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One of Sydney’s satellite cities, Liverpool, has rebelled against a 30k per hour speed limit in its centre. That is 18 mph! Speed cameras were catching people who broke the limit by a tiny amount.
It was partly to encourage people to walk and cycle but obviously not everyone is able or willing to do that. Especially when we have just had the wettest year on record.
Your lucky you did not have to work with them in your job.
Yeah, they did a wonderful job of solving ONE problem and CREATING a even worse problem as a result!!!
As to 55 MPH, that was NOT a environmental decision. It was by three Republican governors. Evans in Washington state, McCall in Oregon, and Reagan in California that started it to save energy from the Arab oil embargo in 1973.
I was living in Vancouver, Canada at the time and drove to Berkeley after the speed limit and embargo went into affect.
It was about saving energy.
BUT, 55 MPH does work in reducing CO2 emissions by 20%. The environmental community has REFUSED to push it, simply because they know that man caused climate change is NOT the problem. Plus there is no money in 55 MPH for Democrat campaign contributors.
When the Democrats come out for 55 MPH speed limit, I will admit that the science has concluded than man-caused climate change is the problem.
Still waiting after 23 years and counting.
Nixon favored a 50 mph national limit. Congress compromised at 55 m.p.h. It started as being about energy conservation. Then the insurance companies bought in as "shooting fish in a barrel" tickets for 55 violations raised insurance rates. They got a bonus of surcharged drivers who were basically safe.
One of Sydney’s satellite cities, Liverpool, has rebelled against a 30k per hour speed limit in its centre. That is 18 mph! Speed cameras were catching people who broke the limit by a tiny amount.
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A particularly egregious example of stupidity--- You can't drive a car at 18mph in 3rd gear. You need to shift down to 2nd and thus run the engine at much higher rpm-- result-- you burn about 25% more gas per mile driven.
I hope that the belief of the enviros that renewables and EV's will take over from ICE's is merely naive and stupid. However, I really think that what they oppose (not for themselves obviously) is modern society, that includes high consumption of material goods. I posed this very issue at the Thanksgiving table, and received the response "well, we can't go on this way." I asked "why" and I received no satisfactory answers. When I said "I want to put the keys into my car (in the NYC area) and just come up here (to Vermont) and not even think about it, one of them said "I'm sure the technology will improve." It was obviously a vacuous answer, that didn't address the issue of losing basic freedoms. Some of them use the derisive term "Free-dumb." This was common on CD for people who opposed pointless Covid restrictions.
Lots of cities in Europe and the US have been reducing their speed limits in recent years. DC has gone to 15 MPH in school zones. Otherwise, the posted limit is either 20 or 25, freeways excepted. There are other benefits apart from the safety aspect, such as allowing autonomous vehicles to more easily blend in to existing traffic.
Lots of cities in Europe and the US have been reducing their speed limits in recent years. DC has gone to 15 MPH in school zones. Otherwise, the posted limit is either 20 or 25, freeways excepted. There are other benefits apart from the safety aspect, such as allowing autonomous vehicles to more easily blend in to existing traffic.
Other ingenious steps designed to deliberately create traffic jams and make motorists' lives miserable include:
Shrinking five-lane avenues, such as 9th Avenue in NYC (with happens to lead to a major tunnel) to effectively two lanes when the bike lane and the bus lane aren't counted;
Traffic lights which restrict left turns from and to one-way streets;
Two bus lanes, 24/7, on Madison Avenue, creating middle-of-the-night traffic jams;
Blanket 25 mph speed limits;
Massive Citibike racks taking up a lane of traffic for almost the length of a block;
Traffic flow constriction on Third Avenue leading north to Queensboro Bridge;
Traffic flow constriction on Second Avenue leading to Queens Midtown Tunnel; and
The worst, concrete blocks reducing 43rd Street between Third and Lexington Avenues to one lane on the south side of the street for half the block, and the north side of the street for the other half?
Is there some mad genius planning, or political correctness at work? Are they creating the "congestion" to allow for the "congestion pricing"?
Other ingenious steps designed to deliberately create traffic jams and make motorists' lives miserable include:
Shrinking five-lane avenues, such as 9th Avenue in NYC (with happens to lead to a major tunnel) to effectively two lanes when the bike lane and the bus lane aren't counted;
Traffic lights which restrict left turns from and to one-way streets;
Two bus lanes, 24/7, on Madison Avenue, creating middle-of-the-night traffic jams;
Blanket 25 mph speed limits;
Massive Citibike racks taking up a lane of traffic for almost the length of a block;
Traffic flow constriction on Third Avenue leading north to Queensboro Bridge;
Traffic flow constriction on Second Avenue leading to Queens Midtown Tunnel; and
The worst, concrete blocks reducing 43rd Street between Third and Lexington Avenues to one lane on the south side of the street for half the block, and the north side of the street for the other half?
Is there some mad genius planning, or political correctness at work? Are they creating the "congestion" to allow for the "congestion pricing"?
Wait til they first ban on-street parking, and then cars from driving at all. Then they'll turn deserted parking lots and garages into all manner of atrocities, and declare success. Utopia!
Other ingenious steps designed to deliberately create traffic jams and make motorists' lives miserable include:
Shrinking five-lane avenues, such as 9th Avenue in NYC (with happens to lead to a major tunnel) to effectively two lanes when the bike lane and the bus lane aren't counted;
Traffic lights which restrict left turns from and to one-way streets;
Two bus lanes, 24/7, on Madison Avenue, creating middle-of-the-night traffic jams;
Blanket 25 mph speed limits;
Massive Citibike racks taking up a lane of traffic for almost the length of a block;
Traffic flow constriction on Third Avenue leading north to Queensboro Bridge;
Traffic flow constriction on Second Avenue leading to Queens Midtown Tunnel; and
The worst, concrete blocks reducing 43rd Street between Third and Lexington Avenues to one lane on the south side of the street for half the block, and the north side of the street for the other half?
Is there some mad genius planning, or political correctness at work? Are they creating the "congestion" to allow for the "congestion pricing"?
Good post.
A little logic-- If speed limits are reduced, that means it takes longer to get from Point A to Point B-- which means more cars on the road per unit time, ie- traffic jams....
For those worried about safety issues-- speed is not the problem-- it's stupid manuevers while turning or changing lanes...If speed were the issue, then we should see more rear end collisons as fast cars ram into slow cars.
Traffic flows like any other fluid...As any canoeist knows, unless you're going faster than the surrounding traffic, you're just a cork in the current and not in control....
...and CONTROL is what it's all about. As Le Baron de Montesqueiu said-- "Freedom is apparently the right to do anything The Law allows."
However, I really think that what they oppose is modern society, that includes high consumption of material goods. ... When I said "I want to put the keys into my car (in the NYC area) and just come up here (to Vermont) and not even think about it,
Do we have access to unlimited resources or not? Alternately are we collectively becoming wealthier on a per capita basis although that has problems in how you define wealth and how much you care about inequality in wealth distribution.
If we do not have unlimited resources or if we are in a situation where the per capita wealth is declining then it seems perfectly logical that statements such as "I want ..." might need to be curbed either by your own frugality in use of your available resources or by society in limiting the ability to have high consumption.
Do we have access to unlimited resources or not? Alternately are we collectively becoming wealthier on a per capita basis although that has problems in how you define wealth and how much you care about inequality in wealth distribution.
If we do not have unlimited resources or if we are in a situation where the per capita wealth is declining then it seems perfectly logical that statements such as "I want ..." might need to be curbed either by your own frugality in use of your available resources or by society in limiting the ability to have high consumption.
I am glad someone admits that the real agenda is to level rather than the pretended "environmental" concerns. As a practical matter this results in a dystopia. Think:
If you're a baby boomer, you remember the 1969 hit, "In the Year 2525." Its apocalyptic message that mankind would do itself in before the year 10,000 was a stark counterpoint to the jubilation caused by the Apollo 11 moon landing that same year.
*****
Clash (the interviewer): Do you see any possible themes between 2525 and Covid-19? Zager (one of the members of Zager & Evans): Most definitely. "2525" talks about mankind doing himself in, and causing the end of the world. Hopefully with this mess, mankind can save the planet. I have faith that it will.
Do we really volunteer for this future?
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In the Year 2525
