Quote:
Originally Posted by Duffman
I know not everybody has had the opportunity of taking a drivers ed or defensive driving course but the ones I have taken have taught that you should drive with the flow of traffic even if it is over the limit.
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I already posted multiple links with real world data on how speed affects accident rates. That was overall data, not simulations or predictions, so it inherently takes any speed differentials that may exist on the highway into account.
As I said before, there is evidence that having a speed differential from the average flow of traffic increases the accident rate, however
injury and fatality accidents increase exponentially with speed.
This stands to reason, since impact force is a factor of the vectors of each vehicle involved - for head-on collisions, the speed of each car is additive: 2 cars hit head on at 65mph is equivalent to hitting a concrete wall at 130mph.
Even with airbags, 130mph = instant death.
However, in a rear-end collision the speed of the lead car is
subtracted from the striking car's speed. If traffic is going 75 and you are only going 65, and some idiot plows into you without slowing down, that is equivalent to a 10mph crash.
10mph crash = Big friggin deal.
In other words, by matching the flow of traffic when everyone is speeding you are decreasing your chance of a fender bender while increasing your chance of a fatal accident.
Worth it?