speed limits

[Damien]

Originally posted by TheSyndicate
I wish there was a 'minimum speed limit' that was 2mph less than the actual speed limit. This could help my road rage when old ladies or minivans are in front o fme....

There is, but they are a rare find!

*Dreams*Days of riding on the Autostrada! *Dreams*

[replicant_008]

I drove in France recently. The autoroute had a speed limit of 130 kmh in the dry and 110 kmh in the wet.

However, 140 kmh put you in the slow lane (along with the semi-trailers), 150 kmh saw you in the middle lane.

Heaven help you if you went out to the fast lane under 160kmh as some guy in a Porsche/Mercedes/BMW/Audi would burn their headlights into the back of your retinas in the rear vision mirror...

Speed cameras are very well sign-posted in advance and lane discipline was incredible... and not a cop in sight...

[moondog]

oh dear oh dear oh dearie dearie dear. Raf found a thread about speed limits. (Takes deep breath and resolutely resolves not to rant too much).

Limits are a waste of time. The argument that we need them to save people from themselves just doesn't fly. If people are stupid enough to drive too fast for conditions, then they'll do that whether or not there is a speed limit, and irrespective of what that posted limit is. Studies (big, and well-designed) in the US showed that drivers' actual road speeds did not vary significantly when posted limits were increased or decreased. However, there was a trend towards a reduced speed differential when limits were raised, as well as a trend towards fewer crashes.

More sensible in my view, would be a system that described in general terms the type of driving condition. i.e. is it a fairly straight smooth wide open road sort of thing, or a tight twisty road, or straight and wide, but crappy uneven surfaces... etc

If you are going to post a number limit, then sensible research has shown that the best speed to post is the 85th or 90th percentile of actual road speed + 5 mph. This is because the risk of a crash is shown to be lowest if you drive between the 30th and 90th percentiles. (btw, the lowest 5% are more at risk than the fastest 5%)

I better end rant now.

nope, one more point: speed limits encourage complacency. What I mean is that idiots believe that because they are driving at or below the posted limit, they are safe, and by implication, don't have to concentrate at all. (Think Volvo drivers). That's bollocks. 1500kg at 50km/hr is something I don't want to get hit by, and plenty of crashes occur at lower speeds.

end rant

[taranaki]

All very well,moon,but it assumes that all cars are created equal,and that all drivers are equally experienced....

Picture the scene - It's a reasonably fine day towards the end of a dry summer,and you are driving your very first car - let's say,a mark 1 Escort.You passed your driving test a few weeks ago ,and youiv'e bought this splendid vehicle from a 'mate' real cheap.It's still got a couple of months warrant,but it looks really sweet,the mags that he picked up cheap from the wreckers yard are really cool and it's been lowered with a quick flick of the gas axe........

your on the open road somewhere out Taranaki way,bouncing over the potholes,drifting through the corners(you never got taught how to check your tyre pressures)and generally wringing it out,the way that your 'mate' taught you to....It starts to rain.The wiper blades aren't that flash,you can still see between the smeary bits if you hold your head right and that odd thumping noise from the back goes away if you crank the subs up.

What speed will this guy be doing when the oil and rubber that has been building up on the road turns to glass in the rain?could he handle a blowout if his over-inflated tyre hits one pothole too many?Does he know that the mags came off a wreck,and that one of them is badly cracked around the stud holes?will the badly-modified suspension keep him in a straight line if he has to hit the brakes?Does he know enough about the hazards to spot them before he kills himself,or someone else?

Sure,a collision at 50kmh will do a lot of damage,but the survivability rate of accidents is not a straight ratio .If you were to draw a graph of%likelihood of death against speed,the line would curve upwards sharply at about 90 km/h.For younger U.S. members,that equates to about 55 mph....During the 1970's oil crisis,the U.S. government imposed a blanket speed limit of 55mph in order to ensure that fuel consumption was optimised for the length of the crisis.The road fatality statistics plummeted,and the speed limit was retained as a safety measure.

Speed + inexperience or mechanical failure or rain = increased risk of death.Control the speed,you can positively influence the outcome.

Driver education,and roading quality,and vehicle inspection all need to be vastly improved before any raising of speed limits in New Zealand can realistically be considered.

[moondog]

But the guy in your example isn't going to drive slower just because there's a low speed limit.

1. Driver training needs to be improved - well, actually it needs to exist for a start, then we can look at improving it.

2. Roads need to be improved.

3. Car safety/performance standards need to be rational and properly monitored. For example, you can get a warrant with four completely different tyres on the car, as long they all have >2 mm of tread. Now that's not safe. And there are lots of bizarre things like that which will contribute to making cars less safe.

That said however, the studies I referred to before (remember: a trend towards fewer crashes when posted limits were increased, because the speed differential was reduced) were done in the real world, not the utopia we would have if my points above were introduced.

Oh, add to those a number 4: a functioning public transport system, which would reduce the volume of traffic on the roads.

[replicant_008]

While I was flying down the road yesterday (only 10 km over), I noticed a cop with a radar gun sitting on top of a bridge.

The cop pulled me over, walked up to the car and asked me, "What's the hurry?"

I replied, "I'm late for work."

"Oh yeah," said the cop, "what do you do?"

I responded, "I'm a rectum stretcher."

The cop said "What...? A rectum stretcher?!? And what does a rectum stretcher do?"

I said, "Well, I start with one finger, then I work my way up to two fingers, then three, then four, then my whole hand, then I work until I can get both hands in there and then I slowly stretch it until it's about 6
foot wide."

The cop asked me, "What the hell do you do with a 6 foot arsehole?"

I simply replied, "You give him a radar gun and park him on top of a bridge..."

The ticket -- $95 dollars. The look on his face, PRICELESS

[Spec2 Girl]

OMG that's hilarious! :hehehe: :hehehe: :hehehe:

[moondog]

Originally posted by taranaki
During the 1970's oil crisis,the U.S. government imposed a blanket speed limit of 55mph in order to ensure that fuel consumption was optimised for the length of the crisis.The road fatality statistics plummeted,and the speed limit was retained as a safety measure..

That's an oft-quoted statistic, but as they say, there are lies, damn lies, and statistics. What is not generally mentioned, is that the amount of traffic on the roads declined sharply at the same time. Funnily enough, fewer cars on the road = fewer crashes. Later, when the blanket 55mph limit was repealed, some states increased their limits. Their road deaths did not increase. In fact, one or two (if I remember correctly) demonstrated a decrease in road deaths with the raised limit.

[Stefanel1]

The speed limits are usefull, but in some cases : in the towns, or dangerous areas. Do we need it on the Highways : there are not in Germany for example) But not too slow. I went in the USA, and it's very very slow. Here, the speed limits are a little bit higher (85 on the highway e.g) but there are less radars and there is a tolerance (about 15%). So you can drive untill 100mph without having a fine.
As I said, in Germany it's better, there are not speed limits on many highqays's parts. And in Italy it just passed to 95mph.
I spoke about the highways because I think it's the only place where we can speak in general : it's straight line, and there are not danger to drive fast when there are not too many cars.
In the other cases, there are too many situations so we need speed limits, but surely not so low, overall in the USA (because we're on an american forum, isn't it ?)

And don't say speed is killing people, it's not actually true. Alcohol, marijuana, drugs, etc. are, and, of course, if you're drinving fast being drunk, or under drugs, it's dangerous.

That's my opinion about speed limits !

[Ssom]

Originally posted by Stefanel1


And don't say speed is killing people, it's not actually true. Alcohol, marijuana, drugs, etc. are, and, of course, if you're drinving fast being drunk, or under drugs, it's dangerous.

That's my opinion about speed limits !

Well not neccasarily- if you are new to driving and you are going 250kph in a Merc CLK55 AMG and something leaps out in front of you- What do you do???? It's a matter of being able to control a car at speed- something they are taught in Germany.....Hence the Autobahn.....

[Stefanel1]

Of course. I'm agree with you.
The "secret" is that we have to adapt our speed to the environment.

[YogsVR4]

Originally posted by replicant_008
While I was flying down the road yesterday (only 10 km over), I noticed a cop with a radar gun sitting on top of a bridge.

The cop pulled me over, walked up to the car and asked me, "What's the hurry?"

I replied, "I'm late for work." "Oh yeah," said the cop, "what do you do?"

I responded, "I'm a rectum stretcher." The cop said "What...? A rectum stretcher?!? And what does a rectum stretcher do?"

I said, "Well, I start with one finger, then I work my way up to two fingers, then three, then four, then my whole hand, then I work until I can get both hands in there and then I slowly stretch it until it's about 6
foot wide."

The cop asked me, "What the hell do you do with a 6 foot arsehole?"

I simply replied, "You give him a radar gun and park him on top of a bridge..."

The ticket -- $95 dollars. The look on his face, PRICELESS

Shit Mr. T. I missed this for a couple months. Thats one I completely for got about

[taranaki]

Originally posted by YogsVR4


Shit Mr. T. I missed this for a couple months. Thats one I completely for got about

Who?what?where?

yup,it's a one of them,but too obvious.

Speed limitis are a vain attempt to protect us from stupid people.Too bad the stupid don't genrally abide by the rules.


oh,and speed cameras are a way of screwing more funds out of people who don't watch where they are going.

[Jimster]

Speed limits.............nah, I don't agree with them really, anyone with common-sense should know you don't round a blind corner at 220 km/h or drive downa wet Urban street at 160 kph. drive to suit the conditions, and you also don't want to break teh speed limits here, the Polizia are right assholes, of course every Saturday and Sunday morning I get up at 5:30 have a high speed blast around Genoa, while the cops and traffic is out, then head back to bed


and if you don't have common sense sell your car at once and don't think about TOUCHING another steering wheel until you get some

[Stefanel1]

I'm agree with Jimmy.
Are you still living in Italy ? Did you sell the 607 (what motor ?) or is it in NZ ? And are you satisfacted with your 156 ??!