Slow Drivers cause majority of accidents--BS

chuck my whole point was that the laws are out of touch with the reality of road conditions in a lot of places. it's not that i'm advocating breaking the law, it's that the law should be changed. i have no problem following the law in states that post 75 mph on the speed limit sign.

 

^ Point noted, Priuscritter - I'll not say you are advocating law breaking.

Issues I have with raising the speed limit is:

- Above 50, most of the energy consumed is overcoming wind resistance that grows exponentially
- As many of us observe, there are LOTS of bad drivers out there
- Definitely don't want limits raised in urban areas - people can learn to give themselves enough time to get to work. I'm more understanding of long rural interstate segments.
- Cheap oil is not coming back - why burn it off faster?

 

Bejesus. I was just explaining the problem of perceived average speed.

I never speed. Not even downhill. (Well, I don't speed deliberately, but I'm not so anal about never exceeding the speed limit that I don't ever end up 1 or 2 over with terrain changes.)

What gets me is that I live in a state with referenda. If all those people who drive above PSL wanted to raise highway speed limits they could* at least put it to a vote.

* I'm an alien so I couldn't if I wanted to. I can't even vote in city elections. It's taxation without representation. Must be revenge.

 

People passing in the wrong areas are not to blame, and the person driving slowly is to blame? Talk about stupid. The person driving slowly didn't put anyone in jeopardy. The person who decided to pass in a no passing lane did. Those lines are there for a reason!
This just makes reverse sense to me!

 

Where is that? Not anywhere in my region. But we do get some visitors, apparently from such regions, who cannot adjust to local patterns.

One, a transplanted newspaper columnist, even wrote about after she left. She could afford the tickets, but not the insurance hikes.

 

I was rear ended while doing 60mph in a 55mph by a man doing at least 75mph in AZ. This was in a construction zone where fines are double. My car was totaled.

 

NO reason to drive 55? It's true there is no reason ... if fuel supplies are infinite ... and increased emissions are non issues ... and higher death rates mean nothing. But that's not reality, is it?

Similarly in Montana (where I've been licensed to drive for 2 decades) . . . . there USED to be OPEN speed areas during daylight hours. Every moron in the world driving 100mph thinks they're Richard & Kyle Petty. But then, don't forget how many accidents happen nearly EVERY stock car 500 mile race. ALL PROS ... ALL traveling the same direction ... ALL having the same elements going on ... high speed ... aggressive driving ... little time to react. So, if pros crash at high speeds, maybe think twice whence we think we're immuned to the stuff. Heck, up until the year 2000 in Montana, you could drive 125mph ... AND (up until 5 or 6 years ago) chug a beer ... LEGALLY
Montana's Open Container Law - Overview ...and go figure, I've NEVER seen as many fake/plastic flower arrangements along the road ... out in the middle of nowhere, as when I drive across I.15 through Montana. Yet stats showed death rates actually INCREASED in MT when speed limits were imposed ... a great selling point for the speed freaks. Lo & behold ... 5 years later, when MT finally prohibited drinking as WELL as high speed driving, the death toll began to subside. I guess the moral of the story was that drunks felt safer about driving, once they had a speed limit to keep them safe. I duno. But high speed, an inability to anticipate the unexpected, along with inability to pay attention well enough (of course, EVERYONE thinks THEY're sufficiently paying enough attention) and an inability to rein in aggressive tendencies usually end just how you'd expect.

.

 

Hill, stop talking so liberal like.

Wait I mean conservative. Umm wait what does conservative have to due with conservation anymore? lol

 

Funny thing is, it'd be REAL easy to legislate speed controls on vehicles. The Prius ... the Leaf, and I'm sure several other cars modernly have max speed limiters. But what fun would THAT be, if cars could only do 55 .. or 60.


I do love it when the Alpha Beta or the Ralphs grocery semi trucks get on the road. They MUST be monitored by GPS, because those people invariably do the 55mph thing regularly. I tuck in behind 'em ... maybe 5 car lengths back ... pick up a teeny bit of draft ... an NO one behind me gets angry because after all, they can see it's the truck in front of me that's causing me to be driving so pathetically slow.


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Another forum mentioned Walmart trucks as also obeying speed limits -- truck speed limits, which are lower than car limits on rural interstates here.

While traveling elsewhere during the 2008 gas price surge, I witnessed several 'whale races' with fixed speeds over multiple hill cycles that could be rationally explained only as a drivers mashing the pedal to floor in unloaded speed-governed trucks limited to 64-65 mph.

 

Actually accidents cause the majority of slow drivers.

 

I'll fess up that I always go 5 or 10 miles over limits (10 on freeways). Honestly, in my head, I don't perceive of the limit as the limit. I don't think I've ever caused an accident because of my speed. Most accidents are caused by not paying attention or assuming things not in evidence, such as that the person in front of you will go through the yellow light. Most real wrecks and deaths are at high speeds (I figure low is possible if the other vehicle is very heavy). Logically, the faster you're going, the worse the outcome, although I do wonder if there's a real difference between, say, 70 and 75? etc.

A problem houston's and for several years is pedestrian deaths, especially people running across freeways. I've got a real bug up my bum about it, personally. Obviously, there, the accident is high speed, and the person at fault isn't even driving.

We have to both behave ourselves and watch out for those who aren't.

GPS controllers aren't the answer, IMHO. Hell, everyone would disable them if you tried it. And those devices that allow parents to spy on kids' phones, don't get me started.

I don't think we will ever be better drivers without there being major consequences for not doing so. Or major benefits for doing it. We've been driving for decades, and it's not changed yet. Humans are humans, with emotions and psychological drives. There's not much we can do about that.

 

You can't compare people driving down the interstate at 90-100 to people in a race. the goal of the race and the goal on the interstate are totally different, and the speeds aren't even close.

ok, i'm with you so far.

really? i think the moral of the story is that booze had a far greater negative impact on car crashes than speed.

 

i am guessing she did not equate her driving style to contributing to those high rates did she?

sorry, that is a logical argument. there is no place for logic in this discussion!!

Albertson's amongst many others are big clients of a client of my employer. there is a program called "Field Force Management" which is GPS/cellular based tracking system used by dispatchers for monitoring performance, adherence to scheduling, etc.

i dont work in that area specifically, but we do get the newsletter. several companies are saving better than a quarter million A MONTH due to reduced fuel costs because their truck drivers have been forced to

1) drive the speed limit

2) not make unauthorized side trips

now, i am guessing the drivers dont like the program, but the company is. and the best part of it. the cost to implement is very very low. all tracking is done thru company issued cell phones

funny part; we will eventually go to a completely computer controlled highway traffic system (Google is already deep into the development of this) where computers control speed, following distance, traffic flow, etc.

this will allow 79% more vehicles on the road and reduce fuel expense by greater than 50%. but at the pace it will be implemented, we will be driving ultra cheap hydrogen cars...

ya, i said "ultra cheap". that should give you an idea of how far in the future this will happen

 

second the George Carlin thought

 

Liquor and drugs accounts for the most car fatalities, but speeding is right behind and in many cases was enabled by driving under the influence.

 

I remember going along a winding residential connector street in our neighbourhood one time, maybe 5~10 km's under the speed limit. It's fairly narrow, with parking on both sides, and lots of side streets, lanes, driveways.

I happened to look in the rear view and there was a middle aged guy hot on my tail, literally shaking his head in frustration and rage.

It is a disease, kind of like compulsive checking, hand washing and the like. It should be recognized as such, and habitual nutter's should be pulled off the road.

 

yes, but booze was the reason why.

 

^ neither are safe together or separately.

 

road rage is real for sure, but being frustrated with other drivers doesn't always equal road rage. could i ask what the speed limit was on the road you were on before you dropped 5-10km?