Motorway Speed Limits - Out of date yet?

[Giles]

This is a fatuous point. You cannot absolutely judge the optimum so the law does so in a simple and straightforward manner, providing an easy-to-remember limit. The alternative is for people to be allowed to make up their own minds or for the limit to alter by the weather conditions, which would be wholly impractical.

You know very well that it's not the case that (say) 62 is "safe" but 65 is "unsafe". 65 is less safe than 62 which is less safe than 59. Speed limits are compromises between the needs of the public for safety and the convenience of travellers in getting from A to B. Of which, two obvious points: first, the the former is by far the more important of the two, second, the latter is about the god of society as a whole and not about the desire of people to go faster because they like it.


A great deal more impartial than selfish would-be speeders, and a great deal more socially responsible.

So, out of interest, do you think that the current limits should be "set in stone" because the people 30 years ago were somehow privy to THE absolutely correct limits for all conditions, and anyone who suggests any change is irresponsible? Or what?

Giles..

 

[Giles]

TVRs

But they do have one of the highest percentages of deaths on the road not involving other vehicles.

I think this says a lot about the people who drive TVRs!

Giles..

 

[Giles]

nowt to do with car safty. seperate paragraphs. I think that non cat converted cars should be banned beacuse they fuck up the environmeant even more quickly then other cars.


dave

Well, I don't, cos I drive one, and I am planning to keep it. The day someone tries to take it off me, I shall run them over in it, then reverse over the remains.

Giles..

 

[the B]

I think this says a lot about the people who drive TVRs!

Giles..

Agree!

Anyway, any new stopping distances should account for about 3 standard deviations worth (ie. 99% of cars, a sort of statistical 'just in case/insurance policy')

 

[Griff]

I think this says a lot about the people who drive TVRs!

Giles..

Mine's 34 years old, and most people who drive modern ones have no idea what mine is.

Wouldn't buy a modern TVR at all.

 

[Poi E]

Cats are not a freebie solution for a cleaner environment. The environmental destruction and pollution caused by the mining of platinum used in cats is a big problem.

 

[Giles]

What comes over, again and again, is the selfishness of people who want to drive faster. They really think they're being picked on by an anti-car lobby because they don't get to do what they want and they're quite prepared to use the most specious arguments in support of their case. Well, let them stamp their little feet all they want, provided they don't stamp them on the accelerator.

I don't stamp my feet. I just do what I want, and if necessary, lie, to avoid speeding tickets. That's because I'm cleverer than most people.

Giles..

 

[kained&able]

Well, I don't, cos I drive one, and I am planning to keep it. The day someone tries to take it off me, I shall run them over in it, then reverse over the remains.

Giles..

can't you get the exhasut syem changed? i didn't even think it cost that much.


dave

 

[laptop]

on a motorway, the relative speed of each car is only a few miles per hour more or less than the next guy.

That might usually be the case at first contact. Which is then followed by spinning into the path of another vehicle, or into an immovable object...

Again, you're focusing on the driving task, from the point of view of the driver's seat, looking at a situation where an accident hasn't happened yet.

To consider safety properly, it's much more useful to start from the point of view of the wreckage of the things you hit, and work back.

 

[Giles]

can't you get the exhasut syem changed? i didn't even think it cost that much.


dave

It's not just a question of changing the exhaust for one with a "cat". A "cat" would get damaged by the relatively inefficiently-burned exhaust from an old, non- fuel-injected, electronically managed engine.

Maybe you are thinking of changing over to unleaded? I've done that already.

Giles..

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

Cats are not a freebie solution for a cleaner environment. The environmental destruction and pollution caused by the mining of platinum used in cats is a big problem.

It's also the case that a very large percentage of the energy and resources used and pollution produced by cars is due to the production process.

If Giles ditched his old car and bought a new one with a catalytic converter I doubt the overall effect would be beneficial. (Although if anyone has actual figures feel free to prove me wrong, I'm not certain.)