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.
I'm a lifetime drag racing fan and now have a Integra GSR and a del Sol VTEC. These are 4 cyl. sports cars that are considered slow by the V8 crowd but both have free reving motors and are great fun to run through the gears and sound wonderful.
I have to watch it and avoid showing off.
Then there is the story of the elderly women who called her husband on his cell phone and apologized for calling while he was driving but she had just heard on the news that there was a driver going the wrong way on the freeway and she wanted to warn him since he was going that way. "It's not just one driver" he said, "It's all of them!"...
I will jump in on this one. I do still drive fast. I have the fastest car I have ever owned in my life at this time in my life. I have however been past by both little old ladies (who barely see over the steering wheel) and little old men. I routinely go 10 to 20 miles an hour over the speed limit. My only exception is while in town. Driving fast is fine on the highway but the streets in the cities and towns is a huge hazard.
Lol, reach. I am the proverbial little old lady you want to pass, sigh. I do not go over the speed limit. I don't go under either though which I guess is a plus.
Life-long "fast" driver here. It is one of the great joys in life. Routinely hit 100 mph on the Los Angeles freeways. That is, for a second or two in a clear spot - I do not "drive" 100, which would be unsafe to attempt and impossible in any case.
Fastest indicated speed on a motorcycle: 130 mph. (Many years ago)
Fastest indicated speed in a car: 125 mph. (About three years ago)
But straight line speed is of limited interest to me - what I really love is the twisties (mountain curvy roads).
BTW, AAA of the Carolinas did a report a little while back and in our region the safest speed was roughly 7 miles over the speed limit on highways. The criteria for safest was the smallest % chance you would be involved in an accident. Most traffic here is going a few miles an hour over the speed limit and you limit the number of encounters (cars you pass or cars that pass you) if you are going close to the average speed and the relative speed of most cars you pass or pass you is not that great so things don't happen too fast. The least safe speed was at or just below the speed limit, but traffic going way over the speed limit was not statistically significant.
I tend to drive about the same as traffic. I really wish they would adjust the limit to what they really let people drive at and then enforce it with radar and cameras and automated tickets. It really scares me with my kids on the road that we don't take driving more seriously.
Bought a Mercedes CLK500 convertible a few years ago that has a 5 litre V8, it's a real joy to drive on those twisting country roads, fast on the straight, and hard braking capability at the turn approach seems to be this car's forte. The trouble with being seventy years old and driving this thing at high speeds lies in the fact of slower response times when calculating the numerous peripheral conditions like road debris, irregular pavement conditions, the unexpected presence of other cars halfway thru the turns, or the worst, a failure to note the cop hidden in that driveway far ahead of you.
For that reason I don't drive the car at high speeds much anymore, but my stepson loves to take it out occasionally in areas of few homes or farms and give it hell, speed and youth seem to be a natural match. In town I notice a blatant disregard for safe driving speeds by so many, I guess they are simply attempting to drive in a way that car commercials have depicted as being a norm these days..
I like driving fast, but have been setting the cruise control on 76 or so and do all right unless someone gets in front of me and stays there. Sunday I was going 85 when a patrol car passed me. Apparently he was needed somewhere. Ninety seems to be the speed of choice for most highway drivers.
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.
