Quote:
Originally Posted by dcb
Because?
Let me expand on this a bit. For each of these scenarios, mostly taken from my own experience, tell me if you would rather be going 80mph or 45mph?
1. a deer jumps out in front of you
2. a part comes off the car in front of you
3. a tree falls on the road just in front of you
4. the load comes off the truck in front of you
5. you lose a wheel
6. you get a flat
7. a retread comes at you
8. a dual truck tire lifts a rock up at your windshield
9. something falls (or is thrown) off a bridge
10. you are on a curve and hit a slippery spot (i.e. black ice)
11. the hood flies up on your car
12. you are approaching blocked traffic and realize your brakes are gone.
13. Someone crosses the median.
etc. etc.
I don't really care if you speed, but it is a bit extreme to make general statements like there is no correlation between speed and safety, even if you did read it somewhere on the net. And blaming the people that are getting rear ended is even more extreme.
BTW, you have at least proven your original assertion wrong, so I'm glad we cleared that up.
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1. either way, dead deer and a whole lot of damage to your car. not likely to happen on a highway or interstate in any case.
2. the damage done will largely be determined by the
difference in velocity between your car and the part that came off, and if you are so close that you cant react or or the part is still bouncing off the road making it impossible to just drive over or avoid, then you are definitely too close - though you will have a nice lawsuit against the operator of the truck.
3. same as (2) above, just no lawsuit. be glad the tree didnt decide to fall ON you.
4.
exactly the same as (2) above.
5. under NO circumstances are you to panic brake... maintain power and steer to counter the yaw while gradually slowing the car and get to the side of the road in a hurry. going 80 might help you in this instance as the torque moment introduced by coming into contact with the road in such a manner will have more built-up inertia to affect. hope the state doesnt charge you for the road repair.
6. same as (5) above, just without the major repair bill. I have had blowouts [u]twice[/i]at speeds of 70+ on the highway and to be honest, it is a total non-event if you handle it right.
learn how to handle your vehicle in an emergency american drivers are among the WORST in the world when it comes to their driving skill.
7. omg.. a retread is not gonna take out your car if you know what you are doing. this happens to me down here in florida at least a couple times a year... I just drive over the things - it was easier in my truck, but even in my tc the worst that can happen is the retread will mess up my windshield. I must re-iterate my responses to (2) and (6).
8. congratulations! you were driving too close... now call your insurance company and get it replaced if the rock was big enough to crack it. Its not very likely that a rock of seriously dangerous size could be kicked up and away so far that it would still hit you if you were following at a safe distance.
9. things don't just fall off bridges... if something does, expect the bridge to be following that object down - I certainly hope you
are going fast enough to beat the impending disaster. if something was
thrown off that is potentially an attempted murder charge, regardless of your speed, and in fact you going faster makes it that much harder to get hit!
10. once again,
know how to handle your car in an emergency and be prepared to drift your car thru the turn. this has happened to me as well when I lost traction on a 270 degree turn in the rain... I drifted my tc almost halfway thru the turn before all my wheels regained traction - this made my heart race just a bit as I had never done it before, but once over the initial shock (this was NOT intended, as I was going slower than I usually would in that curve specifically BECAUSE it was wet), it was actually pretty cool.
11. DO NOT PANIC, stick your head out the bloody window and move to the side of the road... why the hell do you insist on wasting our time with responding to hypothetical situations that have simple solutions?
12. downshift in conjunction with gradual engagement of the e-brake. remember that episode of Lois and Clark where Jimmy Olsen lost his brakes on the interstate, and supes had to come and turn his car off for him? yes, that is how retarded your #12 question is.
13. somebody crosses the median... hmm are they in a car or are they walking? if they are in a vehicle then you have to maintain a certain speed in order to effectively maneuver. going slower will make you an easier target unless the action is happening well in front of you (ie you would have ample time to stop). if the threatening vehicle is too close for you to brake to a stop safely,
accelerating as fast as you can and maneuvering is the most effective option. fighter pilots aren't taught that
speed is life for nothing.
I hate to sound like a smart ass here, but all this talk of speed=unsafe gets on my nerves. of course there are necessary speed limits for school zones, residential areas and all that, but on roads that are
intended for the high speed flow of traffic, major deviations from the average speed of the traffic increases both the likelihood and severity of accidents, regardless of the actual speed, but then so does driving while holding a phone to your head, not using your turn signals when changing lanes, the list goes on and on.