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Re: The Federal Study that Finds Speed Limits Irrelevant...
Chuck Fry <chucko@rahul.net> writes:
>In article <3v5pcq$431@nooster.navy.mil>,
>Tom Glaab <tglaab@nooster.navy.mil> wrote:
>>I was listening to the NASCAR race this weekend on the radio... there was a
>>15-car pileup at 200 mph, and everybody walked away from the accident. So much
>>for the "speed kills" argument.
>>How can NASCAR drivers go bumper-to-bumper at 200mph without incident while Joe
>>Driver can't handle 70 on the open road? Training and alertness. Getting a
>>driver's license is a joke in America :-(
The comment about getting a driver's license in America is unfortunately
true and I'd guess that 99% of those that have taken the British test and
an American test would agree. I have a British license and a WA state
license. I made two mistakes on the WA test WHICH WOULD HAVE FAILED ME
on the British test. I was in NO danger of failing the WA test.
>Some comments:
>Training and alertness has more to do with those who *avoided* the wreck
>than those caught in it.
>And I wouldn't call a race with a 15-car pileup "without incident."
Neither would I.
>The *real* reason no one was hurt (seriously, at least; one driver came
>away with one hell of a black eye) was that the cars are designed to
>withstand the expected impact, with stout roll cages and designed-in
>crushable structure, and the drivers wear crash helmets and fire suits,
>and are well and truly strapped in to wraparound seats. Even with all
>these safety measures, NASCAR drivers are occasionally killed.
A
>Joe Driver *can* and *does* handle 70 MPH on the open road. Every day.
>If he couldn't, fast drivers like you and me would be dying in droves,
>and last I looked we aren't -- fatal accident rates are continuing their
>long historical downward trend. The problem is that the cops, the
>courts, the legislooters (great word, I wish I'd thought of it!), and
>most importantly the insurance profiteers don't wish to acknowledge this
>fact, because of one important fact:
>It costs these vested interests big money to admit the average driver
>can drive safely when left to his/her own devices.
Surprisingly safely... considering some of the brain-dead highway
features - on/off ramps on the left, blind merges, on-ramps which are too
short, no enforcement of 'keep right except to pass' laws.
I don't know whether it has changed in the past few years, but in
England, you'd better keep left unless you were passing or the cops would
take great pleasure in giving you a ticket - probably easier to prove in
court (what speed were you doing? Who cares? The lane on your left was
empty). Similar for passing on the inside.
Orin.
References: