I was facinated by the variety of responses to Scot's report of traveling very fast on public roads. That thread is now locked (it did go on for WAY too long), but I'd like to resurrect an important element of the discussion. Please take this seriously, I'd like there to be some reasonable discourse.

Consider the question: Is it reasonable to drive at high rates of speed on public roads? If so, what are the conditions necessary for it to be a reasonable behavior?

I submit that there is a scale of acceptable risk that rises as conditions become better (daytime, dry, no traffic, equipment [car and running gear] in good condition, alert, trained driver) or becomes lower under poor conditions (nighttime, wet, heavy traffic, poor/worn equipment, fatigued, novice driver). It is a complex process to arrive at reasonable limits for any given condition, and I beleive that is the source of conflict among those that feel comfortable driving fast,and those that decry the practice. So, fellow S2Kers, what do you think?

 

Is it reasonable, No. But you are right, there are many conditions where some may feel there is some flexability. To cover every one of these circumstances would be silly. At 3am on a deserted highyway I have now problem hitting 140 mph. ( not sustained ) however in the middle of the day..20 km over is usually my limit.
To tell you the truth, I don't know what this thread is going to prove. I personally feel that with such a diverse group of people trying to discuss the ethics of speed is merely banter, nothing more. To some your point is taken. These most likely are the people who dont speed excesivly anyway. To others the point has been made time and again, yet it still continues. If you are looking for a concensus then my vote, excesive speed is dangerous. But I think EVERYBODY knows that already

 

"First do no harm"

My rule, only do it when there is no chance to harm anyone but yourself if you screw up or have a mechanical failure. That is not to say I have not broken that rule on many occasions in my lifetime. That being said as long as there is no possible way to harm anyone else it is acceptable to me.

 

Besides the obvious of good equipment, alert driver, the no cops, the critical things is a high speed run are..

Visibility, if you can

 

My former partner, Francesco, who owns a 427 Shelby Cobra that he bought new from Carroll Shelby in '66 or '67, used to do his high speed runs on our local airport's runway.

Somehow, he'd get peremission to run back and forth on the 7,000 foot runway when there wasn't anything else going on.

Has anyone else ever heard of this? How hard is it? How fast could you get an S2000 going, given a 7,000 foot runway?

Concerning CoralDoc's question, I agree with Chris. I'd speed on I90 near Sheridan, on open road with no traffic, no entry ramps, clear weather, dry road, no radar warnings, and with the car tip top. On the stretch I use, you can see several miles ahead. There's a broad, grassy median. There's rarely any traffic density, unless it is around Sturgis/Harley time. There's always the danger of the miscellaneous deer or antelope or a mechanical failure.

Racing is a different matter.

"Kills kill."

Barry

 

CoralDoc,
Good post. The German Autobahn allows runs like you're describing at the driver's discretion in many areas. While I would not advocate such a policy (especially considering the state of U.S. highways) it does appeal to one's sense of freedom and the right to pursue happiness within reason.

BTW -- Have you seen how they build and maintain these roads:
http://home.att.net/~texhwyman/autobahn.htm
Would DEF. like to try running my S2K there.

-Stookster

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Bieg
[B]"First do no harm"

My rule, only do it when there is no chance to harm anyone but yourself if you screw up or have a mechanical failure.

 

the original question was "is it reasonable"...how about "is it legal"????i guess when it comes down to it,one of our basic freedoms seems to be the right to drive unreasonably fast anywhere we want....but such is really not the case.it's perfectly ok to sight in your ak47 at the local range under proper guidelines.....is it "reasonable" to do the same at the local school playground?.i doubt the SWAT team would agree.....nor would the local constable be sympathetic at 150+ on a public road....[shit..they can be downright stubborn at 71..]

 

I think you might be looking at this from the wrong perspective.

First, we all take a risk each and every time we drive on the public road system. This risk is calculated by every driver with the EXPECTATION that other drivers will follow reasonable safety measures. Most of the time we take the risk and drive to work, store, etc.

Now at what point in time do we EXPECT other drivers to be driving at unreasonable saftey levels? Around here that's generaly during a snow storm not during ideal conditions, such as the ones others have described.

Instead of asking the question when do YOU think it's safe. How about asking when do other motorist think you're NOT going to be safe?

Actualy what you're asking is when do you think the odds are so skewed in your favor as to not cause actual harm to another motorist? Just remember, just like Vegas the odds favor the house.