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Re: BURN THAT COP? (was Re: Cops: Can't Live With Them, Can't Live , Without Them)
In article <Pine.Sola.3.91.950427100912.18510C-100000@ux4.cso.uiuc.edu>,
copland timothy j <copland@ux4.cso.uiuc.edu> wrote:
>
>
>P.S. I only do this late at night, and when I'm alone. I don't promote
>unsafe driving. Driving at over 100 should be done with great care and
>at a time of day where there is less traffic, less younger people and ...
>:) less cops.
>
>Don't jeopordize the life of someone you love.
>
>Tim
Curiosity question - do states / countries which allow high speeds on
selected highways take special care to ensure safety ?
Specifically,
1. Driver examination. I certainly don't have the training or reflexes to
drive at 160kph. Some days, I barely manage to parallel park without
totalling my car :-)/2 (I "ground" myself if I'm feeling REALLY ill. It
just isn't worth the risk).
2. Vehicle condition. Many vehicles aren't designed for high speeds even
when new and in perfect repair. I needn't bore you with the condition of
many vehicles still being driven (brakes ? nawww .... I just stick my foot
through the hole in the floor and drag it until the car stops).
I used up my lifetime allocation of luck when the camchain on my Honda 350
motorcycle snapped. I had just passed a truck and was preparing to change
back to the righthand lane. There was a station wagon tailgating me. (I
clutched, swung onto the dotted line separating the two lanes, and was
passed on the right and left by the truck and the station wagon,
respectively).
3. Road condition. Higway 401 (major artery across Southern Ontario) is
littered with debris - remnants of truck tires, mufflers, assorted rubbish.
That's in addition to small squished animals and large half-repaired road
faults.
My close calls / falls involved that Honda 350 (I was young and foolish -
I'm older now :-)). Sand/oil in corners, railway tracks ALMOST parallel to
the road (about 5 degrees off), that sort of thing.
I'm also curious about safety in the following scenario.
I'm travelling at 110kph. I approach a truck travelling at 100 kph. To
maintain forward visibility and reduce the sandblasting, I like to pass
trucks. I check the mirror, accelerate to 120kph (used to pass at 140kph
before photo-radar, now everyone passes at 110kph, extending the time in the
"danger zone" and getting sandblasted), check the mirror, pull into the
passing lane. Halfway past the truck, some yahoo appears on my rear bumper
braking from 160kph+ and rather annoyed.
I have checked for traffic approaching at reasonable (i.e. close to
average) speed and moved out when the road within my range of vision was
clear. I cannot effectively anticipate someone approaching well above the
speed limit (possibily out of view because of curves or hills), nor can I
effectively judge the speed when it's well above average. IMO It is the
responsibility of "Sterling Moss" to be aware of these facts and anticipate
slower vehicles passing trucks.
How are these problems addressed in Germany or Nevada (I believe Nevada
is the state with no speed limits ?).
--
mdfreed@io.org Mark Freedman (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
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