PeteHski

There is no speed limit to drive under on an unrestricted Autobahn. That’s my point. Speed limits on motorways are largely arbitrary (rather than a “safe” maximum) and it can be argued that they make drivers less disciplined, which your comment above supports.

I’m not necessarily suggesting that all motorways should be unrestricted (some German Autobahns do have speed limits), but our UK 70 mph limit is a joke and a large number of drivers routinely exceed it without driving dangerously. Or they drive right on the 70 mph limit when it is obviously dangerous to do so.

DangerousDanR

I have provided primary medical care on over 100 motor vehicle incidents. All of them were on two lane highways or single track logging roads. I can't think of one, where weather was not a factor, that I could not have safely driven at the speed the driver who caused the crash was driving. The people I knew who responded to incidents in an urban setting saw many collisions where the vehicle at fault collided with another moving object because the speed they were driving did not give them sufficient time to react to events.

Probably 75% of the incidents I responded to involved drivers who were under the influence of alcohol. The rest were caused by failure to pay attention, adverse weather conditions, methamphetamine intoxication (not a one was cannabis of which our district had many users), and a few other weird incidents like the two that were caused by the driver going into cardiac arrest prior to the collision or one caused by a diabetic emergency.

Increased speed does lead to higher energy impacts which does cause more serious injury. Speed in conjunction with heavy rain or patches of ice was the primary cause of some of the crashes, but often the safe speed would have been zero MPH.

Bleu

Yeah, they aren't drivers they're people in cars , amateurs etc... The speed is not the problem, the fact that they almost never look far enough in front of them for the speed at which they travel is the problem. Hence the multi-car crashes caused by 4 or more cars traveling at 80mph with 20-30' of separation between each vehicle, I see these crashes or the after effect of them almost daily. Due to traffic, sight lines, corners etc.. very few places in the USA , and fewer in the rest of the world, are suitable for 80mph but that's the general speed on the Interstate. With higher speed limits on the interstate many think it prudent to apply those speeds to 2 lane and un striped roads as well. But, since there is virtually no training required and a ridiculously easy set of tests to get a class D license, this will continue in perpetuity.

PeteHski

We get that here too at busy times, although I don’t see daily crashes. Often our roads are safe at 80 mph or well beyond. But the speed limit is always 70 mph (except for a few variable limit sections).

rumrunn6

my pet peeve is/are ppl who speed thru rotaries/roundabouts. I "think" they do it because they have anxiety about merging & being cooperative w/ other drivers/ppl they don't know. I like to think the best of ppl, even tho I know many of them are just greedy & don't care to cooperate w/ others

DangerousDanR

Not why I do it. They are the only curves for miles and they give me a chance to let the Jag show me what it can do. It is really fun if I am being tailgated by an SUV driver and they try to hang with the Jag!

If there are other vehicles in the roundabout I am a good little boy.

plumberroy

I see several problems . People think they are above following the rules. Being distracted, under the influence or lack of situational awareness. Ad the government looks at it more for revenue than safety. They keep fines just low enough to not discourage speeding . Triple fines and you would slow most down

Bleu

Used to go as straight as possible through those awful things, but the Freightliner rides like s@@t so only the trailer cuts in. And what is a speed limit in a roundabout ? Wouldnt slow down at all but the cars and the corner are in the way.