| 2004/02/21 Another cool link on highway safety and speed | |
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2004-02-21 20:11
by Merlin
in Cars, Ncars
Current Music: Armin Van Buuren, A State of Top 20 (Armin absolutely rules)
Current Mood: Fair (tired from a snowboarding day with not enough sleep, good snow though) A quote from a friend: "France and Germany expect more of their drivers so they get it, we expect the least and get it." Anyway, on a car list I'm on, they posted another nice article on the stupidity of low speed limits. Let me quote the best part: "Applying numbers to the most accredited relative risk bell curve, by Cirillo, tells an interesting story. This curve was based on urban interstate research during off peak hours. It found the safest speed to be the mean plus 12 mph, and when charted on the graph the safest speeds extended up to the mean plus 18-20 mph. Translated, the current mean on most rural interstates is between 70-75 mph and the safest speed would be 82-87 and the vehicles least likely to be involved in an accident are those traveling between 70 and 93-95 mph. The current speed limits are set so low that the vehicles least likely to be involved in an accident, according to the studies, are the primary targets of enforcement during the best highway conditions. Should the limit be set at 90 or 95 mph? Either way, it would seem to have no effect on accident rates. The Montana and Autobahn real life experience of unposted limits having no apparent effect on safety can not be ignored." |