Does speed kill?

After being sent on a speed awareness course, the only limits I obey now are those in towns/pedestrian areas. So 20/30.

On the open road, I don't worry about the limit, I drive as fast as I think I can drive safely.

The % of people religiously obeying speed limits in this country is pretty low. I think the limits themselves are too low, esp on dcw/mw.
 
there mwas something on the crash test dummy program. an extra 5mph when you start braking = something like an extra 10-15 mph at the point of impact, because you loose msot of your speed in the alst little bit, but because youve carried more momentum you never reach that point befoer impact so hit much much harder/faster.
 
FoxEye said:
After being sent on a speed awareness course, the only limits I obey now are those in towns/pedestrian areas. So 20/30.

On the open road, I don't worry about the limit, I drive as fast as I think I can drive safely.

The % of people religiously obeying speed limits in this country is pretty low. I think the limits themselves are too low, esp on dcw/mw.
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just wait till somone pulls out o nyou in a country lane with poor visability then.....


or o na bike where they look at you, look you in the eye, check the toher way, loo kat you again to make sure you're definitly still heading past them at speed and then pull out on you nyway.
 
Watching that video, the first point he makes at around 2 minutes is a 6 lane road being limited to 50km/ph ..... i actually agree with that BUT if they added a proper central divider like a metal gaurd, then that could easily be upped a fair way.

On roads like that one you have to think of freak accidents (tyre blow outs? could easily be flung into on coming traffic) as well as stupid people driving tired and drifting into on coming traffic. Overall that bit of road is just really poorly implemented.

...anyway that's all of the video I've watched so far but i wanted to comment on that (I'm expecting many more of his points to be equally as worthless though)

EDIT: ok the rest of the points are pretty good :p
 
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Well, speed kills in the sense that if you have an accident, the faster you're going the more likely it is the result will be fatal rather than a few bruises but I wouldn't say I believe it to be a particularly contributor to the cause of those accidents. Poor driving, poor conditions, sheer poor luck can cause accidents, excess speed on it's own less so (however still to a small degree).
 
differences in speed are the biggest thing though, some **** doing 20 on the motorway is jus tas dangerorus as somone doing 70 down a country village.
 
No it doesn't, inappropriate speed does.
Otherwise motorways would be a death trap, autobahns would be suicide and built up areas would be safe.
 
I would have thought it was to do with momentum rather than speed tbh

a skateboard hitting at 30mph wont do as much damage to you as a juggernaut hitting you at 30mph

So perhaps the signs should be to limit maximum momentum :p (so a large truck would have a lower speed limit than a nissan micra)
 
a combination of different factors will kill you.

For example, If i walk out into the road, i would rather have a 30 year old petrol head in a Ferrari doing 50 mph than a 75 year old granny in a beaten up old nissan micra doing 40mph hurtling towards me....
 
Robbo said:
I'd say yes, the faster you are going, the less time you have to react to something unexpected happening. It may not be your fault, but that won't matter if you're dead.
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That's pretty much the stance I saw Police Officers take on the Motorway Cops show on BBC recently.

Speed isn't the number one cause of deaths on the road, but it does happen because as said above, if you are speeding, especially when there are a number of other motorists around, anything could happen, regardless of how good a driver you think you are.
 
There is very little mention on the statistics of what the death:crash ratio is between considered speeds.

He uses the speed:crash ratio to drive his point home.

Unless I wasn't listening.
 
This thread needs a poll. A simple one:

1. I always *try* to abide by the speed limits, and never intentionally exceed them
2. I use my own judgement to decide what speed is appropriate
3. I drive a moped, which is limited to 35mph downhill with a tailwind
 
Tefal said:
there mwas something on the crash test dummy program. an extra 5mph when you start braking = something like an extra 10-15 mph at the point of impact, because you loose msot of your speed in the alst little bit, but because youve carried more momentum you never reach that point befoer impact so hit much much harder/faster.
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Loss of velocity is more rapid at higher speeds due to the disproportionately higher energy losses to due air resistance etc, so an extra 5mph at the point of braking would actually equate to less than 5mph extra at the point of impact. F = ma, so a = F/m, m is constant, but F increases as speed increases therefore de-acceleration is greater.
 
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Excessive speed for the conditions is more dangerous than outright speed as well as poor driving, anticipation and poor judgement and training.
 
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