Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
VDOT says the higher limits can not only improve efficiency for Virginia drivers, but also make them safer.
"Where we see a lot of interstate crashes is where there's differences between the speed limits and the speed the traffic is traveling," VDOT spokesman Jeff Caldwell tells WTOP. "If motorists traveling a higher speed have to stop, or switch lanes to avoid slower traffic, that causes conflict points which can often cause crashes."
So, it's not the speeders but the people going too slow and getting in everyone's way that causes accidents. Good to know.
So, it's not the speeders but the people going too slow and getting in everyone's way that causes accidents. Good to know.
Oh whatever! It is inattention that causes these problems. If the driver on the fast moving vehicle were paying attention, they would anticipate having to change lanes, or they could simply slow down a bit themselves.
I suppose that VA is going to ban semi trucks as well? Last I knew, they move pretty slow when pulling out in traffic from a rest stop, or even going up a hill when fully loaded.
Just because some moron isn't paying attention, it is not the SLOW MOVING VEHICLES fault. And this is why I don't spend much time on interstates these days - way too many idiots driving cars and not paying attention.
Raising the speed limit so the idiots who can't abide by what's already the law can go even faster isn't going to make them safer drivers. The people they are trying to push off the road will still be there, still staying on the right side of the law. Meanwhile everyone is going 10 miles faster per hour and crashes get even deadlier.
Do you really think people already driving 20mph over the limit won't still drive 20mph over the new limit?
I don't get it. If the limit is 65, and the accidents are caused by guys going 55, how does it reduce accidents if you raise the fast drivers to 70, but the slow guys are still going 55? What am I missing?
It's no speed, it's the variance in speeds. Accidents are caused by slower drivers and speeding drivers swirving around traffic. If everyone went the speed limit... no more or less.... there would be the least accidents.
What IS proven is that higher speeds creates a higher chance of injury and/or fatality. This is worth noting. I'd rather have 10 accidents totalling my car without injury than having to deal with my death once or twice.
I don't get it. If the limit is 65, and the accidents are caused by guys going 55, how does it reduce accidents if you raise the fast drivers to 70, but the slow guys are still going 55? What am I missing?
I think what they meant was that most people traveled above the speed limit on that road, and that created dangerous situations when those people came across cars that did follow the speed limit.
By raising the speed limit, to the speed generally traveled at on the road, they foresee that everyone will go the same speed instead.
The obvious fault in the logic is that everyone at that point will start driving even faster.
I don't get it. If the limit is 65, and the accidents are caused by guys going 55, how does it reduce accidents if you raise the fast drivers to 70, but the slow guys are still going 55? What am I missing?
The limit is 65 and the accidents are being caused by the guys doing 75 around the guys doing 70. They're assuming that if the limit is 70 they'll all go at 75 but the reality is the guys currently doing 75 will now go 80, the guys going at 70 will go at 75 and the problem will only become more deadly.
The number one cause of crashes(no such thing as an accident, it's always somebody's fault) is tailgating, period.
Here is proof, travel on the interstate at 40 and a soon a somebody gets on your tail, tap on the brakes and they will hit you because they were tailgating.
Now travel on the interstate and if there is not much traffic you can drive all day long at 75-80 mph without incident but just as soon as somebody tailgates that's when a crash will most likely occur.
I am not advocating speeding, just anti tailgating.
I've only been driving for 37 years but one observation I have made is that it's not really the speed but the operators that just have to hover in any lane but the right lane. They are almost always the inatentive one's because they are oblivious to the fact that (on the highway) we are supposed to keep right except to pass. Just my .02 . Because that law cannot effectively be enforced, that dangerous situation will always exist. I am not posting this observation in defense of speeders but as a concern as to why there is a lot of slicing and dicing - ziging and zaging that ups the possibility of highway accidents.
This observation is independant of the whole cell phone fiasco. If only there was a mechanism that shielded cell signals while the vehicle was in any gear but park or neutral. Until then, I can only give those of you who use the phone while driving one mean as look. Hang up and drive.
Actually, the NTSB data supports this proposition strongly. The number of cars that are speeding is greater than the number of cars that are speeding and involved in an accident. That is a statistical relationship which is not necessarily "causual." But, stop for a moment and think about that relationship. The accident rate is higher for cars that are not speeding.
It makes sense to me. If you are in the air above the highway, you can see that the Interstate is mostly open road with clumps of cars every mile or so. This is caused by groups of cars moving around slower moving cars, sometimes in the wrong lane, but always requiring lane changing, braking, etc.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
