"No sh** Sherlock!"

[FUNKED1]

Originally posted by Sparks
The problem is not the speed its the ability and discipline of the drivers.  Every shunt I have seen has been caused by someone slow doing something unexpected / stupid - people pulling out of service areas doing 35mph into 70mph traffic,  people stoping on 'On Ramps'

In the US you can overtake on either side, sit in which lane you want, the road markings are horrendous and the on / off ramps are nearly suicidal - not a good recipe for high speed driving.

But sadly the profit motive means that the people in charge here will never deal with these problems.  Insurance company goons and government drones will continue to emphasize speed because of the revenue stream it brings them.

[AKS\/\/ulfe]

Originally posted by Shuckins
How many of you people have pulled onto a highway from a side road after eyeing the oncoming traffic, thinking you were allowing enough space to safely enter said traffic, only to realize that you have seriously misjudged the speed of some moron doing at least 30 mph faster than the posted speed limit?  In your case, you are totally at the mercy of the moron's reaction time.  

Once, and I pulled over onto the shoulder to let him by.

If you are betting your life on the abilities of other drivers, you're playing russian roullette with 5 of the 6 chambers loaded.

Misjudging closure rates can also place the label of moron on yourself. You messed up, not him.
-SW

[OIO]

shucking must be easy to shoot down online.

[Skuzzy]

Autobahn in Germany is hard to compare to anything, anywhere else.  They are maintained incredibly well.  They are built for high speed (curves are gentle with slight bank and you will not hear a seam slapping the tires between segments).
Then, the driver education is very well thought out and takes quite a long time to complete.  That is generally true in Europe.

The U.S., in my opinion, has the worst driver education in the world.  It's a joke.  Yet the insurance companies and various safety agencies will not move to do anything about it.  If they were serious about reducing accidents, then that is where they should start.

Speed only kills when someone makes an error in judgment.  Whether the speed is 10 or 100, an error will almost always end up an accident.
I have no problem with high speed myself, but I took high speed driving courses, so I am comfortable with high speed.  The typical driver in the U.S., in my opinion, should not be allowed to exceed 45MPH given the training they have.  (45 is a magic number, as it is about as slow as most cars can go in the U.S. and reach top gear).
For the good our training does for the driver, we should just hand out the driver licenses in boxes of cereal.

Now England is another world unto itself.  Sparks,..I agree with some of what you said, but some of the roads in England are called sidewalks here in the U.S.  And what the heck is up with those roundabouts?  I got stuck on one in London for almost 35 minutes.  Thought I was going to pass out from being dizzy.  Being a noob in England, even if you are a good driver, is not for the timid or weak of stomach.

[Twist]

I second what Skuzzmeister stated, lack of proper driver education is a huge part of the problem. Poorly designed and maintained roads comes in second.

Atlanta is ridiculous, my wife won't even drive through there after 6am. I have to attend training there on occasion and use the 400 and the 285 bypass to get to class. I turn off the radio and just drive when I'm there. There could be 2 inches of standing water and those people would still try to maintain the posted speed limit! 16 lanes wide on 75/85 near town and it still backs up.  

What will eventually happen is this; people will continue driving fast and killing each other. Relatives of the dead will continue complaints to our representitives and sooner or later the government will get involved. The computer that controls your car will become the computer that watches you 24/7 and tracks your driving habits. The capability is already there. There won't be anymore calls to your attorney to get you off, it will start costing you. The same thing happened with firearms, another right/privledge abused and now unbelieveably regulated.

It's coming....

[Manedew]

Originally posted by Pfunk
Well I can attest to the fact that drivers in Atlanta are insane.  Dont even bother getting in the two far left lanes if you dont wanna go over 65mph, 70-90 is a common speed in these lanes if traffic is "light".  Traffic in Atlanta has surpased L.A. as the worst in the nation.

Haven't been there in two-three years .. but sounds about right ....

That city is hell on wheels

[Sparks]

What will eventually happen is this; people will continue driving fast and killing each other. Relatives of the dead will continue complaints to our representitives and sooner or later the government will get involved. The computer that controls your car will become the computer that watches you 24/7 and tracks your driving habits. The capability is already there.

In Europe its already on the way. In UK our 'caring' government is talking about a speed enforcement system where every car has a GPS tracker installed and when speeds in execess of the speed limit are averaged over a piece of road - automatic penalty. Big brother will be watching you sooner than you think.

Sparks