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Re: Unfair speed limits
Steph Greenberg (steph@primenet.com) wrote:
: John W. Kale (jwk3@po.CWRU.Edu) wrote:
: : brindle@lf.hp.com (Mark Brindle) says:
: : >I agree that speed differential is a concern; but, the *MAIN*
: : >cause of accidents is driver inattention and/or incompetence.
: : >Speed differentials on the German autobahns are *ENORMOUS* --
: : >closing speeds of well over 100 mph are commonplace; yet, the
: : ^^^^^^^^
: : >accident rates are lower than on US interstates.
: : ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
: : This isn't a flame, but could you give a source or a citation
: : or something to back this up? I was actually arguing one side or another
: : of this subject with someone once, and I was unable to find any stats for
: : autobahn accident rates. I'm honestly interested.
: I don't have any stats, but from what I saw when I was in Germany, the
: fatality rates for accidents on the Autobahn were appaling. The debris
: from a single accident could stretch for 3/4 of a kilometer. If you saw a
: relatively fresh accident, what was left couldn't be identified as an
: automobile.
Sorry, it's been a long time since I saw the accident-rate stats
and I don't remember the source; but, on a basis of *accidents*
per highway-mile, German autobahns were safer than US interstates.
As far as *fatality* rates are concerned, I don't recall ever
seeing the data; but, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the
autobahn figures are higher. Obviously, there aren't gonna
be many survivors of 120+ mph screw-ups. Also, I'd guess the
occupancy-rate is higher in Germany -- if so, there would be
more passengers involved in the average mishap.
regards,
Mark
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