 |
| |
|
|
Kramerman
|
 |
UT, Austin - The live music capital of the world
Jun 2002
time: 23:25
|
|
quote:
Originally posted by Dr Strangelove
There are a lot of roads in the US that are divided, limited access and 4 laned but really aren't built to the same standards as the interstates because they don't have to be. The problem is that many people don't take notice that the curves are sharper and less well banked, the lanes are narrower, and the acceleration lanes are woefully too short, so they travel at the same speed as the interstate, with tragic consequences.
There is a 4 lane bypass around the east and south sides of town here that fits this description. The builders particularily skimped on the acceleration lanes, some of which are less than 50 feet long. There is one ramp at which thee is an accident at least once a month. |
This is true.
My city has two concentric freeway 'loops', and tho most parts would be safe for very high speeds, many parts are not, and these places are properly marked with new speed limit signs(mostly the speed limit is 65 during the day) at 45 and 35 mph. It would be foolish to say every expressway in its entirety should have very high speed limits. But certain stretches of expressways and interstates i think should. And of course, in poor weather, visibility, and other such conditions ther should be a proper 'alternative' speed limit. On top of this, the enforcement of tailgating and such as discussed earlier in this thread would be added cushions of safety.
Kman
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Kramerman
|
|
UT, Austin - The live music capital of the world
Jun 2002
time: 23:25
|
|
quote:
Originally posted by chegitz guevara
Yes, but people don't handle any better. The problem isn't so much the machine as the person driving the machine. We weren't designed to move at the speed, and we have problems reacting to things that quickly if we aren't specifically trained for it.
At 95 miles per hour, in the time it takes for your eyes to see something, your brain to register it as a threat, and send the impulse to your leg to lift off the gas and hit the brakes, and then for your muscles to actually respond, you've already moved quite some distance.
Given that many people on the highways tailgate, even at high speed, this organic lag time is often fatal. |
Yes, this too is true. but if most people follow at a safe distance, than this 'organic' lag would have no effect in most expressway circumstances. Because, remember, the car in front of you doesnt just stop. When they hit the breaks, they must start to decelerate, travling a distance all the while you are travling distance. Of course since you would be going faster your distance travled would be greater, but if there is an appropriate cushion of space between the vehicles, this should not be a problem, and thus high speed travel on properly built roads should not be significantly more of a dangerous than travle is now on them.
quote:
Originally posted by rah
 Just what we need. 18 Wheelers doing 90 MPH. NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
And I often see 18 wheelers going 80 mph on the interstates, and tho it does make me nervous, i doesn't make me much more nervous than when they are going 60 mph, and I dont see how going 90 mph would make all that much more of a difference.
Kman
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Caligastia
|
|
quote:
Originally posted by Grrr
Caligastia.
Speed cameras are set to 101Kmph ... generally a cop will not pull you over unless you are going in excess of 120 (unless of course they haven't met their quota of 3 tickets per hour). |
Hmmm, I also heard that only the fastest of those photographed gets a ticket. I have set off a couple of speed cameras and never got a ticket for it, so there must be some truth to that.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Sir Ralph
|
 |
Long live teh Schwampel!
Dec 2001
time: 06:25
|
|
quote:
Originally posted by Boris Godunov
This is only true on the Autobahn, and only on certain parts of it. Around major urban centers, one simply can't go fast, as traffic is rather dense. Plus, one has to get a special license now to drive on the Autobahn, which I believe costs something like $5,000 US (I'm not sure if this applies to everyone or just non-Germans). |
There's a Autobahn fee for trucks, because they cause the most damage, but none for private cars.
quote:
At any rate, they have a noticeably lower accident fatality rate than major U.S. highways. However, Germans also treat driving in a different way than Americans, particularly on the Autobahn. There is much more focus and attention paid. Americans tend to view driving as just a means of travel, whereas Germans view it as a past time unto itself. |
That's for sure. I've seen Americans drive, omfg  . When I last was in the States, a friend met me at the airport and drove me home. It was a mere 45 minutes trip, but driving like this in Germany, she'd have earned about 10 tickets in this time. Not that she's a bad driver, at the countrary. They were all driving like this. It was a complete chaos, at least for me.
quote:
Germany also has some very strict laws regarding unsafe driving on the Autobahn. Cameras monitor distances between cars, and if you are driving too close to the car in front of you (I think something like 20 feet is the minimum in no traffic, but not sure), then you will be fined severely. Fines are based on the individual wealth of the infractor. A couple years ago they gave out a $10,000 fine to a wealthy driver for tailgating. Ouch.
All of this courtesy of the History Channel, thank you. |
Regarding distance: You have to keep a distance in meters of at least half the amount of your speed in kilometers per hour. For instance, if you're at 60 km/h, you have to keep at least 30 m distance in front of you. I leave the translation into mph and feet to you .
|
|
| |
|
| |
All times are GMT. The time now is 05:25.
Apolyton Time is 00:25. |
top of page
|
| archivepost |
|
Forum Rules:
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
|
HTML code is ON
vB code is ON
Smilies are ON
[IMG] code is ON
|
|
|
|
|
|
14-01-2003 03:26
Attachment: 
|
