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When visiting my home state last month, I noticed there was a long stretch of state highway with a limit of 55, but the road had such tight curves (like making a turn at an intersection!) that going 55 in some places would literally lead to running off the road and losing control of the vehicle! In the same state, there are other places (long straight sections of interstate, typically) where the flow of traffic is 10 mph over the limit and trying to strictly adhere to the limit would actually be less safe than going with the flow of traffic.
I hope I didn't imply that all roads were designed skillfully.
If the speed limit is 55 and a driver is doing the limit when another person rear-ends them at 80 mph, yeah, you're right.
Nope. That's only a 25 mph speed difference, which can cause damage to the cars, but not kill anyone. But 55 mph into a bridge abutment can and will kill you.
55 is fast enough to kill you but slow enough to think you're safe.
I've never killed anyone in 40 years of driving performance cars (or even caused an accident) and I drive rapidly quite a bit. But I've also been a performance driving instructor and understand vehicular physics.
I get part of what you are saying, That most things COULD kill you...
What is that supposed to mean? "and both parties are dead" (from a bucket with 2 inches of water)??
Are you one of those people who fears everything?
Or are you just trolling like it seems to be?
Also, Clearly you don't think you are capable of safely driving 80mph. (Even though the legal speed limit is already higher than that in some places). Do you think other people can't do it, or do you just not want them to?
The interstate highway system was largely designed at a time when cars had no safety features like air bags and crumple zones. Cars typically had lousy bias ply tires and poor suspensions with drum brakes. They mostly had lousy aerodynamics and got poor fuel economy. 65 mph was a public safety issue and a fleet fuel economy issue. In 2016, the highway death rate has pretty much gone to zero with much safer cars that handle better and stop faster. Fleet fuel economy has doubled and cars are more aerodynamic so the fuel economy penalty at higher speeds isn't what it once was.
I think highway speeds should be variable depending on traffic conditions. At noon on a Sunday when the roads are empty, it could be 80 mph. At rush hour, it could change to 60 mph. I'd happily use an adaptive cruise control technology that took variable speed limit inputs from the nav system linked to a cellular data network. If the correct speed for the congestion level on the highway is 50 miles per hour with 75 feet of separation, the car goes 50 miles per hour with 75 feet of separation. That's the first step in the evolution to autonomous cars in dedicated lanes that solves the rush hour traffic problem by taking the stoooopid humans out of the equation.
Nope. That's only a 25 mph speed difference, which can cause damage to the cars, but not kill anyone. But 55 mph into a bridge abutment can and will kill you.
55 is fast enough to kill you but slow enough to think you're safe.
I've never killed anyone in 40 years of driving performance cars (or even caused an accident) and I drive rapidly quite a bit. But I've also been a performance driving instructor and understand vehicular physics.
25 mph in a "straight" rear end collision isn't deadly, you are absolutely right. However, 25 mph differential in an off-center collision could cause one car to spin around or roll, with a potential for more serious consequences. For example, on a 3-lane road where one car is in one of the side lanes (left or right), further ahead, and going 55, tries to change into the center lane while another is further behind, doing 80 on the other side lane, and also tries to change into the center lane simultaneously from the other side.
In Michigan the speed limit is 70. When you hit Detroit city limits it drops to 55 just cuz. No one pays any attention to it. Regardless of posted limits if you drive below 70 you will hold up traffic and may get rear ended. Everyone drives between 70 and 85. Police never bother anyone unless they are over 80, usually over 85. If they wait long enough some kid will come along at 90 - 100 (usually riding a crotch rocket aka organ donor bike) and they can go get them. They will also pick off anyone driving stupid - changing lanes constantly, weaving, brake happy, etc. With the exception of a couple of cities where cops are tax collectors (Romulus, Troy) our police officers seem pretty inclined to apply common sense and just pick off the ones who are a danger to the rest of us. Unfortunately, they do nto seem to run out of options for that.
I wish the police in my area had such common sense. If anything they pull over people going 65 on an empty road (some with ridiculously low speed limits such as 45) and ignore the weavers who drive 85, simply since pulling them is difficult.
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Originally Posted by ncole1
When visiting my home state last month, I noticed there was a long stretch of state highway with a limit of 55, but the road had such tight curves (like making a turn at an intersection!) that going 55 in some places would literally lead to running off the road and losing control of the vehicle! In the same state, there are other places (long straight sections of interstate, typically) where the flow of traffic is 10 mph over the limit and trying to strictly adhere to the limit would actually be less safe than going with the flow of traffic.
There should be more variations in posted limits and use of advisory yellow curve signs with reduced curvce speeds.
Nope. That's only a 25 mph speed difference, which can cause damage to the cars, but not kill anyone. But 55 mph into a bridge abutment can and will kill you.
Then why did I pay death benefits for a family of four?
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55 is fast enough to kill you but slow enough to think you're safe.
And you're not. Agreed.
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I've never killed anyone in 40 years of driving performance cars (or even caused an accident) and I drive rapidly quite a bit. But I've also been a performance driving instructor and understand vehicular physics.
You're on the high end. Most people got their driving training from the Dukes of Hazard.
Basically, the roads in Montana were safer when the speed limit was "reasonable and prudent" not a fixed number. When speed limits were re-introduced, fatalities went up. They call this the "Montana paradox" but anyone who has studied the Autobahn and the like understands it's not a paradox, but basic human nature. We are safest when driving at a speed we are most comfortable at.
Montana is still damn sensible on speed limits. Interstates are 80-85, with traffic often moving faster than that. Even narrow 2-lane secondary roads with no shoulders are 70mph, with traffic exceeding that-and the cops are laid back about it. When you're in those tiny, overcrowded eastern states with many barely literate drivers, there MAY be some justification for the silly, slow, revenue-generating speed limits of just 65-70. But with better drivers, more open areas and less crowding-there is no need for an artificially low limit.
Getting back to the thread topic, before the "energy crisis" most suburban and some urban superhighways were posted at 60 mph. That limit is nonexistent in many states. It's a good compromise for roads that are not virtually empty and thus qualified for 65-70 and roads which should be at 55.
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"and both parties are dead" (from a bucket with 2 inches of water)?? 
