/or someone else are pretty high with this plan. Those studies which talk about how little time one actually saves by speeding like that might be useful reading.

I'll stand in opposition to my fellow Alaskans and say that both I and most others I know personally happily do ~10 over the speed limit and have no issues.

Police in Anchorage are generally tolerant of about 10 over, though of course not always.

Commuter traffic on the Glenn Highway from Anchorage to the Valley (Wasilla) generally moves at 70-75 (4- and 6-lane highway with posted limit of 65. Police are tolerant if you're moving with traffic. And honestly, during daytime hours, I really don't see a ton of cops (not any more than you see on a freeway in/near any other midwest/west coast city).

Out of Anchorage/Wasilla/Fairbanks, policing is done by the State Troopers. There's a lot of road for them to cover, and so they are few and far between (according to the Glennallen Visitor's Center volunteer I talked to several years ago, there are four troopers for the entire Copper River Basin, which is 500+ miles of highway. Of course, those highways are the ONLY roads in the region, and so the chances of running into one of those four troopers are likely higher than you'd think. And the word on the street (well, in the Glennallen Visitor's Center, anyway) is that the troopers may be rare to see, but when they see you, they WILL stop you.

All that said, I've driven several times up the Parks Highway to Fairbanks and had cruise control set at 75 and have had no issues whatsoever, and the whole "getting stuck behind RVs" thing is overblown (I don't know that I've ever been stuck behind one for more than a mile or so). The highway is indeed mostly straight and quite safe at those speeds, with the exception of a couple well-signed turns (and, of course, the congested areas around Glitter Gulch). The Alaska Highway from Fairbanks to the border is mostly straight, too. The curviest sections may be the Glenn between Palmer and Tahneta Pass and the Richardson in Thompson Pass on the way to Valdez and of course the Seward Highway along Turnagain Arm. Aside from that, Alaska's mountain ranges are very old and well-worn with wide valleys through them and HUGE expanses of non-mountainous areas, and the original road builders of old did a pretty good job of picking relatively flat ground to lay straight pavement down.

As for fines, 1-9mph is two points and 10-19 is four points. Figure on roughly $10 (maybe $11) per 1mph increment over the posted limit. 20mph and over is a mandatory court appearance. I usually go about 5-10 over in town (depending on the road) and 9 over on expressways/highways, figuring cops don't really care about >10mph over and in the rare event I do get pulled over, 2 points is easier to live with than 4. Of course, in the winter, I'm more cautious: on main arteries that have had the ice and snow worn down to dry pavement (i.e. that aren't slippery), the speed limit is fine (though I don't push it over that), but on side roads or after a fresh snowfall (or worst-case scenario--a freeze/thaw cycle that leaves glare ice everywhere), I give plenty of buffer and lots of room around me. The majority of other local drivers are similar to me (I'm not rampantly passing people right and left), but Alaskans are lacking in lane courtesy (staying right when not passing on divided highways), and there are a good number of oldtimers who are in absolutely no hurry and are happy to be oblivious to people behind them. When encountering cops driving in your direction, though, you'll usually see them doing 5-10 over the limit, too... ;)

I'll concentrate south of ANC as that's where I typically spend my free time... down to the Kenai Peninsula. The Seward highway (and Sterling) were once absolutely atrocious with no shoulder and extremely windy roads hugging the mountainface. Some areas are still like this (like ANC-Girdwood) but even that stretch of road has seen amazing improvements. IIRC that stretch of road they replaced there (well two stretches) have a design speed of 'unlimited' but it's covered well by both the troopers and APD. Once you hit Turnagin Pass it opens up again, and there are some stretches where you can hit 90+ if you really want to... but again watch out for wildlife, tourists, and the occasional trooper. And due to heavy traffic flow and slow moving vehicles (rented motorhomes :eek:) there won't be a long distance you can do this at - more then half the highway is single lane each direction.

I'll stand in opposition to my fellow Alaskans and say that both I and most others I know personally happily do ~10 over the speed limit and have no issues.

I should have mentioned, I do typically go about 5 above and if it is nice and straight will go about 10 over. I don't consider that unsafe, it's just the blind corners which I think cause the most trouble.

Maybe I've been unlucky with RV's and other slow drivers, but I think there are plenty of long stretches where passing isn't possible. When there is a long line of cars behind the slow car, even in a legal passing area, makes it difficult to get ahead of them if nobody else is willing to pass. I wish the law requiring you to turn off when there are 5+ cars behind you would be enforced.

If you do decide to speed, do some research first http://www.speedtrap.org/state/2/Alaska.

Made up some time during the Cabbage Do (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/14574950-post772.html) on the Seward Highway... after one nice stretch... saw some flashing lights :gasp: - in Turnagain Pass- an unmarked black Ford Expedition found a customer... thankfully it wasn't us.

Made up some time during the Cabbage Do (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/14574950-post772.html) on the Seward Highway... after one nice stretch... saw some flashing lights :gasp: - in Turnagain Pass- an unmarked black Ford Expedition found a customer... thankfully it wasn't us.
Thanks for clearing that cop out from ahead of us. 1,180 miles of driving (all at LEAST 5mph over the limit, most of the time more like 9 over), and not a single flash of lights. ;)

When I drove from Anchorage to Seward on Friday, September 3, 2010, I saw two different drivers who were being detained by patrol vehicles on the Seward Highway. We left Anchorage around 8:00 PM and arrived in Seward around 10:30 PM; I obeyed the speed limit.

I'll concentrate south of ANC as that's where I typically spend my free time... down to the Kenai Peninsula. The Seward highway (and Sterling) were once absolutely atrocious with no shoulder and extremely windy roads hugging the mountainface. Some areas are still like this (like ANC-Girdwood) but even that stretch of road has seen amazing improvements. IIRC that stretch of road they replaced there (well two stretches) have a design speed of 'unlimited' but it's covered well by both the troopers and APD. Once you hit Turnagin Pass it opens up again, and there are some stretches where you can hit 90+ if you really want to... but again watch out for wildlife, tourists, and the occasional trooper. And due to heavy traffic flow and slow moving vehicles (rented motorhomes :eek:) there won't be a long distance you can do this at - more then half the highway is single lane each direction.

This is all so completely accurate. The drive to Seward is one of my (an inside the beltway resident's) favorites, and it is fast improving. I would add that the drive features occasional passing lanes, but one should be careful around curves. And as oe gets to Seward, there are a couple of communities where the limit goes as low (I think) as 25. These spots are quite brief and there truly are more folks turning into the highway and children. I have tended to keep speed at 10 to 15 over on the stretches of highway, but thnk it is abit irresponsible to speed in these communities.

By all means, speed. I don't mind you putting my life at risk, and I don't mind wasting public resources scraping you off the asphalt. :td::td::mad:

If you're planning on going anything over 70 mph, that's 15 mph over the limit, and I can easily see that you can get a reckless driving citation in certain areas, which will result in a revoked license.

Any ticket you get will show up on your out of state record and an accumulation of points on your out of state record.

What excactly is so important to warrant you not obeying the law?

By all means, speed. I don't mind you putting my life at risk, and I don't mind wasting public resources scraping you off the asphalt. :td::td::mad:

If you're planning on going anything over 70 mph, that's 15 mph over the limit, and I can easily see that you can get a reckless driving citation in certain areas, which will result in a revoked license.

Any ticket you get will show up on your out of state record and an accumulation of points on your out of state record.

What excactly is so important to warrant you not obeying the law?

^

There are speed limits for a reason.

It seems I will have to see a lot of things, and those can be achieved by driving a bit faster(90+) : )

How can you enjoy the sights along the way? A roadtrip is always fun to see what's out your windows. Going at 90mph (endangering your life and that of other drivers) will cause you to miss the scenic drives of Alaska.

There are speed limits for a reason.

Not the reasons you might think (http://www.motorists.org/ma/index1.html) (read the first sentence).

Lots more information: http://www.motorists.org/speed-limits/

Not the reasons you might think (http://www.motorists.org/ma/index1.html) (read the first sentence).

Lots more information: http://www.motorists.org/speed-limits/

I know that speeds are most of the time lowered for political/policing interest but for the most part they are there for safety. If there were no guidelines or speed limits on roads (such as those in Alaska) it would be a different drive.

Please do us all a favor and vacation somewhere else if you are looking for a fast and furious experience.

Roads in Alaska have far more natural and environmental hazards than you are used to in the lower 48. The Seward Highway south of Anchorage is widely known as the most dangerous road in Alaska. There is great, wildly distracting scenery along a winding, two lane heavily traveled highway that sees way too many fatal crashes every year.

Remember too that in Alaska, being as sparsly populated as it is, that help can be a very long way away. Plan to spend at least an hour or more waiting for an ambulance if you crash and don't be too suprised by a two to three hour transport to a Hospital. Be aware that in many places you will have to survive the night in a small rural clinic waiting for good weather and a medivac flight. There are only two medivac helecopters in southcentral Alaska and they are frequently busy or grounded by weather.

Alaska is a great place to visit, but is very unforgiving of inattention or mistakes.

I traveled from Anchorage to Fairbanks going the Eastern Route. Once I passed Palmer I saw max 30 vehicals for the next 300 miles...at times upon a straightaways I picked up my speed. That being said there were a lot of curves and dips that could be dangerous if approached at a quick speed. That being said I also did not see one cop the whole ride up.