America's Problem With Speed 

"Xazzaphonic (previously known as Vicarious-Chair)" (vicarious-chair) 09/10/2015 at 02:37 • Filed to: None

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As I’m waiting for the ‘Continue’ button to load on this internet-based Driving School Course, I start to notice we live in two worlds here. (background/ I didn’t realize I was turning on a one-way street due to a fallen/missing one-way sign, nor the Explorer Patrol SUV behind me) This class (taken to keep this infraction off my record), is teaching us to be overly cautious about lane changes, lights, people’s behavior—all great things. But then a whole section dedicated to speeding and how it’s the worst thing for us and the worst offender of accidents leading to fatalities. Sure, statistics are fact; but speed is not the only factor at play. This class, that dedicates and entire mini-course to speeding, only has one 1/4 section dealing with Driver’s distractions. A ‘using cell phones in business areas is bad, and even illegal in Chicago...’. There were a few statistics on accidents and deaths, but didn’t draw nearly as much attention to it as the entire speeding section.

So, we’re told to go the speed limits, or less (basically never faster than 55mph for a 30 mile radius for me), watch out for reckless drivers, avoid potholes, watch for babies and dogs and children, and not to drive to close to the car in front of us. But then, why do we all drive higher HP vehicles than the rest of the world, break the speed limit in large groups on expressways (in my area), keep terrible maintenance of our vehicles, know so little about them, and tend to prefer quicker, big vehicles? I think it’s just our way of life, to know the rules and subsequently think to ourselves: “Yeaaah... Fuckit. I ain’t doin’ that.”

In other words, I think the US road system and American car culture is seedy.

Pic for attention, semi relevant.

Xazzaphonic (previously known as Vicarious-Chair) > Xazzaphonic (previously known as Vicarious-Chair) 09/10/2015 at 02:49

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We also all have terrible brakes, apparently.

Berang > Xazzaphonic (previously known as Vicarious-Chair) 09/10/2015 at 03:10

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It’s simple: people just don’t care about anybody else, and they also see themselves as invincible.

facw > Xazzaphonic (previously known as Vicarious-Chair) 09/10/2015 at 05:42

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Around one third of all auto deaths in the US are alcohol related, so I hope they at least drilled that into your classes heads.

spanfucker retire bitch > Xazzaphonic (previously known as Vicarious-Chair) 09/10/2015 at 06:51

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Boy, those stats haven’t been updated in 50 years have they?

spanfucker retire bitch > Xazzaphonic (previously known as Vicarious-Chair) 09/10/2015 at 06:52

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Those online courses are a lot more convenient than going to a physical class, but boy are they still a pain in the ass. I took one just to lower my insurance rate, not because of an infraction or anything; and much to my horror I discovered the minimum time limits you have to spend on each question/section.

I mean, seriously. How illiterate do they think I am? It does not take 3 minutes to read a single paragraph with like 5 sentences in it.

LongbowMkII > Xazzaphonic (previously known as Vicarious-Chair) 09/10/2015 at 07:01

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lolz.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Xazzaphonic (previously known as Vicarious-Chair) 09/10/2015 at 07:21

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No, it's because as has been documented many times, people will generally do a speed they feel is safe, regardless of the limit.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > spanfucker retire bitch 09/10/2015 at 07:22

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Well, duh. Then they'd have to change the speed limits, and they wouldn't get so much money.

Scott > Xazzaphonic (previously known as Vicarious-Chair) 09/10/2015 at 07:36

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The problem is the statistics are horribly miss leading. It has been so drummed into the American psyche that speed kills that police pretty much put down speed as a cause of an accident regardless of anything else. It very often gets put down as a secondary cause but it almost always gets put down no matter what. Someone driving 40 in a 45 zone because they are busy texting, then side swiped a parked car. Primary cause is texting, secondary cause was they were clearly driving too fast to safely text, so secondary cause is bam speeding. Thus when they go and look at causes this accident it gets marked down as causes for accident, texting, and speeding. Never mind that the driver was not actually speeding, the driver was driving too fast for the illegal and dangerous thing they where doing, but that does not matter.

But look at Germany's Autobahn compared to the US interstate system and accident per mile driven are actually slightly low than in the US. Since getting rid of the National speed limit, states that have raised their speed limit often see a decline in accidents. Although it's difficult to put too much weight on that because accident rates are going down for other reasons, and the decline after a change in speed limit is often temporary.

Dslay04 > Xazzaphonic (previously known as Vicarious-Chair) 09/10/2015 at 07:44

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Lol

Sweet Trav > Xazzaphonic (previously known as Vicarious-Chair) 09/10/2015 at 08:06

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If my 4400lb SHO can stop from 60 in 168 feet, this diagram is using 1960's technology.

DoYouEvenShift > Xazzaphonic (previously known as Vicarious-Chair) 09/10/2015 at 08:13

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Distracted drivers and drunk drivers can die in a tire fire.

spanfucker retire bitch > Sweet Trav 09/10/2015 at 08:20

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Remember when brakes were made out of wood?

The DMV remembers.

Party-vi > Sweet Trav 09/10/2015 at 08:30

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Your SHO has performance brakes. The average car does not.

Jayhawk Jake > Xazzaphonic (previously known as Vicarious-Chair) 09/10/2015 at 08:44

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I believe this includes reaction time

Sweet Trav > Party-vi 09/10/2015 at 08:59

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No, they are not “performance” brakes. They are the exact same ones on the 2013-current Explorer, which could hardly be called a performance option. On the 2010-12 SHO there is no difference in the brakes from a base Taurus to a SHO, from 2013-up they got the Explorer brakes, which only shaved 6 feet off of the 60-0 distance, the only reason for the upgrade was to give a larger swept area to resist fade. All of the Ford/Volvo based D3 cars have mediocre brakes.

A current 4 cylinder malibu stops from 60-0 in 125 feet, a Chrysler 200, 118 feet. No performance brakes on either one of those.

Party-vi > Sweet Trav 09/10/2015 at 09:06

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Where did you get the 200 figure? Because Edmunds has the distance at 127ft. Also, are those figures with a factory test driver or magazine tester, or someone with normal reaction times? I get what you’re saying, that the data in the chart is outdated by a few decades, but it still stands to reason that the fast you’re going the longer it’s going to take to get you stopped.

Sweet Trav > Party-vi 09/10/2015 at 09:15

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Stopping distance doesnt measure reaction time.

Its a very easy formula to figure out what a delay in reaction time will cost you.

Roughly 44 feet per .5 seconds at 60mph, which would make me argue that distracted driving is far more dangerous than speeding.

Here is the source for the numbers on the 200.

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/seda…

spanfucker retire bitch > Party-vi 09/10/2015 at 09:18

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My regular old Mazda3 can stop from 65mph in less than 150 feet. Those numbers haven’t been accurate for years now.

Party-vi > Sweet Trav 09/10/2015 at 09:24

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Here’s their reasoning:

Highway traffic and safety engineers have some general guidelines they have developed over the years and hold now as standards. As an example, if a street surface is dry, the average driver can safely decelerate an automobile or light truck with reasonably good tires at the rate of about 15 feet per second (fps). That is, a driver can slow down at this rate without anticipated probability that control of the vehicle will be lost in the process .

The measure of velocity is distance divided by time (fps), stated as feet per second. The measure of acceleration (or deceleration in this case) is feet per second per second. That assumes a reasonably good co-efficient of friction of about .75; better is .8 or higher while conditions or tire quality might yield a worse factor of .7 or lower.

No matter the velocity, that velocity is reduced 15 fps every second. If the initial velocity is 60 mph, 88 fps, after 1 second elapsed, the vehicle velocity would be 73 fps, after 2 seconds it would be 58 fps decreasing progressively thereafter. For the true mathematical perfectionist (one who carries PI to 1000 decimal places), it would have been technically correct to indicated the formula is ‘fpsps’ rather than ‘fps’, but far less understandable to most drivers. Since at speeds of 200 mph or less, the difference from one method to the other is in thousanths of seconds, our calculations in these examples are based on the simple fps calculations.

Given the previous set of conditions, it would mean that a driver could stop the described vehicle in a total of 6.87 seconds (including a 1 second delay for driver reaction) and your total stopping distance would be 302.28 feet, slightly more than a football field in length!

Virtually all current production vehicles’ published road braking performance tests indicate stopping distances from 60 mph that are typically 120 to 140 feet, slightly less than half of the projected safety distances. While the figures are probably achievable, they are not realistic and certainly not average ; they tend to be misleading and to those that actually read them, they create a false sense of security.

Party-vi > spanfucker retire bitch 09/10/2015 at 09:26

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See what I posted to Travis - the distances in the chart above are based on a deceleration rate of 15m/s, which is considered a safe rate at which you will not lose control of a vehicle. Panic stops that you see in magazines are full-on pedal-to-the floor stops that would cause accidents and swerving.

spanfucker retire bitch > Party-vi 09/10/2015 at 09:39

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That’s what ABS, traction and stability control are for. Sorry, but those rates are meaningless as a driver will slow down at whatever rate they see fit to be the safest. If they can take 300 feet to slowly deccelerate, then they will. If someone pulls out in front of them and they have to slam on the brakes, then they’ll do that. If they want to coast for 150 feet and brake the other ~150 feet, then that’s what they’ll do.

The numbers are just erroneous.

Party-vi > spanfucker retire bitch 09/10/2015 at 09:44

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Considering there was an explanation about why they chose 10mph deceleration speed I’d say the numbers are not erroneous.

spanfucker retire bitch > Party-vi 09/10/2015 at 09:48

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Wrong wording. The numbers are technically mathematically correct, they’re just misleading. Certainly no one is panic braking for every single time they use their brakes. But neither does it take over 300 feet to slow down from 60mph “safely.”

wiffleballtony > Xazzaphonic (previously known as Vicarious-Chair) 09/10/2015 at 10:16

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I’ve found my local law enforcement doesn’t really care about freeway speeding. Residential is a different story. Ultimately I think it comes down to the fact that everyone knows the speed limits are too low, but no politician is willing to stick his neck out and propose a change because of the “think of the children” crowd.

Manic Otti > Xazzaphonic (previously known as Vicarious-Chair) 09/10/2015 at 14:30

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The faster you go, the worse things are if something goes wrong. Speeding doesn’t necessarily cause accident’s, but if one happens, it’s usually worse. We could eliminate most traffic fatalities if we speed governed all vehicles to 25 mph but it’s not going to happen.