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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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