Further Proof Going Too Slow Causes More Wrecks (insurance, trucker, towing)

[jc76]

I think the cops just need to enforce left lane slow poke drivers. Wanna drive like a grandma that's fine, great, but stay in the right lane where you belong.
There should also be minimums on every street, road, and highway and if you go under you should get a ticket just as a speeder would for going over.
The road wars continue....

[Wilson513]

Originally Posted by PDD

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.

Could you cite some authority for this surprising assertion? There are almost no accidents on open spans of limited access highways where tailgating is likely to occur. I mean the accident rate for areas between exits and entrance ramps is almost zero.

I'd be interested in seeing this tailgating data. There are a lot of rear end collisions, but, in my experience, most of these would have occurred regardless of distance between the vehicles. They result from inattention or weather conditions.

[jtur88]

What appears to be happening in VA is that with the limit 65, they are enforcing at 70. They plan to raise the limit to 70, and continue to enforce at 70. That makes sense. However, if they enforced at 65, it would have the same effect, and probably have a lower accident and severity rate.

By enforcing at a different speed than the posted limit, they are begging for a variation in speeds within the traffic, because some drivers will be more inclined than other to push their speed over the limit to the ticket threshold. In other words, there are two speed limits on the same highway---one is de-facto, the other is de-jure, each of which will be observed by some drivers. A guarantee of widespread lane changing.

If you think about it, raising the speed from 64 to 70.4 is a ten-percent increase in speed, and also a ten percent increase in distance traveled within reaction time, and a more than 10% increase in stopping distance after braking. Which is the same as having enough to drink to slow down your reflexes by 10%. In other words, raising the speed of all traffic is the same as giving every driver a drink.

[TheViking85]

Originally Posted by jtur88

What appears to be happening in VA is that with the limit 65, they are enforcing at 70. They plan to raise the limit to 70, and continue to enforce at 70. That makes sense. However, if they enforced at 65, it would have the same effect, and probably have a lower accident and severity rate.

I'm going to have to correct you there.

Yes, the severity rate will increase, but the probability of accidents will not increase with any significant amount. This according to a study in Norway (regarding 4-lane highways, current speed limit 60 mph). This was a surprising result to many, as it was released by the government agency usually responsible for lowering the speed limits.

They stated that increasing the speed limit to (approx) 73 Mph would have an inconsequential affect on the number of accidents, and the increased severity would be insignificant because of the type of collisions that would happen. (Note, our highway entrance and exits are different from yours, so the result may very well vary here)

They therefor concluded that the increased traffic flow was more important ad the speed limit should be raised. (Currently pending, due to environmental concerns)

So, if you take these findings and transfer them to American highways, I think it's safe to say that the accident rate wouldn't rise significantly, but the severity of the accidents that happen, due to the general road construction, could be slightly heightened.

[20yrsinBranson]

Originally Posted by wilson1010

There are almost no accidents on open spans of limited access highways where tailgating is likely to occur. I mean the accident rate for areas between exits and entrance ramps is almost zero.

There was just a very high-profile trial of a trucker who managed to kill 10 people on a limited access highway (Oklahoma turnpike). The accident was caused due to inattention on the truckers part when he did not NOTICE that all the cars in front of him were stopped and plowed into the back of several, killing ten innocent people.

Speed is always a factor in highway deaths. Very few people die when they are traveling 30 miles an hour! Going fast is a fact of life on highways and interstates, however, people do not seem to understand the importance of paying attention to what they are doing at all times. Disaster can happen in a millisecond.

I am all for lowering the speed limit. However, since it seems like the majority of people out there have no intention of obeying traffic laws, it doesn't matter much what the speed limit is. There are always going to be idiots who insist on going whatever speed they want. There simply are not enough law enforcement officers out there to make a significant difference.

20yrsinBranson

[Wilson513]

Originally Posted by 20yrsinBranson

There was just a very high-profile trial of a trucker who managed to kill 10 people on a limited access highway (Oklahoma turnpike). The accident was caused due to inattention on the truckers part when he did not NOTICE that all the cars in front of him were stopped and plowed into the back of several, killing ten innocent people.

Speed is always a factor in highway deaths. Very few people die when they are traveling 30 miles an hour! Going fast is a fact of life on highways and interstates, however, people do not seem to understand the importance of paying attention to what they are doing at all times. Disaster can happen in a millisecond.

I am all for lowering the speed limit. However, since it seems like the majority of people out there have no intention of obeying traffic laws, it doesn't matter much what the speed limit is. There are always going to be idiots who insist on going whatever speed they want. There simply are not enough law enforcement officers out there to make a significant difference.

20yrsinBranson

Inattention is the cause. Stick with that. You are right about inattention. Combine it with distraction and impairment. They are all the same thing and have nothing to do with speeding. A trucker that does not notice stopped traffic at 70mph is no more likely to see them at 65mph.

Without looking it up, I think the speed which claims the most fatalities is 35mph.

[WannaliveinGreenville]

One of the causes of accidents is the use of cell phones while driving .

I saw a guy entering the on-ramp and he was moving turtle slow , oblivious to everything that was happening around him, while he talked on his cell phone ie ; semi trucks moving up on him fast , me behind him hoping he would hang up his phone and get on the freeway .

It's like their brain slows down when they are talking on the cell and they forget about other drivers around them , what the real speed limit is and they can't seem to chew gum , talk on the cell phone and drive at the same time.

Not saying all people who use cell phones while driving are bad drivers but that is what I observed numerous times when ppl are talking on their cell phones. Its like " What . are you honking at me , what did I DO ? " ( They really don't know they pulled out in front of you , almost hit a curb , driving way too slow for the S-Limit, yakked on the phone and the light turned green 8 seconds ago ).

[ragnarkar]

In Westwood Los Angeles, I'm regularly tailgated aggressively by drivers even when going 10 above the speed limit (and note, I've gotten a ticket for doing those speeds there.) When the speed limit is 40 and it's safe to do 50 and everyone is doing 50+, it makes sense to bump the speed limit to 50+.. but that'll kill a source of revenue for the city.

Over there you can either do 40 and risk getting into an accident or do 50+ and risk getting a ticket..

/complain

[Vinsanity]

Originally Posted by 20yrsinBranson

There was just a very high-profile trial of a trucker who managed to kill 10 people on a limited access highway (Oklahoma turnpike). The accident was caused due to inattention on the truckers part when he did not NOTICE that all the cars in front of him were stopped and plowed into the back of several, killing ten innocent people.

Speed is always a factor in highway deaths. Very few people die when they are traveling 30 miles an hour! Going fast is a fact of life on highways and interstates, however, people do not seem to understand the importance of paying attention to what they are doing at all times. Disaster can happen in a millisecond.

I am all for lowering the speed limit. However, since it seems like the majority of people out there have no intention of obeying traffic laws, it doesn't matter much what the speed limit is. There are always going to be idiots who insist on going whatever speed they want. There simply are not enough law enforcement officers out there to make a significant difference.

20yrsinBranson

if the speed limit were lower, then there would be an even larger speed differential between those following the speed limit and the majority who will drive as fast as they want. interstate freeways are designed for speeds around 70-75 mph, so it should be no surprise that that's how fast most drivers travel on those roads. that's why there wasn't any noticeable difference between Montana's no-limit era and the agonizing 55-mph era WRT highway speeds.

[dkf747]

I wonder if most of the accidents are caused by all of the drivers competing with each other to be first, or to keep people from getting in fro nt of them? I think that's a bigger problem than speeding or cell phones.