View Poll Results: Reality Check...
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Reality Check...
Registered User
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 204
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From: Honolulu
Okay, I read thru all the posts and have to say things got a little heated there at times. People are trying very hard (at times) to belittle each other. Let's just try to express our opinions without all the 'covert flaming'.
A lot of valid points are brought up on both sides, but one issue comes to mind for me. Elderly people and disabled people already have a difficult time keeping up with traffic flow. If we increase the limits, it also raises the minimum speed, which makes it much harder for them. Especially at night - it will make it nearly impossible for them due to their decreased night-vision, reactions, etc. Is it fair to exclude this category of driver? I think the roads are here for general public use, not just the 'very qualified'. Driving is a privilege, but it should be available to as many of us as possible. Raising the limits will be desirable for many, but undesirable for many as well.
Re: 'which car should be pulled over' issue, it's just life. There is nothing that can ever be done to change this, and there is no sense in letting it bother you. It will just irritate you to no end. You'll just have to accept it no matter how much you disagree with it, because no judge would ever side with you on this one.
A lot of valid points are brought up on both sides, but one issue comes to mind for me. Elderly people and disabled people already have a difficult time keeping up with traffic flow. If we increase the limits, it also raises the minimum speed, which makes it much harder for them. Especially at night - it will make it nearly impossible for them due to their decreased night-vision, reactions, etc. Is it fair to exclude this category of driver? I think the roads are here for general public use, not just the 'very qualified'. Driving is a privilege, but it should be available to as many of us as possible. Raising the limits will be desirable for many, but undesirable for many as well.
Re: 'which car should be pulled over' issue, it's just life. There is nothing that can ever be done to change this, and there is no sense in letting it bother you. It will just irritate you to no end. You'll just have to accept it no matter how much you disagree with it, because no judge would ever side with you on this one.
Thread Starter
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Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 64
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From: Arlington
Did you go to college??
And if so, please let me know which institution actually accepted you and allowed you to graduate; so that I can make a mental note to never consider employing any from that school.
Jeff
[QUOTE]Originally posted by chroot
[B]Ummm... wow... you're STILL trying to fight me.
And if so, please let me know which institution actually accepted you and allowed you to graduate; so that I can make a mental note to never consider employing any from that school.
Jeff
[QUOTE]Originally posted by chroot
[B]Ummm... wow... you're STILL trying to fight me.
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Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 22,863
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From: Toronto
Originally posted by jeffrplant
And posting a web-site that advocates driver's rights on a car-enthusiast forum... what was I thinking!!??
And posting a web-site that advocates driver's rights on a car-enthusiast forum... what was I thinking!!??
So, if I cannot afford an expensive car built for speed/handling and I have to settle for a Taurus, you and I are on the same street doing exactly the same speed and we are both speeding...I deserve the ticket more than you because I drive a Taurus. This is what you think is justice?
[QUOTE]Yep.
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 432
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From: Louisville
Gentlemen (- jeffrplant),
This discussion/argument is roughly equivalent to teaching a pig to sing. You waste your time, and it annoys the pig. If Jeff wants to label me a moron because I disagree with him, and I do so from the perspective of a 40 year-old who held those same beliefs when I was his age... more power to him.
Now, on the general subject of higher speed not contributing directly to accidents (but indirectly), I must disagree. If we were driving on closed courses, nobody here would dispute that as we approach our personal limit, the risk of losing control goes up dramatically (probably exponentially). Although the speeds on the road are typically lower than what our personal limit might be if the road's closed, it unfortunately ain't closed.
Add in the risks of a thousand little surprises that can pop up at the worst possible time, and you're increasing your risk of an accident by an outrageous amount when you start pushing 25-30 over the posted limit. Morons come flying through my subdivision all the time doing 50 or so, not worrying about the possibility of some old lady backing out of her driveway without looking 150 yards down the road. Even worse, they don't look for surprises in likely locations, like kids chasing a ball out from behind a parked car, and so on.
On my favorite twisty road, rarely does two weeks go by that I don't see at least one deer. Even if I know there aren't other cars on the road, the risks of errant wildlife interrupting my impromptu Andretti impersonation (try saying that five times fast) are ridiculous. Out on the highway, weird stuff happens all the time.
Just two weeks ago, an RV in front of me LOST A WHEEL! The crazy thing came off, rolled along side the RV for a bit (as massive sparks started flying from under the rear), and then BOUNCED INTO THE FAR LANE!!! It's tough enough to avoid hitting other cars these days, much less an RV wheel that comes bounding into your lane. Increase your speed by 30 mph, and you've nearly doubled the amount of energy in the impact of that bouncing baby Michelin, as well as giving yourself much less time to react to the surprise event. (I barely avoided the brake drum that bounced in front of me as it was, but was unable to avoid a couple of the springs that came loose from the brake assembly. I have two small scars on the lower lip of the bumper to remember this by.)
The week before that, an older guy started going the wrong way on a divided highway, flying headlong into oncoming traffic at 60 or so. A head-on collision with him if you're doing 60 already makes it equivalent to hitting a parked vehicle at 120, and if you bump up your speed, it doesn't get better...
Ah... but these are just the rantings of an old geezer. As for you, Jeff, good luck. You have been fortunate so far, but I'm afraid you're pushing that luck for all it's worth.
Tim (considering "TheOldFoolMan" to add more character to my knickname.
)
This discussion/argument is roughly equivalent to teaching a pig to sing. You waste your time, and it annoys the pig. If Jeff wants to label me a moron because I disagree with him, and I do so from the perspective of a 40 year-old who held those same beliefs when I was his age... more power to him.
Now, on the general subject of higher speed not contributing directly to accidents (but indirectly), I must disagree. If we were driving on closed courses, nobody here would dispute that as we approach our personal limit, the risk of losing control goes up dramatically (probably exponentially). Although the speeds on the road are typically lower than what our personal limit might be if the road's closed, it unfortunately ain't closed.
Add in the risks of a thousand little surprises that can pop up at the worst possible time, and you're increasing your risk of an accident by an outrageous amount when you start pushing 25-30 over the posted limit. Morons come flying through my subdivision all the time doing 50 or so, not worrying about the possibility of some old lady backing out of her driveway without looking 150 yards down the road. Even worse, they don't look for surprises in likely locations, like kids chasing a ball out from behind a parked car, and so on.
On my favorite twisty road, rarely does two weeks go by that I don't see at least one deer. Even if I know there aren't other cars on the road, the risks of errant wildlife interrupting my impromptu Andretti impersonation (try saying that five times fast) are ridiculous. Out on the highway, weird stuff happens all the time.
Just two weeks ago, an RV in front of me LOST A WHEEL! The crazy thing came off, rolled along side the RV for a bit (as massive sparks started flying from under the rear), and then BOUNCED INTO THE FAR LANE!!! It's tough enough to avoid hitting other cars these days, much less an RV wheel that comes bounding into your lane. Increase your speed by 30 mph, and you've nearly doubled the amount of energy in the impact of that bouncing baby Michelin, as well as giving yourself much less time to react to the surprise event. (I barely avoided the brake drum that bounced in front of me as it was, but was unable to avoid a couple of the springs that came loose from the brake assembly. I have two small scars on the lower lip of the bumper to remember this by.
)The week before that, an older guy started going the wrong way on a divided highway, flying headlong into oncoming traffic at 60 or so. A head-on collision with him if you're doing 60 already makes it equivalent to hitting a parked vehicle at 120, and if you bump up your speed, it doesn't get better...
Ah... but these are just the rantings of an old geezer. As for you, Jeff, good luck. You have been fortunate so far, but I'm afraid you're pushing that luck for all it's worth.
Tim (considering "TheOldFoolMan" to add more character to my knickname.
)
Thread Starter
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Joined: Oct 2001
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From: Arlington
Ready for this?... In an article today, Feb 8 2002, in USA TODAY regarding the new VW Beetle Turbo S:
"People nervous about 100-mph-plus speed potential might be calmed to know such speeds are common on some roads in Europe that are narrower than, and often as congested as, U.S. highways. People there simply drive attentively and according to traffic conditions. No left-lane dawdlers; frequent use of turn signals; not much weaving in and out of traffic."
http://www.usatoday.com/money/columns/heal...2-08-beetle.htm
Like I said, it's way to easy over here to get a driver's license. Driving is a priviledge, not a right.
Jeff
"People nervous about 100-mph-plus speed potential might be calmed to know such speeds are common on some roads in Europe that are narrower than, and often as congested as, U.S. highways. People there simply drive attentively and according to traffic conditions. No left-lane dawdlers; frequent use of turn signals; not much weaving in and out of traffic."
http://www.usatoday.com/money/columns/heal...2-08-beetle.htm
Like I said, it's way to easy over here to get a driver's license. Driving is a priviledge, not a right.
Jeff
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From: Toronto
What does that have to do with whether or not you deserve a speeding ticket just because you drive a sports car?
Yes, drivers are more attentive in Europe and respect speeding drivers more, but the speeders there will get a ticket for speeding because they are speeding not because they are speeding without a sports car.
Thread Starter
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Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 64
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From: Arlington
Nothing, I never said it did. The point is that the drivers there are better drivers and we should take a lesson from them. You have failed to understand that I made more than one point in this post.
Jeff
[QUOTE]Originally posted by matrix
[B]
Jeff
[QUOTE]Originally posted by matrix
[B]