How dangerous is it to go like 120mph on a freeway?

[bmacd]

my explorer tops out at 116mph, but i've taken my bike to the low 160s. If you want to go that fast, take it to the track or strip

-=bmacd=-

 

[Rock Hydra]

Originally posted by: 91TTZ

Originally posted by: newParadime
Sometimes its fun, if you have a car that'll do it good enough.

I dunno what the dangers are though.

~new

It's not nearly as bad as people make it sound. You see, in the US people are brainwashed by their government's propaganda. The points they will bring up are the same as in other countries, even ones which don't have ridiculous speed limits.

When I was in Germany last year, the same laws of physics applied as they do in the US, yet nobody seemed to care if I was going 120 mph. In fact, plenty of other people were going fast as well. Apparently they don't think that driving at your own pace is deadly, and strangely enough their fatality rates are lower than ours. Who woulda thunk it- people can survive without nannystaters dictating your speed?

Well, if there are countries that let you drive at your own pace, that's different than driving almost twice the speed as everyone else. You'll be having to weave in between trafic and all this other crap, whereas if everyone is driving fast, then the flow of traffic is nearly the same.

 

[91TTZ]

Originally posted by: IHateMyJob2004

Originally posted by: newParadime
Sometimes its fun, if you have a car that'll do it good enough.

I dunno what the dangers are though.

~new

You dumb F. Freeways are not designed for those speeds. Reading about the German AUdibon will make the short comings obvious.

And that's also why they make race tracks you dip sh!t.

When's the last time you drove on the German "audibon" to make a qualified statement?

 

[Hammer]

it depends on the 4 main factors:
1. road conditions
2. driver experience
3. vehicle
4. lack of police

when i was significantly younger (we all make mistakes), i had a nice high performance vehicle that i took up to 120mph and sustained for about 45 minutes on a secluded part of I-35. it doesn't feel all that different after about 90. it burns a tremendous amount of fuel though. i went through about 3/4 of my tank almost. its not really worth driving at the speed with that kind of fuel consumption.

 

[wheresmybacon]

Originally posted by: newParadime
Sometimes its fun, if you have a car that'll do it good enough.

I dunno what the dangers are though.

~new

The dangers others have listed here are all very real, however what's not widely known is that they're decreased in direct proportion with how many stickers you have. Further, if you add one of those huge wings and a fart-cans you're pretty much invincible.

EDIT: spelling

 

[OulOat]

Your tires will pop because they can't handle the speed.

 

[nakedfrog]

I-80 in western Nebraska is a decent spot to do that sort of thing. You can see for a least a couple miles in front of you, it's nice and flat, and in the right spot it's downhill to help out people in Neons and Corollas

 

[91TTZ]

Originally posted by: Rock Hydra

Well, if there are countries that let you drive at your own pace, that's different than driving almost twice the speed as everyone else. You'll be having to weave in between trafic and all this other crap, whereas if everyone is driving fast, then the flow of traffic is nearly the same.

When I was there, there were plenty of people that were driving slowly, pulling campers, etc. The main differences that I saw were that drivers were aware and courteous. They drove on the right and passed on the left. When they were done passing they returned to the right. The same laws exist here, but nobody follows them. You're not allowed to hog the passing lane in the US or Germany, but over there they actively enforce it. There were no lane hogs that sat in the fast lane going 50 when people behind them wanted to pass.

The main problem here is bad drivers. They shouldn't be on the road at all. They make mistakes and blame someone else. But that seems to be the growing US attitude in general.

 

[Hammer]

Originally posted by: IHateMyJob2004

Originally posted by: newParadime
Sometimes its fun, if you have a car that'll do it good enough.

I dunno what the dangers are though.

~new

You dumb F. Freeways are not designed for those speeds. Reading about the German AUdibon will make the short comings obvious.

And that's also why they make race tracks you dip sh!t.

WTF is the audibon? a highspeed freeway that somehow preserves birds and other wildlife? you're confusing audubon with autobahn.

 

[Hammer]

Originally posted by: OulOat
Your tires will pop because they can't handle the speed.

i remember i had W rated tires at the time. they were ok for that speed.

 

[jpeyton]

Wow, where did you sustain 120MPH for 45 minutes?

Fastest I've gone was 110MPH in my old Accord. That car was not meant to go much faster.

I would say if you do decide to go 100MPH+, do it in the early morning hours (2AM-4AM), make sure you're on a nice, wide, stretch of smooth and straight freeway, and keep at least one lane between yourself and any traffic. Make sure your car and your tires can handle it. And do it alone, so if you die, you don't take anybody with you.

 

[Abe Froman]

to go 120 mph, or go like 120...you could go 30, like its 120...

 

[her209]

Darwin will give you a nice trophy.

 

[blazerazor]

"If you want to go that fast, take it to the track or strip".... Where you will get Ownz'd.

 

[dug777]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
Wow, where did you sustain 120MPH for 45 minutes?

Fastest I've gone was 110MPH in my old Accord. That car was not meant to go much faster.

I would say if you do decide to go 100MPH+, do it in the early morning hours (2AM-4AM), make sure you're on a nice, wide, stretch of smooth and straight freeway, and keep at least one lane between yourself and any traffic. Make sure your car and your tires can handle it. And do it alone, so if you die, you don't take anybody with you.

i've sat at about 155km/h for over an hour driving accross the Nullarbor going over East, and coming back, a few times.

 

[m2kewl]

Originally posted by: 91TTZ

Originally posted by: Rock Hydra

Well, if there are countries that let you drive at your own pace, that's different than driving almost twice the speed as everyone else. You'll be having to weave in between trafic and all this other crap, whereas if everyone is driving fast, then the flow of traffic is nearly the same.

When I was there, there were plenty of people that were driving slowly, pulling campers, etc. The main differences that I saw were that drivers were aware and courteous. They drove on the right and passed on the left. When they were done passing they returned to the right. The same laws exist here, but nobody follows them. You're not allowed to hog the passing lane in the US or Germany, but over there they actively enforce it. There were no lane hogs that sat in the fast lane going 50 when people behind them wanted to pass.

The main problem here is bad drivers. They shouldn't be on the road at all. They make mistakes and blame someone else. But that seems to be the growing US attitude in general.

enforcement and driver education is what US lacks. dmv is totally mismanaged. if troopers gave tickets for driver stupidity vs speeding tickets; they'll have no problems meeting quotas and getting the turds off the roads.

 

[91TTZ]

Originally posted by: Hammer


WTF is the audibon? a highspeed freeway that somehow preserves birds and other wildlife? you're confusing audubon with autobahn.

In addition to that, he's miguided. He seems to think that the audibahn are much different than US highways.

When I was there, the roads were fairly small for being a highway. Even still, the speed limit was unlimited until you approached a tunnel or town. A major highway in the US is usually much wider than the roads I was on there. There's no reason that most highways in the US couldn't support those speeds. But first you have to weed out the bad drivers.

Honestly, the flow of traffic wasn't much different than it is here. Most people choose to drive around 80 mph on a big highway, regardless of the speed limit. The only difference is that all the people doing it over there were not breaking a ridiculous law. And the people who would cruise past at higher speeds were allowed to pass without ignorant lane hogs preventing them from doing that. Take away the bad drivers and traffic tickets, and the flow of traffic is about the same in both places.

 

[DingDingDao]

Originally posted by: Rock Hydra

Originally posted by: 91TTZ

Originally posted by: newParadime
Sometimes its fun, if you have a car that'll do it good enough.

I dunno what the dangers are though.

~new

It's not nearly as bad as people make it sound. You see, in the US people are brainwashed by their government's propaganda. The points they will bring up are the same as in other countries, even ones which don't have ridiculous speed limits.

When I was in Germany last year, the same laws of physics applied as they do in the US, yet nobody seemed to care if I was going 120 mph. In fact, plenty of other people were going fast as well. Apparently they don't think that driving at your own pace is deadly, and strangely enough their fatality rates are lower than ours. Who woulda thunk it- people can survive without nannystaters dictating your speed?

Well, if there are countries that let you drive at your own pace, that's different than driving almost twice the speed as everyone else. You'll be having to weave in between trafic and all this other crap, whereas if everyone is driving fast, then the flow of traffic is nearly the same.

I would never advocate driving at 120 in traffic, but on a stretch of freeway with no cars, 120 is pretty stable, given you have the right car.

20 years ago, if this thread read, "How dangerous is it to go like 80mph on a freeway?" people would've had the same reaction. Now 80 is cruising speed (at least here in Los Angeles)...just my $.02...

I suspect that many of the people who are furious at the notion of driving 120mph have either never taken their cars to that speed, or have done so in less capable cars. I've done 130mph on the track in my A4, and I can assure you the car is very stable. Yes, it requires more braking distance, and yes, it requires earlier reactions to oncoming events (turns, obstacles, etc.), but it is more a matter of driver awareness, rather than the car's ability to perform.

 

[CVSiN]

Originally posted by: newParadime
Sometimes its fun, if you have a car that'll do it good enough.

I dunno what the dangers are though.

~new

depends on your vehicle... traffic... your skill level....

I cruise on my bike generally in the 90-100mph range.. sometimes on purpose other times just becasue it feels so smooth on the bike its easy to get carrried away...

 

[aswedc]

When I was in Germany last year, the same laws of physics applied as they do in the US, yet nobody seemed to care if I was going 120 mph. In fact, plenty of other people were going fast as well. Apparently they don't think that driving at your own pace is deadly, and strangely enough their fatality rates are lower than ours. Who woulda thunk it- people can survive without nannystaters dictating your speed?

I see you're not familiar with the driving style and skill of teenagers/ederly people/soccer moms in America...

If you don't think massive amounts of death would occur if the speed limit was raised you need to look around more.

 

[Hammer]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
Wow, where did you sustain 120MPH for 45 minutes?

stretch of 35 south of san antonio, heading toward laredo. there's a stretch that doesn't have any small towns for a while.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Originally posted by: 91TTZ

Originally posted by: IHateMyJob2004

Originally posted by: newParadime
Sometimes its fun, if you have a car that'll do it good enough.

I dunno what the dangers are though.

~new

You dumb F. Freeways are not designed for those speeds. Reading about the German AUdibon will make the short comings obvious.

And that's also why they make race tracks you dip sh!t.

When's the last time you drove on the German "audibon" to make a qualified statement?

I saw a special on it's construction and maintenence on Modern Marvels. So go educate yourself. US highways are not intended for hi speed use. Six quick examples of Audibon:
1) curves are more gentle.
2) road surface much more level and less bumpy.
3) They don't do patch jobs, they replace large strips
4) peaks and valleys transition more slowly than in the US.
5) illegal to be in the left lane when not passing
6) illegal to pass in the right lane.

I think they even mentioned that hte maximum incline or decline is 7 degrees.

 

[dug777]

Originally posted by: IHateMyJob2004

Originally posted by: 91TTZ

Originally posted by: IHateMyJob2004

Originally posted by: newParadime
Sometimes its fun, if you have a car that'll do it good enough.

I dunno what the dangers are though.

~new

You dumb F. Freeways are not designed for those speeds. Reading about the German AUdibon will make the short comings obvious.

And that's also why they make race tracks you dip sh!t.

When's the last time you drove on the German "audibon" to make a qualified statement?

I saw a special on it's construction and maintenence on Modern Marvels. So go educate yourself. US highways are not intended for hi speed use. Four quick example of Audibon:
1) curves are more gentle.
2) road surface much more level and less bumpy.
3) They don't do patch jobs, they replace large strips
4) peaks and valleys transition more slowly than in the US.

I think they even mentioned that hte maximum incline or decline is 7 degrees.

Autobahn dammit!

 

[PandaBear]

If you really want to drive that fast, make sure:

1. You have a car that came from factory with a design that can handle that (V rated tire stock, sport tuned suspension, 11" front and rear brake, less than 2.7k lb, etc etc)
2. You are driving on a road that is designed for that (in US they spec a 25mph safety margin on road, so 55mph road is safe for 80mph, 75mph road is safe for 100mph, etc). If you are driving autobahn in Germany then it is design for it.
3. You have proper maintanence and tire pressure.
4. You have no other passangers (so you only kill yourself)
5. No one else is on the road (same as above)
6. The weather permits
7. You do it under bright sunlight, so you can see further
8. You have no family or friends that care
9. You have auto and medical insurance, forget life insurance, they won't cover reckless driving suicide

Or:

You do it on a track, that is not as expensive as you think, but you may be pissed when everyone else is going 150mph and you cannot get the ego trip you get as driving recklessly alone on a public road, and endanger other's life.

 

[91TTZ]

Originally posted by: aswedc

I see you're not familiar with the driving style and skill of teenagers/ederly people/soccer moms in America...

If you don't think massive amounts of death would occur if the speed limit was raised you need to look around more.

So would you blame the death on the laws, or the pitifully poor drivers? Lots of people die every year due to smoking, also. Should we blame that on the lack of a "no-smoking" law, or should we blame people's poor health choices?

Bad drivers are going to get killed. Should we nerf the entire country because you get a few fools who can't control themselves?