Topic: Does Speed Really Kill?

[mixmanmash]

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Excellent video with some great facts.  All it boils down to is revenue.

[PJ]

I'll have to watch it when I get home but I can say from a physics point of view speed does kill.  Forces in an accident rise dramatically with speed as does braking distance. The time you have to react to a problem decreases as does your ability to control the car. 

You can argue why governments enforce speed limits and where they should be set for the best compromise but there is no question speed does kill. 

[quadzilla]

That video is awesome! 

We have a few (probably many) roads where the speed limits are screwed up.

Four lane separated hwy with perfect sight lines and low volume = 80kph
Two lane not separated hwy with horrible sight lines and high volume = 80kph

 

[aquadorhj]

I'll have to watch it when I get home but I can say from a physics point of view speed does kill.  Forces in an accident rise dramatically with speed as does braking distance. The time you have to react to a problem decreases as does your ability to control the car. 

You can argue why governments enforce speed limits and where they should be set for the best compromise but there is no question speed does kill.

Constant velocity never killed anything in history of universe.(that i know of.    )

I don't think speed kills anything.    Let me clarify that a bit.
This video describes EVERYDAY situations where commuters speed voluntarily as a whole group.  like going 65km/h on 50 limit road.    this has negligible impact on death rates.

You are describing extraordinary situations where speed has impact on person's ability to react to situations.   like some a-hole going 200+ on 100 road.  that doesn't mean that speed was the killer.   that person who drove too fast is the idiot that caused death.  see?  it's poor decision that killed.  not speed.   

if a person fell off a cliff,  and crashes into rock bottom, is speed considered a killer?    is the cliff itself a killer?  No.  Even though speed is involved in the final outcome of the bloody mess that's doubtlessly at the bottom of the cliff, speed would not be the cause. 

[quadzilla]

^^^^  You mean when it rains or snows and the car goes off the road so people say, well it was raining and I couldn't stop. 

[johngenx]

Speed is a factor in EVERY crash.  If we were not moving, there would be no problem.  It's possible to crash at 5km/h, and speed is a factor. 

The real problem is that we're setting inappropriate speed limits.  There is a HUGE roadway in west Edmonton that is divided with two lanes in each direction and limited access.  The limit is 60!  Really?  Of course, no one can stand to creep along for km after km at under 60, so traffic flows safely along at about 80.  And it's a field day for the cops.  Ticket and after ticker, all day long.  Now I just take another route.  I don't want a ticket (been fortunate not to have received one) and I can't stand to crawl along with a RAM1500 driving 1cm from my bumper.  Is that 60 zone contributing to safety?  No, quite the opposite.

As for "excessive" speed, there certainly are instances where some numb-nuts is howling through traffic and is creating a dangerous situation.  I don't mind if we clamp down on those doofuses.  However, labeling everyone that exceeds the limit by 40 or 50 a menace to society is incorrect.  I've traveled at over 300km/h on a public highway and endangered no one but myself.  It's situational.

What causes the majority of collisions?  Follow too close and signal infractions.  If cops starting writing hundreds of thousands of tickets (yes, Martha, in Alberta we write HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of speeding tickets) for tailgating, maybe we will make a dent in those types of collisions.  But, there is no LIDAR machine for tailgating, so we don't write the ticket unless you actually hit someone.

[sailor723]

I think large speed variations are probably a major factor as well,especially on the highway. Someone driving 80 when traffic is flowing at 120 is as much of a hazard as the 150 driver.

[micha]

What causes the majority of collisions?  Follow too close and signal infractions.

I have a real issue with signal infractions, especially when on a motorcycle. I get that people might not see me and change lanes into me by accident. BUT if they would signal I would be warned and could get out of the way. The way it is, I have someone try to run me over by changing lanes into me without warning once in a while.

[Fobroader]

In Alberta the biggest problem is driver inattention, lack of skill, lack of situational awareness and a "I am #1" attitude. First snowfall of the year, HUNDREDS of accidents, what do they blame, the weather...nope, not the weather, its been snowing here since  the breakup of Pangea I think, so really, not surprising that its snowing this year, driver error. It gets foggy, chain reaction accident, fogs fault?? Nope, driver error. It rains and someone hydroplanes into a school bus full of blind nuns, rains fault?? Nope driver error. No one is willing to say that the vast amount of drivers that pollute our roads should not be allowed to operate a remote controlled, 1/18th scale car....let alone a real car. Speed limits are idiotically and laughably low around here, raising the speed limit on the #1, #2 and #16 highways would be great, sure, first couple of years the deaths might be bad....but I think in a few years people will actually get used to it and become better drivers, more focused, less texting and perhaps using their facking signals once in awhile. I believe in Darwinian law, either adapt or GTFO.

[blotter]

while speed plays an obvious factor...
speed itself is never singularly responsible for death.

 i think this could because one of those 360 degree debates.

there are various factors that contribute to death while operating a vehicle
(this includes biking, sky diving, skiing and anything other activity that includes a high degree of potential speed)

contributors of death:
speeding with the following don't mix
a)individual's decision to push the limitation of their experience or skills.
b) individual's decision to push the limitation of their gear
c) conditions (individual's decision not to take into account unperfect conditions)
d) lack of common sense or care for others around them
e) an object that stops your speed.

i think speed limits are a poor excuse, we all know in a snow storm you're not going to drive 100km/h down the QEW.   Again, an individual needs to read the conditions and have the experience to handle the vehicle safely. 

I know there are curves with 60km/h limits that I can still handle at 100km/h and other curves that have the same limit in which I can't.     I say I can't because, it's not the speed that limits me, it's my skills, my car or a part of it.  At least i know enough not to push it beyond the limits...


There's a ski resort we go to... pretty standard family resort.  Every year someone gets killed hitting a tree.  This isn't a backcountry place and people will always blame speed.   Speed was all but one factor.
the person didn't have the skill to control themselves at the speed they decided to push, they decided to go into an area they didn't have the skills to stay in control and one could even argue... if the tree wasn't there, no accident would have happened.

 
so does speed kill?
yes, no, maybe... it sure contributes to death.  but i don't believe it's fully responsible.

[johngenx]

What causes the majority of collisions?  Follow too close and signal infractions.

I have a real issue with signal infractions, especially when on a motorcycle. I get that people might not see me and change lanes into me by accident. BUT if they would signal I would be warned and could get out of the way. The way it is, I have someone try to run me over by changing lanes into me without warning once in a while.

Red lights and failure to yield right of way, not signal lights on the cars.  I'm talking about intersections.  People running reds, turning left when unsafe, etc.  Most collisions happen at intersections and just before them.

[micha]

What causes the majority of collisions?  Follow too close and signal infractions.

I have a real issue with signal infractions, especially when on a motorcycle. I get that people might not see me and change lanes into me by accident. BUT if they would signal I would be warned and could get out of the way. The way it is, I have someone try to run me over by changing lanes into me without warning once in a while.

Red lights and failure to yield right of way, not signal lights on the cars.  I'm talking about intersections.  People running reds, turning left when unsafe, etc.  Most collisions happen at intersections and just before them.

Reading comprehension issues here...

[Fobroader]

What causes the majority of collisions?  Follow too close and signal infractions.

I have a real issue with signal infractions, especially when on a motorcycle. I get that people might not see me and change lanes into me by accident. BUT if they would signal I would be warned and could get out of the way. The way it is, I have someone try to run me over by changing lanes into me without warning once in a while.

Red lights and failure to yield right of way, not signal lights on the cars.  I'm talking about intersections.  People running reds, turning left when unsafe, etc.  Most collisions happen at intersections and just before them.

But....but....but....the red light cameras were supposed to end all of that......  

[johngenx]

In St Albert they barely had anyone getting tickets so they shortened the amber phases to create red light runners. No way to convince me any of it is about anything other than money.


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[Fobroader]

In St Albert they barely had anyone getting tickets so they shortened the amber phases to create red light runners. No way to convince me any of it is about anything other than money.


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But it is....its all about public safety 

[Northernridge]

I agree with others...stopping suddenly kills.

[PJ]

I agree with others...stopping suddenly kills.

Not really. Drive into a wall at 30 mph and you'll be fine.  At 50 mph you might live and at 75 mph you're getting a ride home in a bag.  All are sudden stops but the result is very different. 

People can try to blame whatever they want for the accident but the faster you are going the more likely you are dead.  Speed does kill.

[tenpenny]

I agree with others...stopping suddenly kills.

Not really. Drive into a wall at 30 mph and you'll be fine.  At 50 mph you might live and at 75 mph you're getting a ride home in a bag.  All are sudden stops but the result is very different. 

People can try to blame whatever they want for the accident but the faster you are going the more likely you are dead.  Speed does kill.

Speed doesn't kill, or else all race car drivers would die in their first race.




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[Bubba]

Excellent video. Well researched as well. Most speed limits are, as Jeff Goldblum said so beautifully in the video, - politically set, revenue enhancers.

[tenpenny]

Here in NB, the divided highways outside of urban areas have 110 limits, which means you are allowed to do 120 - 125, but anything over 130 and you're asking for trouble.  I find that reasonable.


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