Originally posted by: Armitage
turns. They wanted to get home -- that's all. 95 is NOT unsafe. Speeding is NOT unsafe. Morons who make laws for the supposed good of us ARE unsafe.
Ok, nobody can really take you seriously here. Are you honestly suggesting that driving 95MPH is as safe as driving 65MPH? If so, I suggest you need a refresher course in basic physics - you know, energy, momentum, etc.
Even if you in your vehicle are actually safe @ 95 on a particular stretch of road, the vast majority of the rest of the population on the road isn't. And as you said yourself, in your next post, a difference in speed is very unsafe.
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I love the geeks on here. But, but, physics! In science it says that driving faster can result in a more brutal consequence. Well, duh. Does it mean the number of accidents is changed? Nope. You act as if there's a huge difference between a wreck at 65 and 95. There's isn't much of one. Once you top over about 45mph your chances start slimming rather quickly.
It has nothing to do with the majority of the population being unable. They are unable because they've been forbidden. Not a tangible lack of ability, but a lack of chance to learn or practice -- a lack of a chance to become comfortable. The number of people that get killed in Single Car two lane road accidents around here is WAY higher than our Highway fatality rate. Speeding is rarely, if ever, a reason for highway wrecks. Inattention, reckless driving (like people trying to piss of others by enforcing speed limits or their morality), and just a general lack of driver experience.
Even if you in your vehicle are actually safe @ 95 on a particular stretch of road, the vast majority of the rest of the population on the road isn't. And as you said yourself, in your next post, a difference in speed is very unsafe.
The people in question were law enforcement. No doubt that they drive for a living, likely have experience in higher level driving, and had obviously been hauling through other states doing the same. In fact, I know they were. Alabama troopers and local cops around here were giving them daily escorts. The amount of Katrina traffic running down 20/59 to LA has been insane. About half to 3/4's of the cars going Southbound for a good month have been out-of-state people headed down to the Coast. I've seen several packs of LEOs heading down with or without an escort -- speeding with their lights on -- heading down there. The majority of population isn't what is at issue. I said driving 95mph is not UNSAFE. You and others decided to qualify that with Geo Metros with flat-tires, drunk and cracked-out drivers, and whatever hodge-podge of moral turpitude you could come up with.
Fact is, a very large bulk of US cars can handle 95 mph, and are no less safe at 95 than 65. A good many of the drivers would and do need additional training, simply because of how over government has refused to allow higher speeds.
55mph was the standard due to gas shortage, and it was kept that way for supposed "safety" reasons. After data proved it made the roads no less safe they slowly started allowing higher limits, and then finally gave way to the states giving their own limits. Texas has decided to start allowing 80mph on some of their more rural interstates (proof on Wikipedia).
Why is it that in densely populated Europe the speed limit is typically between 120-130 kph in the city, and people go way faster, and then outside the city it is much higher or non-existent? Driver training. Lack of busy body tools imposing their so-called morality and ideas. Courtesy.
I've more of a problem with you jerks that fool around in the left lane doing 60 or 70 than I do with someone doing 95 in the left lane. Get OUT of their way, ignore them so you won't run into the guardrail, put down your cellphone, make-up kits, donut, coffee, and stop thinking about the fight you had with your wife that morning. What's worse, the guy doing 95, or those that are so inattentive that 60mph is a challenge for them?
Difference of speed is a factor, and that's because people in the left lane REFUSE to yield to faster traffic. If you eliminated passing to the right, handed out severe fines for not yielding in the left lane, and moved to graduated licensing and an age of 18 for the highways, you'd have a much lower death rate. No, we are content with an idiotically low limit, bad-drivers (due to their own selfishness and refusal to yield), and a generally lack of common sense regarding traffic in this country. Difference of speed is only a facor because people REFUSE to yield and REFUSE to drive in the proper lane.
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