541–550 of 954 posts
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The only problem is a decent percentage of people plead to the courts that they need their vehicle to work and hence get let off
That is true, but they should still face fines, lost points and higher insurance costs.
Cities can replace smooth asphalt with rough brick and cobblestone, and replace traffic lights with traffic circles / roundabouts. If they really want to force cars to slow down, they could, in a way that doesn't take anyone's rights away and doesn't require any vehicle manufacturer to play ball. Freedom isn't free. It's always cheaper to take away people's freedom instead of doing the hard work of building infrastru…
You should look into why cities use smooth asphalt over concert which would be significantly less maintenance. Cars driving around create a lot of noise. Driving on a rough surface like concert, let alone a bumpy surface like brick or cobblestone, creates a ton of additional noise. Another hint is that gravel driveways are cheap, but they also make it very very easy to hear when someone is pulling up to your house. A…
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I'm guessing you've never lived in a rural area? * Protection against aggressive wild animals. * Protection against aggresive humans. This often applies elsewhere, but becomes less and less optional the further away law enforcement is. * Arguably more humane way of killing pests than poison or most types of lethal trap.
I lived mostly in rural areas but this still sounds too wild. Are US rural areas so dangerous? Especially aggressive humans? I've newer felt that I need the gun to protect myself, but than again I do not live in a place where 'aggressive humans' could easily[0] have a gun. [0] As it is harder to obtain gun on illegal market when it is harder to obtain one on legal market.
You don't feel the need for something like a gun for self defence. However if/when you do need to defend yourself then your opinion will quickly change.
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What really messes up flow is traffic "waves"[1] and these are often caused by drivers hitting the brakes because they're following too closely or someone cuts in front of them aggressively. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_wave
Yes. Once I realized this, I tried to put a higher priority on maintaining a more steady average speed, even though that usually means leaving a larger gap ahead of me. Of course, the problem then becomes that people will often use that gap to cut in front of you, thus negating much of the benefit. Tragedy of the commons.
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Nope, because people are overestimating themselves. I know a couple of people who can do 2x the speed limit relatively safely , but this is because they were race drivers in a previous life. However, not everyone (incl. me) has that reflexes and situational awareness all the time. Recently I got into an accident. A car changed into my lane completely unannounced, and I was blinded by a car in my front diagonal. The c…
Explain how the German autobahn has fewer collisions than US high ways with lower than 85th percentile speed limits if the lower speed limits are such an advantage. Actual data does not support the idea of low speed limits. They are only in place as an attempt to reduce fleet fuel consumption, and hurt safety by causing big differences in vehicle speeds.
There is no reason in the world to assume that US drivers have the same level of driving skill as German drivers.
There are cars that can go way over 100 mph, and they almost all speed controlled by software. High performance cars are often speed limited by software to about 150 mph. How is this legal? Cars with speed limits that high belong to the track, not public roads, with a possible exception for emergency vehicles. There are some rare (emergency) situations where "superspeeding" might help, but I can think of many others…
The primary reason is political: people don't like the idea of the government living inside our cars 24x7, telling us how fast we're allowed to go. Even though most of us don't speed. Other examples of this phenomenon include: * A government mandated alcohol, cigarette, and BMI limit to prevent major health issues. * Government surveillance of our emails, messages, phone calls, bank accounts and internet activity. *…
I'm curious where you live. In the major US city I live in, well above 50% of drivers are going above the speed limit at any particular moment on any particular highway.
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Nope, because people are overestimating themselves. I know a couple of people who can do 2x the speed limit relatively safely , but this is because they were race drivers in a previous life. However, not everyone (incl. me) has that reflexes and situational awareness all the time. Recently I got into an accident. A car changed into my lane completely unannounced, and I was blinded by a car in my front diagonal. The c…
Explain how the German autobahn has fewer collisions than US high ways with lower than 85th percentile speed limits if the lower speed limits are such an advantage. Actual data does not support the idea of low speed limits. They are only in place as an attempt to reduce fleet fuel consumption, and hurt safety by causing big differences in vehicle speeds.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Explain how the German autobahn has fewer collisions than US high ways with lower than 85th percentile speed limits if the lower speed limits are such an advantage. Actual data does not support the idea of low speed limits. They are only in place as an attempt to reduce fleet fuel consumption, and hurt safety by causing big differences in vehicle speeds.
> Explain how the German autobahn has fewer collisions than US high ways with lower than 85th percentile speed limits if the lower speed limits are such an advantage. There is no reason in the world to assume that US drivers have the same level of driving skill as German drivers.
That is a very typical response, yet the notion of Germans being intrinsically superior to others has long been debunked.
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Driving 10 mph above the speed limit on a highway at every opportunity will only lead to a very limited reduction in travel time, because you spend a lot of time breaking (i.e. to avoid crashing into law-abiding drivers, reacting to speed controls, etc.). At the same time it drastically increases both the risk of accidents, as well as the severity of accidents when they happen. You also endanger not only yourself but…
Failure to drive 70 mph on a highway posted at 60 will (very often, road depending) result in far more cars overpassing you. Each instance of passing carries a small but definite amount of risk; it is safer to match the speed of the other cars on the road than to obstinately stick to the limit and get passed hundreds of times in a single trip. (As for ripping up roads and relaying them so drivers intuitively find the…
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Explain how the German autobahn has fewer collisions than US high ways with lower than 85th percentile speed limits if the lower speed limits are such an advantage. Actual data does not support the idea of low speed limits. They are only in place as an attempt to reduce fleet fuel consumption, and hurt safety by causing big differences in vehicle speeds.
Well for one you have to take an actual driving test? Police that regularly enforce traffic violations. And really gruesome accidents.
As for gruesome accidents, there will always be Darwin Award recipients. Trying to prevent them from earning their rewards is a foolhardy task. I believe the maxim is that the moment you make something idiot proof, the world makes a better idiot.