A bit more back to the first post though, aside from the potential risk to someone external to the car personally I wouldn't drive at excessive speeds with someone else in the car even (or especially) family. Though I'd be happy to take the risks on myself in a situation where no one else would potentially get hurt.
Thoughts on Excessive Speed
- Thread starter panthro
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Were they in a pickup?
What does far in excess mean though? For example, the Black Mountain road in the Brecons is now 40mph. Tens/hundreds of thousands of people safely travelled along that road at 60mph when it was NSL but now they'd be doing 50% over the speed limit to do the same safe speed again...
Don't drive to the number in the circle dogmatically, it might be too fast, it might be "too slow" but in general it is indicating something about what you might reasonably expect to find on that stretch of road.
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One tragic accident under bizarre circumstances that comes to mind, if you'll pardon the pun, was the famous male US singer who died at the wheel of his Rolls Royce whilst, the coroner submitted, being fellated by a transvestite groupie. I think his Wikepedia page had the more prurient details taken down
Even on a trackday I have a mental brake effect when I have a passenger onboard, even if I try to go fast my life preserving is just happening automatic.
In the Caterham I drive really quite slow with a passenger, simply because as a car it is so dangerous and your always fearful of other drivers or some moron in an SUV or van cutting a corner on your side of the road.
Once I am in the car alone and if everything feels right it can truly feel epic and bonkers quick though compared to my youth when I have no life preserving skills I am a lot more restrained now, in my 20's I would do some insane speeds on the road, a combination of getting older and cameras propping up everywhere have slowed me down.
I save the truly mental stuff for track days now and sometimes everything just clicks. If I am going fast on public road I like there to be no one around and a road I know well, it is also why even owning a few fast cars I am far more interested in the ones where you can feel the performance and the fun of the car even within legal speed limit. Most modern cars are now lifeless at legal speeds unfortunately, gone are the days are blasting an Austin or MG Mini down a narrow B road flat out at 40/50mph expecting to die on every turn, whereas a modern car just feel lifeless until at speeds way beyond safe or legal.
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Why has the speed limit been reduced?
Edit: to address the last point - you realise NSL doesn't indicate that it is safe to do 60 mph, or suggest anything other than that the road hasn't been assessed for a safe speed. While there are plenty of NSL roads you can safely do 60, there are also plenty where you'd have to be insane to do so.
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I guess it depends on what "excessive" is to you? If you're talking 150mph+ then yeh, there is a lot of things which could potentially go wrong and would be harder to recover from. If you're talking 100-120mph in the right vehicle then I'd disagree. Obviously not condoning anyone do 100-120mph but the point that I consistently find that risk seems to increase massively is 120mph plus. People just don't see you and the chance of hitting a bump/having a blow out/animal run out means avoiding an accident just becomes much more difficult without losing control.
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I was somewhat uncomfortable with your hand on my knee and wanted to progress the journey as fast as possible...
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I'd support that.yea you're probably right to be fair. maybe have them rock up to the scene and start lifting body parts, that might just shake them from their malaise. i'm sure the emergency services would appreciate the help
I grew up a good while before the internet really existed, and certainly no sites like that were around.
I probably can't post the site itself, but it's sick and it's **** to find several dozen videos of just the machete videos. Then there are plenty of point-blank shootings and executions, beatings and the like, as well as people in what looks like India going up to the mangled human remains of an RTA and filming it on their phones, only to show that the 'deceased' is still breathing.
With such a volume of material so freely available, it's no wonder people are desensitised.
There is some truth to that.
First time I drove a BMW I realised I had actually gone from being a mild-mannered Škoda driver to driving like a ****!
No rhyme or reason, nor intent, it was just the way the car drove with a real feeling of being disconnected from the road....
Well quite, I wouldn't be doing 60 in a 40 regardless though. The 10% + 2 seemed to be quite reasonable to me to forgive slight lapses over the limit which everyone does from time to time. I think the Welsh have gone too far the other way with their speed limits but certain roads were bad accident spots which is probably why they've reduced the limits so much.
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I'm pretty much there as well. For a while I wanted more power and speed but that's changed a lot since having a kid. I still like a bit of power but my driving style is more chilled and risk adverse. I think my next car is going to be different to what I had in mind many years ago. Instead of an RS3 it's most likely going to be a Q5 or similar.
Relentless anti-motorist campaigning from the car-hating Welsh, mostly. Sadly, this was made a lot easier by load of motoring journalists publicising it as something of a racetrack (Chris Harris drifting his Ferrari up there etc) making it a bit of a mecca for antisocial behaviour.
Excessive depends a bit on context - in this country I wouldn't even do 100 with someone else in the car though, though I might have done when younger, but probably on the autobahn I'd probably do a bit more than that with someone else as a passenger if they were OK with it.
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The awesome road from Macclesfield up to the Cat and Fiddle pub (and vice versa) was a favourite of mine, but last time I used it there were a plethora of speed cameras and it apparently has a strong police presence on sunny weekends. I remember that if I couldn't light my fag on a front disc when enntering the resticed zone in Macc I felt i hadn't really been applying myself fully
(I was young, somewhat irresponsible and the roads were relatively deserted, with speed cameras then a distant and seemingly unlikely threat).So the reason is antisocial driving + high accident rate(probably I didn't look it up) rather than car hating Welsh?
If people.treat roads as racetracks don't be surprised if authorities take action really.
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It's a timely reminder of the consequences of it going wrong. What you have seen in those pictures is pretty much approaching the worst that can happen (high speed impact straight into a completely immovable object). It really doesn't get more violent than that.
However, I would say that you shouldn't get too overly distressed about it that you suddenly now buy a Volvo and drive at 30mph everywhere. The single best thing you can do when you are driving is *concentrate*. Of all the fatal/serious/minor collisions I go to lack of concentration is pretty much THE factor in the vast majority of them. People on their ****ing phones seems to be the biggest one, especially with HGV collisions which just create utter carnage. Just concentrate on what you're doing as a driver, maintain your vehicle with the best tyres you can, moderate your speed, don't drink/take drugs and drive and think ahead to what ridiculous thing another driver might do and you'll have reduced your chance of having an accident 10 fold.
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Also, it's also a reminder about what your local emergency services have to look at and deal with on a daily basis. They do such an amazing job (perhaps too good) of hiding the reality of serious and fatal collisions from members of the public, that they don't get the appreciation they deserve.
Just remember, when you see on the news the 30 second snippet that there was a fatal collision, it could have involved someone burning to death in a car, someone hideously maimed, someone who was alive talking to the emergency services for some time before dying, or someone who was calling out for their mother before they died - it's ridiculously traumatic and it's only when you see "normal" member's of the public reaction to this sort of stuff, you realise what fortitude the emergency services have to have to not only not let it affect them, but then to do a job, search a body, and tell the relatives.
Often at these collisions, there are "normal" members of the public who are fainting, in hysterics physically and uncontrollably shaking - but your friendly emergency services have to just get on with it.
Just remember, when you see on the news the 30 second snippet that there was a fatal collision, it could have involved someone burning to death in a car, someone hideously maimed, someone who was alive talking to the emergency services for some time before dying, or someone who was calling out for their mother before they died - it's ridiculously traumatic and it's only when you see "normal" member's of the public reaction to this sort of stuff, you realise what fortitude the emergency services have to have to not only not let it affect them, but then to do a job, search a body, and tell the relatives.
Often at these collisions, there are "normal" members of the public who are fainting, in hysterics physically and uncontrollably shaking - but your friendly emergency services have to just get on with it.
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Literally every road around here is a 50 now, outside of the towns and villages, and I'm quite happy plodding along at that speed or lower. I keep below an indicated 78/79 on the motorway at most.
A very far cry from my idiotic big motorbike days in the 80's, but there was a lot less traffic around then, and no speed cameras.
I just can't be bothered any more. Get a track day if you want to go silly.
A very far cry from my idiotic big motorbike days in the 80's, but there was a lot less traffic around then, and no speed cameras.
I just can't be bothered any more. Get a track day if you want to go silly.