Cthree and moderators, please consider leaving this thread in car talk, as our S2K's were made for speed.

After reading the recent V1 thread, I went to deja.com to search news groups for V1 comments.

I found this link on what's wrong with speeding: http://www.tfhrc.gov/safety/speed/speed.htm
This one shows fatalities rise with the 4th power of speed at time of impact.

and this link on how to speed successfully! http://home.att.net/~speeding/
This site has info on how to speed, how not to get caught, and how to fight it in court when you do get caught.

I think S2K drivers will find them interesting.

 

Barry,

This is a good read. especially the advice on strategies to avoid speeding tickets. Lot's of good tips.

 

Thats some great stuff. I'm gonna have to commit some of that to memory!!

 

Barry, Thanks for the interesting articles! I've long thought the speed differential (the difference between a driver's speed and the mean speed of traffic) was a better way to view poor driving than simply driving too fast. Here's a quote from the first link, [Further, Solomon reported that the results of his study showed that "low speed drivers are more likely to be involved in accidents than relatively high speed drivers."] Simply put, go with the flow. Police should be informed to ticket the drivers going 55 mph in the left hand lane before those going 95 mph when most traffic is moving along at 75 mph.

 

The advice aboout staying of the so-called "fast" lane when speeding is right on. On most major divided highways here in the Northeast, the "fast" lane has become the slow lane, clogged with morons who will not yield to faster moving cars behind them, and who never get out of that lane, except when they want to get off the highway. Rude, but real.

I've found that the far right lane on most interstates in these parts is now the best lane for high-speed driving, so I stay there except when I overtake slower cars. This has the addded advantage of reducing the risk of being caught in some cop's radar, which, as the article notes, is usually focused on the "fast" or far left hand lane.

 

A while ago, the local paper wrote an article saying that law enforcement had determined that it is an offense to stay in the fast lane is you are not overtaking and you must give way to faster traffic behind you. Great! For the next four days the fast lane was wonderful; everyone was "flash-happy" - signalling slower drivers to get out of the lane - which they did (it seems everyone must have read the same article). You could say that traffic had returned to how it should be. Unfortunately, the cops took another look at the law and determined they were wrong, and that they had misinterpreted the law. The result? The fast lane immediately returned to it's familiar pattern of drivers who had no right to be in ANY lane - let alone the fast lane. Too bad. It could have been a good law.

 

I remember from all the old manuals for getting a license that you were supposed to stay out of the fast lane except when overtaking other cars. I suppose this has gone by the wayside.

Most people today don't yield even when you flash them -- the polite way (as opposed to tailgating) to let them know that they should give way to a faster car.

In Europe, I'm lead to beleive, if you don't yield when flashed by a faster moving car you risk getting run off the road.

 

I'm happy to say that even on the autoroutes (divided highways similar to interstates) in southern Quebec, this practice is also practiced and for the most part respected. If you're holding up traffic in the fast lane, you'll be flashed, and can expect the overtaking car to get right ON your bumper to drive home the point.

Unhappily, this European custom does not seem to have spread to other parts of Canada, though the ubiquitous "Keep right except to pass" signs seem to minimize the amount of fast lane hogging compared to what I experience in the States.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Rick Hesel:
[B]I remember from all the old manuals for getting a license that you were supposed to stay out of the fast lane except when overtaking other cars.

 

Unfortunatly, U.S. traffic law is so vague and open to interpretation that it's now like a general "free-for-all" when driving on the freeways. Maybe one of the worst laws written is the one that allows you to overtake on the inside. This only encourages people to sit in the fast lane - knowing that if you want to pass, you're the one who's supposed to move over and go inside. Inside overtaking isn't allowed in Europe, and everyone seems to be very observant of moving back to the inside lane as soon as they've completed an overtaking manoeuver.

Do you know who has right of way on an onramp? Who's supposed to give way? Can you do a U-turn across a yellow line, or only at an intersection? How many people know FOR SURE? Some of the current laws are so vague that most people have to resort to an "opinion" as to what is and is not permissible. These traffic laws are a joke!