Date: 27 Jan 1993 18:06:44 GMT
From: Peter Swanson <pjswan@engin.umich.edu>
Newsgroups: comp.society.privacy
Subject: Re: Radar Detector Prohib
Organization: University of Michigan Engineering, Ann Arbor
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X-Computer-Privacy-Digest: Volume 2, Issue 011, Message 4 of 11

In article <comp-privacy2.10.8@pica.army.mil> oracle!us.oracle.com!dave@uunet.uu.net (Dave Dargo) writes:
>Craig.Wagner@p2.f120.n109.z1.fidonet.org (Craig Wagner) writes:
>
>
>>  ER> [Moderator's Note:  You're underlying assumption is that breaking
>>  ER> speed limits is dangerous.  This is not necessarily true.  
>
>>While it's true that it's "not necessarily true," it's _not_ the case that a
>>driver can _know_ that it's _not_ dangerous, and therefore shouldn't be doing
>>it.  He may see no other cars on the road, and the driving conditions may be
>>perfect, but he has no way of knowing precisely the road conditions ahead of
>>him, or whether or not there's a driver waiting to turn onto the road, and
>>expecting any oncoming traffic for which he may be looking to be no further away
>>than could be expected based upon the posted speed limit.
>
>This assumes that the government's posted speed limit is the correct
>speed limit to be able to observe such things based on the road 
>conditions.  The current max of 65 (still 55 in most places) has 
>nothing to do with road conditions or reaction times but rather
>with some vague in-defensible (IMHO) federal government policy.
>
How do you propose to take into account varying road conditions?
The same road that would be safe at 80mph in sunny weather may
be unsafe at 65mph in rain, unsafe at 40mph in fog or blizzard,
and unsafe at 5mph in freezing rain.  You don't honestly expect
someone to check road conditions and change the speed limit signs
appropriately, do you?  In my travels (often on the 700 mile
stretch of I94 from Detroit to Chicago to Minneapolis) I have rarely
seen anyone slow down for a 65-55mph transition, and I doubt many
people would slow for dynamically updated speed limit signs.  Most
people don't slow down in poor visibility conditions such as
darkness or fog, innocuously driving at the speed limit or better
as if it were required (certainly around Detroit and Chicago,
and I assume many other places as well).  On an unlit stretch
of road at night, even with bright headlights you can't see far
enough ahead to stop for a fixed object in the road (be it a
deer, person, brick, or jackknifed semi: I've seen them all, even
in the early morning hours).  I've also seen or read about dozens
of people killed in bad conditions, striking bridge pylons, pedestrians,
trees, concrete dividers, and an occaisional large truck stopped in the
road, all due primarily to excessive speed.  It seems to me that
the 55/65mph speed limits are conservative: in ideal conditions
(low traffic, straight dry road, high visibility) 100mph is safe for many
cars, but conditions are rarely ideal.  
  
>[speeding doesn't hurt rhetoric deleted]
>I doubt that you will find many accidents caused
>solely by excessive speed, but rather by some other contributing
>factor such as whipping in and out of lanes or following two closely
>for the speed being driven.

True, speed *alone* doesn't cause many accidents, but it drastically
lowers your safety margins with such things as decreased response time,
increased braking distance, decreased contact with the road, decreased
visibility (tunnel vision: your peripheral vision diminishes with speed),
and fatigue.  Also, in car-car collisions it isn't speed that causes injury,
it is relative speed between vehicles.  Allowing higher traffic speeds
allows greater deviations between vehicles: a 55mph car striking a 45mph
car won't cause much injury, but an 85mph car striking a 55mph car may
well kill the occupants of both cars.  Lower speed limits permit smaller
variations in traffic speed, and thus fewer fatalities.  It is also
difficult to see cars approaching from behind at high speed while still
looking at the road ahead.

Most interstate highways are designed to be safe at speeds of 80mph
under good conditions, with features such as divided highways, banked
curves, and good drainage.  I don't have a problem with people doing
80mph on such a road.  When conditions aren't ideal, especially at
night or in bad weather, it is necessary to slow down.  I think
that 65/55mph is a compromise, a little too slow for good conditions
and a little too fast for poor conditions.  I speed, but I also realize
that it isn't just my own life that I risk by doing so.  I don't think
many speeders understand this, or care.

-- 
| Peter J. Swanson                   |  pjswan@caen.engin.umich.edu        |
| PhD Pre-Candidate                  |  controls specialist                |
| Electrical Engineering:Systems     | Fortunately, ah keep muh feathuhs   |
| University of Michigan             | numbahd for just such ahn emergency.|