Sometimes faster is better

positron

Argument well presented in this youtube clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzVaa557I9k

Very valid point, and I totally agree that irrationally slow speed limits here and there does annoy me as a driver and everyone seem to define their own 'should have been' limit and over all making such a section of the road more dangerous.

Dartz

Speed in and of itself isn't dangerous.

It's speed in the wrong place.

biko

The man in the video starts off with discussing how when US states increased speed limits from 55mph to 65mph in the 90s, the increase in road deaths wasn't all that high.
The "faster is better" means for legislative bodies to base the speed limit on what the road can handle, and not some arbitrary national speed.

The danger according to him is variation in speeds between cars sharing the same road.
Low speeds will trigger some drivers to break the speed limit and cause collisions. There will also be lot more lane changes.
As long as everyone travel at the same speed the risk of collision is low.

visual

Middle lane slow drivers wont like that video

Atlantic Dawn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTvJFSRYJr8

ironclaw

Increasing the speed limit assumes everyone is comfortable and capable of higher speed. I think the general standard of driving here is so abismal that increasing the speed will just increase the eventual mess when someone who (probably) can drive at the higher limit is clipped by those more clueless.

As much as I'd love a higher limit in Ireland, I think it would be a disaster.

visual

So far we have demonise speeding and ignored the poor standard of driving because they are below the speed limit.

I watched a slow speed accident where a woman doing a U turn knocked down 3 kids another woman on a roundabout hit a pedestrian crossing the road complete her manoeuvre drove off round about and stopped all while the guy was up on the bonet.

But by far worse thing I ever seen was a car hit a young girl only 5 or 6 and continue up the road for another 3 to 400 yards when asked why they didn't stop sooner said they knew child was trapped underneath and thought it better to slow down than break hard.

All of these accidents where below the speed limit and zero has been done about driving standard other than targeting those a few kmp over the limit.

Many slow drivers are totally incompetent and shouldn't be allowed on a ride on lawn mower never mind behind the wheel of something weighing a couple of tons.

Iwannahurl

biko wrote: »

The man in the video starts off with discussing how when US states increased speed limits from 55mph to 65mph in the 90s, the increase in road deaths wasn't all that high.

The "faster is better" means for legislative bodies to base the speed limit on what the road can handle, and not some arbitrary national speed.

The danger according to him is variation in speeds between cars sharing the same road.
Low speeds will trigger some drivers to break the speed limit and cause collisions. There will also be lot more lane changes.
As long as everyone travel at the same speed the risk of collision is low.

I don't know who "Health Care Triage" is, but the arguments in his video with regard to the perceived dangers of speed variation compared to a higher average speed are based on false reasoning, bad science and (perhaps) ideology.


The 'speed variation is the real danger' myth is trotted out again and again by people who appear to resent the very idea of speed restrictions.


Here's a paper which addresses the flaws in the essentially ideological arguments put forward by the likes of Charles Lave (a professor of economics, cited in the video) and which makes the case for setting speed limits according to rational criteria and with a different set of values in mind: http://lup.lub.lu.se/luur/download?func=downloadFile&recordOId=2366357&fileOId=2434823

Leonard Hofstadter

visual wrote: »

Many slow drivers are totally incompetent and shouldn't be allowed on a ride on lawn mower never mind behind the wheel of something weighing a couple of tons.

Indeed, but as long as the RSA, Guards etc are telling us that "speed kills" and have stupid things like "operation slowdown", do you really think anything is going to be done about this?

Sure isn't Leo about to replace the perfectly good 80 kph limits with the old style NSL (which was 60 mph, and typically, the new 80 kph signs are a different design to the old NSL sign, so money has to be wasted on more new signs instead of re-using the old NSL signs if that's what they want to do) sign and a 'slow' underneath? Cue all the people saying "oh I thought that meant it was 60 mph like in the olden days" when they get caught and Government mandrins realising they've made a mistake, and low and behold, deciding to re-instate the 80 kph signs in a few years' time:rolleyes::rolleyes:!

Jesus.

visual wrote: »

I watched a slow speed accident where a woman doing a U turn knocked down 3 kids another woman on a roundabout hit a pedestrian crossing the road complete her manoeuvre drove off round about and stopped all while the guy was up on the bonet. But by far worse thing I ever seen was a car hit a young girl only 5 or 6 and continue up the road for another 3 to 400 yards when asked why they didn't stop sooner said they knew child was trapped underneath and thought it better to slow down than break hard.

You witnessed four kids being knocked down in separate accidents and a bloke being carried on a bonnet?!!

Man, I think you might be a Jinx!

wotswattage

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTvJFSRYJr8

That clip of Clarkson going around the skid pan sitting in the centre of the Anglia is hilarious:pac::pac: I remember seeing it when it first aired back in 1998 and the image is still with me!

visual

Jesus. wrote: »

You witnessed four kids being knocked down in separate accidents and a bloke being carried on a bonnet?!!

Man, I think you might be a Jinx!

No wonder you got nailed on a cross