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Automotive News & Views Should the US government bring back the 55 mph max speed limit again?
1418 messages, Last post on Dec 16, 2008 at 11:21 AM
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I agree, raising the bar and having a driver's license mean something substantial other than identification would be a good revelation for this country. The driver's tests in CA are a joke.
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Replying to: fintail (Nov 13, 2008 8:24 am) It is rude to expect others to get out of your way by keeping right of where you want to go agressively. Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength. - Eric Hoffer |
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Replying to: andres3 (Nov 13, 2008 9:19 am) |
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| i don't think its driving the 75-80 that's the problem. i think people just need to be cautious of their surrounding drivers. 75-80 is a fine speed to drive when not many cars are on the highway, but I think it is ridiculous to try and do the same and swerve in and out of lanes to do so. If the situation permits one to drive in that way, so be it! If it doesn't then obviously drive accordingly. I know that's the problem with speed limits. If they are high, then drivers assume that this is the speed they should be going at ALL times. there are factors we can' control and therefore are forced to drive slower. i guess in LA, the speed limit is the most irrelevant thing ever!!! to go the max. speed is something Angelinos are happy enough with! | |
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Replying to: kernick (Nov 13, 2008 6:10 am) I guess this is where we differ on what is 'safe'. Your definition is being able to follow the road at speed and not drive into the ditch. My definition is that both the car and driver are capable of handling the speed when something goes wrong. Yes just about any imbecile can point a car in a straight line and do 80+ mph. Unfortunately there are precious few who have a feeling for the car they are in and would slow down if they had a sense that the car was losing downforce and starting to create lift, or realize that should a deer or other wildlife come up on the roadway how to best avoid a serious accident. Airline pilots are trained in many worst case scenarios so they have the ability to get out of trouble. Airplanes are also certified for speed, and cars should be as well, not just how fast can it go, but rather how fast can it go with in its design specs (brakes, handling, aerodynamics). |
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Replying to: euphonium (Nov 13, 2008 9:26 am) It is rude to impede the progress of others driving a completely reasonable speed, and insane to believe you have the means to do so. Keep your tired old sled in the right lane and let the people of today go past - this is where your recourse ends. The slow and backwards will keep right or wish they had. |
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drivers ignore the speed limit regardless of what it says. People will drive the speed that is reasonable, safe, and comfortable to them no matter what a sign with numbers on it says. The study was done on a 2 lane road where the speed limit was adjusted from an archaic 35 MPH to 45 MPH. The average speed of cars with the previous speed limit was about 46 MPH and 95% broke the "law." After the speed limit was adjusted the average speed of vehicles became 44 MPH and a majority of drivers were within the "law's" parameters. Therefore, increasing speed limits does not automatically mean the speed of traffic will increase.
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Replying to: andres3 (Nov 13, 2008 10:20 am) |
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Replying to: cdn_tch (Nov 13, 2008 9:38 am) You're kidding right? Please post a link - like Consumer reports stating vehicles are having hazardous lift at 80mph. It's about 1,000,000 times more likely that someone will have a problem controlling their car on ice or snow then just driving down the road at 80mph. If you were going to put ay effort into improving people's driving skills, it would be on snow and ice. or realize that should a deer or other wildlife come up on the roadway how to best avoid a serious accident. I've known somebody that had a deer run into the side of the car, and my boss who hit one at 45mph and had no time to react. Deer are unpredictable, stupid and fast, which makes driving skills rather irrelevant. The stability control and ABS of vehicles allow drivers to maintain control in those cases where some avoidance maneuver is possible. Those systems act faster and better than any human can, and no great skill is needed; but the deer might move the same way you go. Airline pilots are trained in many worst case scenarios so they have the ability to get out of trouble. Are you inferring that many years of driving experience counts for nothing? Airplanes are also certified for speed, and cars should be as well, Airplanes and cars are designed and tested in much the same way. Most auto manufacturers have testing facilities, and cars designed for high speeds are tested for high speeds. Sports cars carry larger, more powerful brakes, and many cars now are equipped with certified H, V, or Z tires. I have no qualms that my Mazda couldn't run safely at full speed if on an appropriate Autobahn or track. |
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Replying to: kernick (Nov 13, 2008 11:21 am) It's about 1,000,000 times more likely that someone will have a problem controlling their car on ice or snow then just driving down the road at 80mph. If you were going to put ay effort into improving people's driving skills, it would be on snow and ice. Aerodynamic forces change with speed, and I've experienced it. It is not that the car starts flipping over backwards (a la Le Mans), but rather that you can feel the car getting very light in the front. The deer was just an example, not a statement of the only unexpected thing that can happen on the road. Many things can happen, and most people will panic when confronted with an emergency and no amount of technology can make up for that. Are you inferring that many years of driving experience counts for nothing? Nope, I'll state it without reservation. As a friend said in an unrelated conversation, "you have 2 people in the same job for 30 years, one has 30 years experience, but the other has 1 years experience 30 times". This holds for drivers as well. Most auto manufacturers have testing facilities, and cars designed for high speeds are tested for high speeds. Sports cars carry larger, more powerful brakes, and many cars now are equipped with certified H, V, or Z tires. The manufacturers test their vehicles, yes, the tires have maximum speed ratings, yes, but the cars are not certified to run at any given speed. There are many cars that if you hold down the gas pedal far enough for long enough, they will go 80 or 90 mph, but at that speed they are running close to flat out. Do you believe a car like that should spend 6+ hours on the interstate/autobahn at that speed? |
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