General speeding

[Will]

I get passed at least 20 times a day

[taco]

Originally Posted by rsx2002

What part of WV are you from?

Chapmanville.

[tjts1]

Originally Posted by saunders1313

If people just slowed down roads would be safer and everyone would use less fuel.

There is no correlation between speed and safety.

[greenitup]

i drive really slow, and it pisses people off, but then i get to laugh when i see them at the gas station (hehehe)

[dcb]

Originally Posted by tjts1

There is no correlation between speed and safety.

LOL, so we can do away with all those pesky school and construction speed limits, heck we don't even need to have any traffic control devices if all speeds are as safe as no speed

[bbjsw10]

Originally Posted by dcb

LOL, so we can do away with all those pesky school and construction speed limits, heck we don't even need to have any traffic control devices if all speeds are as safe as no speed

Good posting, speed + cars = Wrecks They can only stop or turn so fast. Also when people are on there beloved cell phone it is worse, I watched a guy hit a kid walking across crosswalk in front of a school. Because he was on a cell phone didn't want to turn his head and look.

[tjts1]

Originally Posted by dcb

LOL, so we can do away with all those pesky school and construction speed limits, heck we don't even need to have any traffic control devices if all speeds are as safe as no speed

You have a pretty extreme view of the world.

As far as divided highway speed limits are concerned (the subject of this thread), there is no correlation between the speed and safety. The most important point to safety is that everyone on the highway travels at the same speed regardless of the speed limit. Driving slower than traffic (AKA having 20 cars pass you) is more dangerous as driving faster than traffic.

So if you want to save a couple of bucks by driving slower than traffic go ahead. You're putting yourself and everyone else on the road at risk.

[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.

[dcb]

There's a lot of good information in that link: Synthesis of Safety Research Related to Speed, Publication No. FHWA-RD-98-154

i.e. The relationship between impact speed and crash severity is particularly critical for pedestrians, the most vulnerable road users. In a recent review of the issues, the European Transport Safety Council (1995) report that only 5 percent of pedestrians died when struck by a vehicle traveling at 20 mi/h (32 km/h); however, the proportion of fatalities increased to 45 percent at 30 mi/h (48 km/h) and to 85 percent at 40 mi/h (64 km/h).

Of particular interest is table 3, where the vast majority of the studies indicate that a slower speed limit is safer

regarding changes in the speed limits worldwide:
"The results suggest that for every 1 mi/h change in speed, the number of injury crashes increases 5 percent or a 3-percent increase in injury crashes for every 1-km/h increase in speed."

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by dcb

The relationship between impact speed and crash severity is particularly critical for pedestrians...

So maybe that's why most divided highways have "No Pedestrians Allowed" signs at all the on-ramps? And why your mother (presumably) told you not to play in the street, and to look both ways before crossing the road?

This all seems to be considerably off the topic of speed limits as a means to cut fuel consumption. But I'd just ask you to think about why you're out there on the highway at all. Granted that commuting to work may be an economic necessity, so leave that aside, and think of all the other times you risk your life by driving somewhere for what is basically nothing more than entertainment of one kind or another. If it's dangerous, as you say it is, and you care about safety, then why not just stay home?